Change We Can Believe In

In the early 1940's my dad was sent to Biloxi Mississippi for basic training. One day, on leave, he took the bus into town. Being exhausted he took the only available seat. People glared at him. The bus did not move. Finally, someone yelled "No whites in the back." My father, confused, then embarrassed moved to the front and stood. He was a young kid from the Bronx and had never heard of this policy.

Today, over sixty years later, my dad is proud to watch the swearing in of our first African American president. He is happy to have lived long enough to see the hatred he saw first hand in Biloxi gone.

One of the African American males in one of my classes proudly held up the first page of a newspaper and proudly hailed the first African American president. The kid said something slightly obscene afterwards and I told him what he said was an insult to the man who has become our next president. He surprisingly agreed with me and sat down quietly. I then said, Obama might be the first but he won't be the last! The kid smiled from ear to ear and got to work.

The speech was broadcast throughout the school. I usually hate anything that wastes class time, but this was good way to spend time. This was history in the making.