Dear President-Elect Obama,
There arise times in the history of a nation when new
leadership is desperately needed, times when the people have lost their way and
become cynical, weary of the very role of "citizen." At such times people all but lose hope for a government they
can trust, a government unstained by lies and corruption. But then sometimes events conspire so
that a new leader comes forward, someone who embodies a future that could be
different from the past. This new
leader says--not just by his words, but by all that he symbolizes--that the old
will be passing away, and that a new order is ready to be born. It appears to many of us that you are
such a leader.
Much will be asked of you. In your person, you embody a nation that is
multi-colored. You embody
youth. You embody the opportunity
that these United States has long offered those who come from lowly
circumstances. You embody the
unity that has evaded our country for long years.
The fact that you are African American will bring a measure
of hope and healing to the woundedness this nation has long endured because of
our history of slavery and our heritage of racism. African American children will be able to dream dreams which
seemed improbable in the past, but possible now. And we should not underestimate the symbolic power of the
election of an African American as President of the United States to the rest
of our world, mostly non-white, and too often colonized by whites.
You cannot be all things to all people. No leader can. But I wish to tell you of my dreams for
a better day, and ask for your bold leadership:
--I dream of a time when I can trust the words that come
from the mouth of my President.
--I dream of a time when workers get their fair share of
reward for their labor.
--I dream of a time when our nation lives within our means.
--I dream of a time when peace gets as much attention as
defense.
--I dream of a time when justice is tempered with mercy and
reconciliation.
--I dream of a time when our tax system allows a fair
distribution of the wealth of this nation.
--I dream of a time when no one in our land will be hungry
or homeless.
--I dream of a time when health care, education, and housing
are rights, not privileges.
--I dream of a time when the long-term good of the many trumps the short-term good
of the few, and the earth is treated as sacred.
--I dream of a time when our foreign policy has such
integrity that we become a respected moral force among nations.
I know this: you will be pressured by immense forces which
will work against reform, and that bold, new ways of thinking will be attacked
by those who have been greatly rewarded by the present system. You must be wise enough to include all
voices without being dominated by any.
You must be strong enough to speak truth to power. You must be soft enough to bend when
you need to be flexible, but never to compromise your dearest values.
I know that you, or no one leader, can accomplish this
change alone. So I pledge my
support on the ground. I will
continue to do my part to allow these dreams to become reality. There is no good reason why they
cannot, if enough of us wish that and work for it.
God bless you, and God bless America.
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