I could not sleep!

[Latoya Moss]

Last night, I did not sleep for a minute. I was watching the news coverage about the election and it hit me. We are going to have a Black President! Tonight, we will have a Black President! I repeat, Tonight, we are going to have a BLACK PRESIDENT! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever dream of having that. I didn't miss anything by not sleeping last night, because my dreams have come true. PRESIDENT OBAMA!!!!

What do you guys think about it?

[JenDeng]

Why is this all about race with you? Didn't you listen to Martin Luther King when he said to judge by a man's character, not the color of his skin? We are suppose to pick the president who will do the best for the country. Not just because he is black.

[Esther Battle]

I don't think she's saying she's only voting for him cause he's black. But I mean, you've gotta be proud that we're gonna have a black president. It's possible to support Obama for more than his race AND to have some black pride. I think Martin Luther King Jr. would have been just as proud, because his whole message was to overcome race, and if Obama wins this election it will mean that America is overcoming race.

[JenDeng]

"But I mean, you've gotta be proud that we're gonna have a black president."

That is the problem here. Why should we be proud because of a president being a certain race? I am proud of supporting a politician based on their policies. If I voted for an asian running for president, and they won, I would be proud that I voted someone based on principals. Not because of their race.

If McCain won, would it be fine for a white person to say that they are "proud" of McCain for winning because he is white?

[Mags]

It's not the same thing at all. I totally see your point in race not mattering, and it doesn't. I voted (well, pulled the lever for my mom) for Barack Obama for certain reasons, and none of them was race. But at the same time, the fact that a biracial man will be our president in a few short months is proof of how far our country has come. It'd be nice to entirely disregard race, but the fact is that racism is still out there, and the fact that we have overcome that is certainly something to be proud of.

I can't speak to Latoya's motivations for being thrilled about us having a black man as president, but that's why I'm proud. I'm proud that we've elected a president who politically I can stand up behind and makes me proud to be an American, and I'm also proud that we've overcome another barrier in the fight for total racial equality.

[Esther Battle]

Well, if a white person was all proud of McCain because he's white it would be different. Because ALL presidents have been white, so them being all proud would imply that they don't want a black person to be president. But Obama is the FIRST black president, and what that says to alot of, not just black, but colored people like myself is "Hey I can be whatever I wanna be! If Obama can be president so can I, and I can be all these other things too!" Before it didn't feel like that for alot of people because it had never happened before. I see what you're saying about voting for more than race, but having a black president is A HUGE deal, it means so much to alot of people and opens people's minds. It makes kids want to be the best that they can be.