As euphoric celebrations continue over the election of the first black US president, some are sounding a note of caution that Barack Obama may not be able to live up to all that is expected of him. As black French civil rights activists and their friends began celebrating US President-elect Barack Obama's election early Wednesday, Nov. 5, in a private club in Paris, one reveler sounded a sobering, and largely unappreciated, note of caution. "Obama is an American politician, and he will govern like an American president," said Cameroonian journalist Paul Heutching. "Let's not jump to unrealistic conclusions just because he looks like us." As the world celebrates the election of the first African-American US president -- as a symbolic watershed in American society and a repudiation of the policies of his predecessor, George W. Bush -- it seems as if many people, such as France's disenfranchised blacks, regard Obama as a kind of messiah capable of curing all ills. A typically euphoric reaction was that of US television host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey, who told CNN television, "It feels like there is a shift in consciousness... It feels like something really big and bold has happened."
As black French civil rights activists and their friends began celebrating US President-elect Barack Obama's election early Wednesday, Nov. 5, in a private club in Paris, one reveler sounded a sobering, and largely unappreciated, note of caution.
"Obama is an American politician, and he will govern like an American president," said Cameroonian journalist Paul Heutching. "Let's not jump to unrealistic conclusions just because he looks like us."
As the world celebrates the election of the first African-American US president -- as a symbolic watershed in American society and a repudiation of the policies of his predecessor, George W. Bush -- it seems as if many people, such as France's disenfranchised blacks, regard Obama as a kind of messiah capable of curing all ills.
A typically euphoric reaction was that of US television host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey, who told CNN television, "It feels like there is a shift in consciousness... It feels like something really big and bold has happened."
Exactly.
Congratulations, America, you did it. We've moved the world forward into new territory.
Ironic that Bush's presidency is bookended by two massive shifts in consciousness, the earlier horrifyingly negative, the latter inspiringly positive. Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
