Digesting History

Barack Obama's victory this week is already being dissected by historians the world over. What does and doesn't it mean? Will his administration reshape the American economy on the model of Canadian or European social democracies? He could be vague when talking about his policy on the campaign trail. Will he wean the American economy off of the industrial-military complex? Will he try to renegotiate trade deals? Will the US join the International Criminal Court while convincing Russia, China and India to do the same?

It will be interesting to see how Obama balances his promise of change with his vow to work with the Republican opposition. Regardless of what his policies will be, his election has certainly marked a watershed in American history, illustrated by his supporters in cities across America, who were dancing in the streets until the wee hours of November 5^th. I was among the revelers on the revitalized U street in Washington, DC, and witnessed first hand the historical significance of his election.

What can be inferred from these celebrations is not that the balance of power has shifted from right to left; how much he governs to the left of center remains to be seen. More importantly, however, Americans have rejected a recent trend in anti-intellectualism by electing the first truly academic, with a genuine intellectual complexity not seen since Jimmy Carter.

On U Street last Tuesday night and on Wednesday morning, the young and educated, or what some might call “the Creative Class” was well represented amongst the party goers. And if you believe in the Creative Class, their contentedness with the election's result represents a silver lining on an otherwise gloomy economic outlook.

Another obvious historical milestone passed was one marking a major improvement in American race relations. As if Obama's skin color doesn't make it obvious enough, the black Washingtonians out celebrating on Tuesday night did.

Symbolically, the U Street corridor, or Black Broadway, as it was once known, has sadly bared for too many years the scars of riots from the aftermath of Martin Luther King's assassination in 1968. Though the revitalization of such areas (read: gentrification) is not without its problems, one cannot deny that the quality of life along the U Street corridor has improved since sixty-eight, despite bumps in the road along the way. Obama's election, along with the throngs of happy people, both black and white, proves that the quality of life for blacks in the US has gradually increased over the past 40 years, thus improving race relations. Tuesday's celebration was America at its finest: never in most of our lifetimes has there ever been a public display of racial harmony that was so widespread, joyful and genuine. Blacks can make it to the top, after all.

And it wasn't only Americans who were celebrating. All around the world people celebrated. And at the corner of 12^th and U street, a group of Ethiopians signing and dancing (much better than us Americans, I might add), for me, was symbolic of America regaining its respectability around the world.

It was just one of many symbolic expressions of ecstasy, which temporarily silenced both America's most conservative and detestable elements, and its staunchest critics alike.