Now that your president is black...

Dating back to slavery, blacks have been taught to feel and believe that they were the inferior race. We were taught to think that we could not accomplish anything on our own and that we would never compare to the other races. During the civil rights movement, there were leaders of all nationalities joining together to help us lift our voices and fight for our rights as United States citizens. President Lyndon B. Johnson said, "The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men." Now, forty-four years after President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Americans have finally opened their hearts to accepting difference and elected its first black president.

During his inaugural address, President Barack Obama stressed his hope that citizens of the United States of America could accept the various cultures. He suggests that his winning the presidency could help to tear down some of the previous stereotypes and problems in the nation. "For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace." President Obama has touched a lot of lives through his speeches and newly elected position as President of the United States. People have been affected from all areas of the world and have developed a new sense of hope.

"It's basically a sign to African-Americans to wake up and not limit ourselves because of stereotypes and the past. I'm not going to settle for anything less than perfection. I'm going to strive to better myself in every way because one day I will be on top," said junior music major Leroy Cook.

We must all rally together as a people and as a country and do our best to make this country as great as we can make it. That is achieved through service, treating each other with respect and dignity and becoming closer together as a country.

Malcolm X said in his "The Ballot or the Bullet" speech during 1964 that we as black people could not consider ourselves Americans because of how deprived we were of our rights. Now, several years later, we as a race have proved that we do in fact deserve a place in society and we as citizens have proved that it is possible to set our racial differences aside and come together. Rabbi Alexander M. Shapiro expanded on the importance of all people having a voting voice saying, "The vote demonstrates that we accept the notion that all human beings are created in the image of God and have an equal right to preach and teach the word of God." We should have learned after the historic election of 2008 that we are all the same. We all have goals, dreams, aspirations, families, and careers; we all desire the best for our children and lengthy lives for our elders. It was time that we all recognized that we are more similar than different. President Obama came at the perfect time and he is the right leader to wake up America. Hopefully, he will be more than just a positive image for the United States and actually make changes in our structure and policies.

Now that Barack Obama is officially the 44th President of the United States, I am more than elated to consider myself as an equal American. After living for years in doubt of our acceptance and worth, we can now come together, hold our heads high, and sing the national anthem while truly feeling a part of such a great nation. His presidency means hope in the black community; it means love among the various races, and it means general change within the country. This election is only the beginning. The country has started a new chapter--- just as it did after the Revolutionary War, reconstruction, and the civil rights movement. It is time that we all help change the country for the better by doing our parts, so that we can guarantee we leave behind great things for our future generations.