My daughters woke up this morning, like any other morning, but they have woken up to a world that did not exist before.
If they had woken to the world 150 years ago, they would have woken to a world that still used shackles around a man's ankle as a form of currency.
If they had woken a century ago, they would have woken to a country that still hung men from oak trees for walking on the wrong side of the street.
If they had woken to the world 75 years ago, they would have found a country that believed one sort of man did one sort of job, another man did the other.
If they had woken up 50 years ago, they would have hopped onto a bus that only allowed the back seats for 'coloureds'.
Even 10 years ago, the suggestion - the very suggestion - of a man like Barack Obama walking through the doors of the White House would have been fiction.
But the very reason the idea of "fiction" exists is that life is constantly unfinished. So my children woke up to a brand new world, a new generation. A moment of history being coded. A tremendous energy flowed, as after accepting the oath, Obama stepped up to the podium and announced: "My fellow citizens, I stand here today humbled by the task before us . . ."
Tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after, the country that my children will wake up to will be rife with problems both old and new. But just because times are tough doesn't mean that they are without joy and without hope.
If they had woken to the world 150 years ago, they would have woken to a world that still used shackles around a man's ankle as a form of currency.
If they had woken a century ago, they would have woken to a country that still hung men from oak trees for walking on the wrong side of the street.
If they had woken to the world 75 years ago, they would have found a country that believed one sort of man did one sort of job, another man did the other.
If they had woken up 50 years ago, they would have hopped onto a bus that only allowed the back seats for 'coloureds'.
Even 10 years ago, the suggestion - the very suggestion - of a man like Barack Obama walking through the doors of the White House would have been fiction.
But the very reason the idea of "fiction" exists is that life is constantly unfinished. So my children woke up to a brand new world, a new generation. A moment of history being coded. A tremendous energy flowed, as after accepting the oath, Obama stepped up to the podium and announced: "My fellow citizens, I stand here today humbled by the task before us . . ."
Tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after, the country that my children will wake up to will be rife with problems both old and new. But just because times are tough doesn't mean that they are without joy and without hope.
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