The results of this election told us more about America than just who the next President will be.
At the risk of sounding obvious the election of the first "non-white male" President is a big deal. What is less obvious is why exactly this event is a big deal. We habitually make a big deal of the first "non-white male" anything for good reason in our society. Let's not forget that our founding fathers, benevolent in the context of their era created a society that by design excluded anyone that wasn't a white male (or protestant and rich for good measure) so any milestone is a cause for celebration.
What we too frequently forget however is in the interim, we should credit ourselves for making steady progress towards reconciling the spirit of equality with the letter of our founding documents.
We live in a world where the disease of bias and intolerance does still plague far too many. Those who suffer from this illness as well as those who are afflicted by the symptoms should not be forgotten. But what the election of Barack Obama has shown us that this infection is no longer an epidemic. Senator Obama will rise to the Presidency with the confidence of Americans of all backgrounds, but like his predecessors he secured victory with the endorsement of the majority of white males who cast their ballot. There were many who as late as the announcement of the returns questioned whether this outcome would be possible. As late as the projections of the winner some held doubts that America was ready. Barack Obama, however, like so many successful people of color knew that not only was America ready, but this is a place that America has been for quit sometime. We are not perfect but in the pursuit of the perfection of our union, leaders like Senator Obama, and to his credit Senator McCain as evidenced by his campaign understood that by and large Americans consider the content of the characters running for office in concert with the color of their skin.
The passing of this milestone does have significant ramifications for our society that are enduring. For example, like my academic understanding which falls short of empathetic connection to the civil rights challenges of my grand-parent's generation, my grand-children will not have a context of what "it was really like" to assume that only white males can hold the highest office in the land. This disconnect from history, the movement from painful wound, to abstract historical fact is to be celebrated as it is society's way of healing. It is important, but it is however not a big deal.
The closing of the chapter in our history where we believed that our racial divide was insurmountable is to be applauded. Likewise, the assumption that those who do not share our level of education, wealth, geography or whichever self selecting demographic we choose to define ourselves are incapable of considering the public good, as we suspect or they evidence the symptoms of bias is a step towards bridging our intellectual and ideological divide. This is noteworthy and laudable, but it is no big deal.
What is a big deal is that we no longer have an excuse to not address our biggest social ill. While we have aggressively treated the crisis of bias, curing some, soothing the symptoms for many, another tragic illness has infected our society and is now at epidemic portions. Poverty demands our full and undivided attention, but for too long we have confused this new disease alternatively as a symptom of racial bias or side effect of the treatment. Now that we have proven to liberal and conservative alike that when it truly matters, that when it's a question of the direction of our country, that we are capable of bridging consensus across the river of race, is it not now the time to give ourselves credit for reliving the crisis of racial inequity? Is it possible that we can now recognize the crisis that is the epidemic of poverty?
Poverty is a self perpetuating disease. It is also pervasive and a woefully inefficient aspect of society. All of society's ills from crime, to violence, corruption and greed and yes even racial bias itself stem from the competition for limited resources that poverty compels. The good news is that many of the treatments for bias are also effective in treating poverty. Also like the crisis of bias, we will get to a tipping point where the cure will become self perpetuating. For example one very effective treatment for poverty is education. An effective dose of education includes more than simple academic instruction but also includes vocational and practical training. Investments in education and the resulting reduction of poverty reduces the need to finance mitigation like jails and social assistance programs. As those resources are required less, the capitol can be diverted to education and other programs that promote self reliance.
So at this juncture where we have seen our society in the mirror, where we have viewed the improved,if imperfect image, the question is will we accept the lesson and redirect our focus accordingly, or should we continue to sooth the symptoms of a waning crisis because the realities of the emerging epidemic are too daunting. Where the crisis of bias challenged our souls, the epidemic of poverty will challenge our conscious and fundamental self interest.
America's struggle with bias is unique to our history. Since it is a problem we invented we can invent the solutions. What the election of Barack Obama has reminded us is that the only known cure for bias, is the example that the premise of racism is unfounded. President elect Obama, along with Condolezza Rice, Colin Powell, Oprah Winfrey and the list of successful black Americans who proceed them set the stage for the extension of that list beyond them, not because they were able to rise above the disadvantage of historical bias, but because their unquestionable excellence forever dispelled the concept of genetic disparity. Poverty on the other hand is a social disorder as old as society itself born of the underlying human nature of self interest. Like the example of successful women and minorities that have broken the myths of bias, exposure inoculation is the only cure for poverty. The virus is self interest, but it is self interest itself that will immunize future generations.
What we know of self interest is that it is reliable. In order to reform our economic framework to reduce poverty the case will have to be made that it is in the best interest of the wealthy to reduce the plight of the poor. We have tried with limited success mechanisms to encourage philanthropy but to move to a culture of economic opportunity we will need leaders who can speak to every social class in their language. As a person who has lived in black america as well as white, working class as well as elite, President Obama will be uniquely prepared to play interpreter. If we can frame the debate of poverty as not a crisis of conscious but a practical matter of efficiency we can make progress to break the epidemic of poverty using the very self interest that is the root cause.
The results of this election have told us that America is a better place than most of us realize. The charge that it has left us is to take head on the greatest social challenge of our day, which has been greatest challenge of society since there has been society.
Armed with the tool of self interest and the knowledge of the good nature of Americans confirmed by these poll numbers, we can inspire the innovation to reduce poverty, rather than cajole results with guilt. As a practical matter we will need to reform the finance of education. If we do not ensure that all children have equal access to quality primary education, the scourge of poverty will erase our progress and destroy our union. We cannot concern ourselves with the "how" of education. The "if" is what matters. It does not matter "how" we fund schools, it matters "if" all of our schools are modern with excellent teachers in every classroom. It does not matter whether the school is public, private, charter, or the result of a voucher because we can no longer afford to have a marriage to a specific mean, but rather commit ourselves with the end. We live in diverse states in a big country and the funding mechanisms and practical delivery as a result will vary. What matters is if we are funding our children's education in a way that is egalitarian rather than equitable because we have learned that equitable is inherently unequal across the socio-economic spectrum. We achieve these goals by the example of why the investment in education is simply more cost effective than the costs of mitigating the consequences of generational poverty.
My hope for our next President and prayer for our people is that we have the courage to tackle this problem and the patience to see it through. In January if we choose to begin this journey we need to understand that it will take longer than 8 years. It has taken more than a century to heal the wounds of centuries of oppression that yet still occasionally bleed. Economic inequity is a cancer that has festered for and epoch so we cannot reasonably expect to send it into remission in a generation, let alone the term of office of an American President. But along the way we must acknowledge our progress as it is made. As we travel this path we can recognize failure and set back but we must never concede that we are incapable of doing better. This election has confirmed the long held position of many who have long known that America is indeed a more perfect union, and for those for whom this event has for the first time caused belief that in America all is possible, let's now join together, set aside the points we disagree and move with deliberate speed to eject the tumor of poverty. It will not be easy, but what we now know for fact certain is that regardless of race or sex, in America all is possible if a child is given the tools of education. The only barrier that is universal is poverty. This election only removed a brick, it is now incumbent upon us to tear down the wall and allow the flood of prosperity to flow border to border and sea to sea.
This is what we now know, and it is a very big deal.
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