Change in Command for the Commander in Chief

It used to be that signs that America was getting past race were the kinds of things that could be shoved under the rug with “Yes, but.” Colin and Condoleeza? Yes, but – they served an unpopular Republican administration: not what many would term “authentically” black, you know. The Cinderella TV special in 1997 with Brandy as Cinderella and no one batting an eye? Yes, but – that was “just entertainment.” The crossover success of Michael Jackson? Yes, but – well, you know.

And there was some Yesbutting about Barack Obama not so very long ago. White mother, Indonesia, Ivy credentials – the authenticity thing again: is he “really” black? And if he isn’t, then white people liking him doesn’t mean a thing about America getting past race (i.e. racism).

But we got past that. Obama’s wife is quite authentically black right down to dark skin. No one would question the black bona fides of Obama’s notorious ex-pastor Jeremiah Wright. And it turned out that the man can bust a move – the black-inflected oratory he can slide into is, I truly believe, 50% of why he got elected. Not just black people but white people – at least the Stuff White People Like sort – eat it up just like they love hiphop.

And so here we are with a black man – and a “real” one – who will be not a cabinet member, not the head of some boring corporation, not mayor of some ailing big city, not a talk show host, but the leader of the free world.

No more “Is America ready?” No more obsessing over unenlightened whites in diners saying they won’t vote for a black man. Of course racism still exists. But is America’s main problem still “the color line” as W.E.B. DuBois had it? Upon examining that question, we must now keep front and center that America’s president is black.

As of that awesome Tuesday night in November, I knew my future children would grow up in an America definitively different from the one I have known. As they grow up they will be perplexed that anyone’s response, seeing Obama elected, would be “Yes, but.” When the president of the United States of America is a black person, the proper response is just Yes.