Barack Obama Not the First Black President

While many Americans are proud that we have elected a new president. Obama may not be the first of a black man to hold the high esteemed office of president of the USA. There had been a previous president nicknamed by his opponents as "Abraham Africanus the First". You may remember him as Abraham Lincoln. Many books have been written about Lincoln as I am certain will be written about Obama.

While living in a country of equality for all people. It has never ceases to amaze me how the media seems to find great significance in the fact that Obama does have some black heritage. Certainly if we look at many of our past presidents we may find that they were also products of the great melting pot of which we call the USA. While they may not have used their grandmothers blackness to become elected.The fact was probably hidden from the public so they could get elected.

When we were in school in the 60s, our teachers told us that one day we would elect a black president. We did not see the significance of the color of a persons skin or their up bringing as to the type of person that they would become. We were in an all white school in the mid-west. We seldom had seen or talked to a black person in our lives nor had our parents. So the only opinion that we could really have is the one we were taught at home and from our teachers.

Black, brown, red, yellow or white we all have the same personal and civil responsibilities to our personal self, family and our community. The responsibility starts at home and it starts with taking responsibility for your own actions. Many of us think that the government is going to change things for the betterment of our lifes. I have not seen to much of this type of activity from our government in my life time. Although Its always nice to be optimistic about the future. It is also prudent to be realistic and look at past performance. The government in the USA has always seemed to have the answers, but these days with the internet and the access to all types of information pro and con. You would think the people would get a better handle on government instead of government having a handle on them.