It's a great day!

I woke up yesterday a bit melancholic. I've been thinking of how bittersweet it must be for President Bush to be ending his years in office. In the 7 years since 9/11, other countries have had horrific attacks at the hands of terrorists, but we have remained safe. Many on the African continent credit him for contributing more to the fight against HIV/AIDS than any other American President. And Iraq is on its way to democratic freedom. Yet he has endured such vitriol from his critics. Although I have been quite disappointed in many of his decisions, I feel for the guy. And I admire the fact that no matter how vile the criticisms have been, he has not deigned to return tit for tat. He has managed to be rather gracious in how he treats the media and other critics.

The melancholic mood continued as I heard excerpts of Obama's inaugural address. He said many encouraging things, yet at the same time, included many thinly veiled jabs at President Bush. I understood that criticism of Bush was all part of the campaign process, to distinguish how he would bring change. But I didn't think it was necessary in an inaugural address. It just didn't seem Presidential.

So I entered work stewing a bit. But then the first person I encountered was one of my colleagues, who wears his bleeding heart liberal convictions not just on his sleeve, but across his forehead. He was absolutely beaming as he bounced down the hall toward me. "Happy Inauguration Day!" he declared. Taken by surprise, I returned, "It's a historic day," because I truly believed it was. "No," he replied, "It's a GREAT day!" And he continued merrily along his way.

All day I took in the excitement of the people around me, particularly those who are underrepresented minorities in the dental school. And as I took my usual news break at lunch time, I was pleasantly surprised by how positive the conservative blogsphere was about the historicity of this event. And so I started focusing more on the mere fact that this country, which is reported to be hindered in some ways by the stain of slavery, just swore in a black President. I started telling myself that it WAS a great day. Now don't get me wrong. I still have some serious reservations about some of President Obama's policy stances, particularly that of the Freedom of Choice Act. But those reservations are irrelevant to his race. I am hopeful that this moment in history will communicate something significant about the attitudes Americans have about race and that we can start putting the past (and some aspects of the present) behind us to move into the future that this election has hinted at.

At the end of the work day, I made my way down the hall toward my parking lot and heard the familiar jovial greeting of the elderly black gentleman who collects my trash. "Hello Dr Clare," he drawled, as is his habit. "Hello, Mr Jackson. It's a great day, isn't it?" I offered instinctively without stopping to consider to whom I was speaking. "Yes it is," he replied, flashing a demurely triumphant smile. And I was so glad that my greeting had come without pretense.

Clarice