Nicholas Zakas' Personal Blog A deviation from my usual tech writing

A new America

Unless you've been living in a cave, you've probably heard by now that Barack Obama has been elected President of the United States, making him the first non-white to hold the office. (Though actually, Bin Laden lives in a cave, and I bet he's heard by now, so no excuses.) Even though I've really had enough of the elections and the advertisements and the campaigning, I must admit that I was smiling as I watched Obama's victory speech. Don't get me wrong, I haven't been one of his biggest fans (not a huge McCain fan either), but watching him on stage I came to realize that this election was exactly what this country needed.

The United States has a public image problem. We used to be the good guy that helps everyone out and, at times, was a bit naive. In the past eight years, we've become the obnoxious asshole who throws his weight around, kisses your girlfriend in front of you, and beats up your brother because he looked at us funny. Under Bush, the anti-American sentiment that was a mere whisper eight years ago became a full-blown scream. When Sean Combs had gotten a bad rap in public, he changed his nickname; Snoop Dogg used to be a scary gangster and is now about as mainstream as Mickey Mouse. Public images can be changed and manipulated, but the best way to do that is not to say you're changing...it's to just do it.

Electing Barack Obama yesterday sent a message to the world that the United States is changing. We're moving past our racist origins and sending a minority to the White House. And the amazing thing about the election is that the issue of race rarely came up. If people didn't like Obama, they didn't like him because he was a socialist, or because he went to a church with a crazy minister, or because he was inexperienced; that says a lot about where we are as a people.

Just look at the excitement that this has released around the world. In Kenya, Obama's ancestral home, crowds erupted with cheers when the announcement was made. Thursday was declared a public holiday in Kenya because of the win and pride that Kenyans feel for having their genes in the White House. Imagine that. A different country celebrated an American President being elected. Remarkable. And Kenya isn't alone.

There are reports from all over the world about people being happy that Obama was elected. This is crazy. When people in other countries are happy about our new President who hasn't even taken office yet, imagine what it will be like in January. You can already feel the divide between us and the rest of the world already starting to shrink. It gives me hope that someday soon, we'll be able to meet many more countries at the negotiating table instead of at the end receiving end of a bomb.

It's only been 24 hours since Obama was elected, and the world has already reacted. Obama is more than just the next President of the Unites States. He's now a worldwide symbol of how anything is possible in America, and that democracy is so great because a country can completely change its public image and approach with each election. It's going to be a very interesting four years.