I grew up in the South. I was born in Baton Rouge, one of the last Public School districts in the South to be desegregated. I lived in Montgomery, the heart of the Civil Rights movement, for eight years. I travel down Selma Highway every time I go to the Airport. I have seen racism, both personal and institutional. I was raised to see people as human beings, not colors, but I know that I am not perfect, and I know that I have said and done things in the past that I'm not proud of.
If I could press a button, and turn the clock back on history for the purpose of preventing slavery and the hatred and oppression that African Americans have inured since before this country's founding, I would.
I did not vote for Barack Obama because he is Black. I voted for him because he is a great man. Kennedy has some pretty big shoes to fill. Calling Obama my generations's Kennedy would, in my opinion, limit his potential.
I'm betting that in thirty years, a candidate will come along that my son will consider his generation's Barack Obama.
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