This was one of the longest and busiest weeks ever. I was at the polls at 7 am on Tuesday to vote and spent the day watching CNN on my cell phone and nervously pacing in my mind about the outcome of the day. I wasn't concerned about Obama, I knew he would be elected President, I was more nervous about the propositions in California, and their affects on my pocket. However, when Obama was elected, I was in the kitchen feeding the dog, and CNN showed 207 electoral votes for Obama, he was just shy of winning, and my phone rang. It was my mom screaming that he won, he won he had 297 electoral votes. But how was that possible, they just closed the polls in California not even a minute before. So how could he have won? And then I called my aunt, who was in tears. "Never in my 56 years would I have imagined we would have a black president...I'm so happy, I don't know what to do..." And then I called my 84 year old grandmother, who was also in tears. During this whole election process, the fact that he was black never crossed my mind. I listened to his speeches and his debates, and I wasn't concerned about his race. I was concerned about his policies, and what he could do for our country.
An although I was and still am a little skeptical on exactly what Obama can do for our country, especially in the state that its in now. The whole time I thought that people were putting too much faith in Obama, looking at him like he is a superhero, there are photos of him in a superman costume all over West Hollywood, and he is not a superhero, he is just a man. And then I started thinking of him like he was Harvey Dent from The Dark Knight, yet he was the White Knight, turned in to Two Face in my mind. However, when I saw him on that stage, I started crying too. It was a cry of relief, gratitude and happiness. Overwhelming happiness, and as I saw the faces of everyone in Chicago, in the audience I was in shock. Shocked by the fact that his supporters were happy, not only because he won, but because it was the biggest step in this country that this country has made towards anti-discrimination, towards being non-racist. When he gave his speech and he told America that he would do all he could, but it might take longer than 4 years, I was relieved. I think too many people had false hopes, and once he was elected everything would instantly get better. That is not the case, and there is no way that any one person, president or not can fix what has been done instantly. I'm glad that he set realistic goals but I hope that everyone understands them. I am happy and relieved that he was made president, and not that other guy. I know that this country will never erase the color lines so to speak, because as we were flipping through the channels of CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and ABC....People's main concerns were the fact that history was made with the first black president. The issues and policies went out the window because he is black. And while watching the oh so racist Fox News, a reporter who was at a party at the Century Plaza talked about how he smelled Marijuana in the air. I don't understand what or why he would say that, whether it was true or not, but there were a lot of black people there, celebrating president-elect Obama, so of course there much have been weed in the air. Whenever you get a group of black people together, weed is inevitably going to be smoked, right?
Some other reporters were climbing under the table, as if they needed to hide from what happened, and I don't understand what they were hiding from. Other reporters were rolling their eyes, and looked like they wanted to walk off the set in anger. I don't know what is going to happen in the next few years, but people are going to have to accept the fact that we have a black president now. He may not be the person that some people wanted, but he is what America needs right now. America needs stability in these uncertain times, and America needs someone who actually cares about the people.
To hear his whole speech, click here: http://beatcartelmusic.blogspot.com/2008/11/barack-obama-elected-president-speeches.html
Now, back to California, it took until the next day to find out what state propositions passed and didn't pass. Prop 9 passed...the Victims Rights Act the one I wanted no against passed, because people don't read the facts, and there were no HUGE advertisements on television against it. No one cared, they just read the title and thought oh well we want victim's to have rights, so Yes on 9. Idiots! And it makes me nervous, because these people voted for Obama too. So now, the 2039 date that my cousin could be up for parole may not happen, and he could never get out, even on good behavior. And even though he teaches classes in jail, and reads and works there, he is going to be there forever. I don't know what to say, I haven't written him a letter yet but I will drop one in the mail later today. Another prop that didn't pass, but should have was Prop 5. Five offered rehabilitation to non-violent drug offenders instead of just sending them to jail, and offered rehab to minors who are caught with drugs. People won't have a criminal record just because of their addiction. However, once again Californians misinterpreted this one, and voted No on 5. Even police officers and firefighters wanted Yes on 5, because it makes sense and helps with California's overcrowded prisons. Why put someone in jail when you can help them overcome an addiction?
And of course there is prop 8, the one that amended the constitution to allow same-sex couples to marry. I think there was a lot of confusion with this proposition as well. A yes vote meant you were against amending the constitution for same-sex couples to marry. A no vote meant you wanted same-sex couples to marry, and have all the rights as other married couples in California. So when people heard it passed, Yes - 52% No- 48%, people celebrated at first, but didn't understand that the passing meant same-sex couples had no rights in California. There were protesters for two days, causing traffic on our major streets in Los Angeles, they marched from Sunset down Crescent Heights, down Santa Monica, all the way to Westwood in front of the Mormon church. People got into fights, pulled people out of cars and blocked traffic for hours. The biggest problem is same-sex couples were granted the right to marry earlier this year, and over thousands of ceremonies were held over the summer and even weeks leading up to the election day. So that is how everything went down over here....and now we wait until Inauguration Day.
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