The world waits with bated breath

Dear Editor,

Senator Barack Obama’s meteoric rise to political stardom may seem short to some, but his journey to the White House was undoubtedly initiated by his illustrious predecessors decades ago. The list is long, but names that immediately come to mind are Rosa Parks, James Meredith, the late, great and incomparable Martin Luther King and others too numerous to mention; they certainly paved the way for this unique human being. I firmly believe that his destiny in the Oval Office cannot be denied.

This 2008 US presidential election is regarded around the world as the most momentous in living memory, perhaps ever. Incidentally, it was Robert Kennedy after the assassinations of his brother, President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King who predicted that there would be a Black in the White House in the next forty years. Sadly he also did not survive an assassin’s bullet to witness that distinct possibility. In 1958 the Gallup Poll asked this question of the America electorate:

If your party nominated a generally well qualified person for the presidency who happened to be a Catholic a Jew, a Woman, a Negro or an Atheist, how  would you vote? 53% said they would vote against a “Negro” candidate.  Today the reverse is true. The entire world is waiting for November 5, 2008 with bated breath.

Yours faithfully,
Lloyd Davidson