Coucou !
HOW FAR WE'VE COME


D)2. Why was Obama's election such a powerful symbol ?
Explain the significance of the expression "Yes, we were" (l/29)



Two hundred twenty-one years ago, the Founding Fathers wrote into the U.S. Constitution that slaves were to be counted as three-fifths of a human being in the representative democracy that was being born.

One hundred and forty-seven years ago, the states of the South launched the Civil War to defend the free white citizen's power to hold others in bondage.

One hundred and twelve years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that laws consigning blacks to "separate but equal" facilities were constitutional.

Forty years ago, a presidential candidate won the votes of 10 million Americans despite having declared, as governor of Alabama: "I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say, segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."

And, today, this nation - so haunted by the original sin of slavery, so riven by the torments of race and yet so dedicated to the ideal that all men are created equal - has elevated a black man to the presidency.

We are the beneficiaries of our better angels - while seeming in no small measure surprised that they have won out. The question asked time and again over the last two years has been answered:

Americans were ready after all - "yes, we were" - to welcome a black man to the White House.

Sixty-one years ago, Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Fifty-two years ago, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man.

Forty-four years ago, Lyndon Johnson pushed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Congress and followed with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Forty years ago, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his life.

Twenty-four years ago, Oprah Winfrey got a TV talk show.

Eighteen years ago, David Dinkins became mayor of America's largest city.

And this morning, Barack Obama is President-elect.

Fortunate are the children of all backgrounds who will grow up more trusting of, if not taking for granted, America's commitment to rewarding merit regardless of skin color.

Fortunate are the members of older generations who suffered, or witnessed, the cruelties of racism - and may now take heart that a more just day has arrived.

Fortunate are all the people of good faith - white, black and other - who have struggled to reach common ground across the racial divide.

It is a glory that so much of the American electorate of 2008 chose Obama neither because of his heritage nor despite it. They went with this son of a Kenyan father and a white mother because of the quality of his person and his approaches to the issues.

Did some whites view Obama's race as a plus? No doubt, but only after they liked what he said, for example, about pulling out of Iraq. Did many blacks take special pride in pulling the lever? Absolutely, but they never did so in such numbers for other black candidates. Did some people vote against Obama based on race? Sure.

But far, far many more agreed that Obama had the better ideas for leading a country in need of a comeback, so many more that Obama likely scored more votes than any presidential candidate in history.

The indisputable truth is that Obama did not run for President as a black man or as a candidate dedicated to racial grievances. He ran as a Harvard Law-educated U.S. senator who was, incidentally, a person of color. And he did so with grace even when his relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright came to the fore.

At the same time, no one should ever forget that John McCain had the wisdom and decency never to exploit racial fears. He competed with an honor befitting the man he is.

This was an election that surely would have delighted King, and of which all Americans - Democrats and Republicans - can be proud. We will continue to debate and joust while knowing that the nation has taken a huge step toward fulfilling King's dream.

We judged Barack Obama by the content of his character.
merci bocou !