A NEW ERA

Congratulations! Barrack Obama has done it, he has won the 2008 Presidential Election by beating Senator McCain and in the process become the first ever black president in the 232 years history of the United States of America. The people of the US are in euphoria with their newly elected president who represents change and new ways of administrating the US and the world affairs.

We in the third world countries are also hoping that with the departure of Bush and his people, the US would hopefully change for the better especially in their foreign policy which has caused so much problems to other countries. We hope the US will be more responsible and not biased in dealing with certain countries especially Islamic countries and stop using the instrument of war to pressure and bully others into compliance. Wars should not be used to distract the people from the real issues at home and to cover the administration weakness to handle the economy which has put the US on the brink of the worst recession since 1930. The US also should stop lumping together all the Arabs and Islamic countries into stereotyped grouping as terrorist states, thus putting a barrier for better relationship in the future. Mr Obama hopefully will not walk down this path and make the same mistakes his predesessors had done in the past especially with the background that he has growing up in the Muslim majority Indonesia and having a Kenyan origin.

We also hope the US will be really impartial in solving the Middle East conflict between Israel and Palestin which is really the source of all the militant movements in the Middle East and Arab countries. Should Mr Obama sings the same songs like the previous Presidents in the peace accord which leaning toward Israel, i am afraid there will be no end to the conflict. The problem of terrorism ( fighting for freedom to the Palestinians) needs to be solved at the root and hopefuly Mr Obama understands this and have the courage and charisma to gain support among his countrymen in the Congress to solve it once and for all.

The victory of Barrack Obama is the victory for the colored people and defeat for white supremacy in the US. The Black people have been treated with indifference for so long even before the civil wars in the 1700s up to the mid 60s and the present day. I remember when i was growing up in the early 60s, the black movement were very active in order to gain equal rights. They were discriminated almost everywhere. There were White bars only, in buses the black sit on one side and white on the other, up to World War 2 there were no black soldiers batallion except the Triple Nickle Battalion 555 Paratroopers, even then they were not allowed to fight in the WW2. Names like Malcom x and Martin Luther King are the symbols of the fight to gain equal rights, unfortunately they died at the hands of those who wished to keep the status quo. But now, i guess the Americans have matured after 232 years of independence in choosing a person based on his leadership qualities, his visions and hope that he can bring America into greatness again and liked by the whole world.

We hope Mr Obama can fulfill his promises he gave throughout his campaign trail and bring positive changes to America. The world is watching and hoping that this is the beginning of a new era.