Chloe, Cassie and Shayla

Today is a memorable day in the history of this country. We will be greeting a new president, the 44th in the 232 year history of the United States. However, this president is a little bit different than the 43 that preceded him. This president is African-American, the first black man to ever be elected to the highest office in our country.
As you grow up you will learn more about the history of this country and our regrettable and unconscionable past when it comes to race relations. Just 150 years ago men such as Barack Hussein Obama could not have aspired to the presidency. Instead, he would have endured a life of a slave if he lived in certain parts of this country. He would have been forced to work for white men with no freedom to hope for and believe in. They were considered to be, not human, but property.
Even after slavery was abolished in America we still endured much hatred and racism. Blacks were often not allowed to use the same restrooms, water fountains or restaurants as white people. Although they were not enslaved they were still not truly free.
But about 50 years ago that began to change. Some truly remarkable people stood up and proclaimed that they deserved to be treated equally. Great men and women such as Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, Bayard Rustin, Fannie Lou Hamer and others were powerful and persuasive voices that all men were truly created equal and should receive like opportunity and respect.
Without using violence, without hurting the people who hurt them they stood up and fought back. They fought back with words, with passion, with heart and with truth. They marched in Birmingham, Selma and Washington D.C. They sat down on buses and in Woolworth’s. They withstood the spray of water hoses and the pummeling of batons. They stood. Like steel. And slowly those laws, regulations and attitudes that oppressed our black brothers and sisters began to fade and erode.
During that time, one man emerged as the voice and leader of that movement for civil rights. His name was Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a flawed, complex and truly great man. He was the continual and unwavering voice that blacks were equal and that they would win their rights. And he never wavered from insisting that it be done without violence.
For 13 years he oversaw the repudiation of all laws and regulations that were complicit in oppressing people. He organized a boycott of buses and a march in Washington. Equal treatment for African-Americans became a reality because he had a dream. He registered people to vote and he was instrumental in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that ensured that blacks would no longer be barred from attending schools with white kids. He did a lot more than that but you will learn those things in time.
Unfortunately, hatred runs deep. The passing of laws and legislation to ensure that blacks were treated equally did not mean that people changed their hearts. In the south, where you live, that hatred and racism still often holds sway. And in 1968, just 2 months before your father was born a man shot and killed Dr. King. He thought a bullet would end Dr. King’s work.
But he was wrong. Martin Luther King’s legacy and work would live on. And on the third Monday of January every year we stop and celebrate his dream.
And that dream continues today. In just a few minutes I will leave my office and drive home to watch an important event with you. A black man will become our president. Just 41 years after Dr. King was assassinated and the day after we celebrated his legacy and his dream Barack Hussein Obama will be our president. He was 6 years old when Dr. King was shot. In 41 short years we have gone to an nadir of hatred to an apex of hope.
My hope is that you will remember this day. That you will see and learn to appreciate the meaning and symbolism of a black man rising to such a prominent position in our country. It is a celebration of all those people who have endured slavery, oppression, and hatred. It is a moment where we can be proud of where we have come even as we still harbor the regrets of where we have been. Time heals. And today the healing is at its most complete. And we share this moment with our African American brothers and sisters. We share this moment not as black, white, red or yellow. We share this moment as Americans. And this is a blessed day.
This day will not end racial hatred. We will still encounter those people who harbor animosity towards others for no reason other than the color of their skin. More often than we should. But with this moment and stretching forward the voices of those riddled with hatred can be rendered mute by the power of love, acceptance, tolerance and understanding.
I almost went to this Inauguration. I wanted to drive the 1300 miles, brave the crowds and the cold weather and see this moment for myself. I’m glad I didn’t go. There is nowhere I would rather be on this day then with you sharing this moment. Sharing this historical moment where the goodness of the American Spirit will be on full display.
Remember this day girls. Thank you for sharing it with me.
I love you,
Daddy