We've Come A Long Way

While watching the inaugural parade yesterday, I was struck by the broad and wonderful diversity of this country. This country is made up of all kinds of people coming from all kinds of cultures. And while some may not believe it, that is the true strength of this nation -- that so many different races and cultures can come together as one. And President Barack Obama has brought together a diverse coalition as no other president ever has.

It was important that President Obama was elected in 2008 -- but his re-election in 2012 was even more important. It showed that 2008 was not a fluke, but the wishes of a broad coalition of all kinds of Americans. We have talked in the past about this country being a "melting pot" -- but that has never been more true than it is today.

We have come a long way in this country -- from the days of slavery and then Jim Crowism, from the time when women couldn't vote or own property, from the time when homosexuality was a crime, from the days of a terrible genocide committed against the Native Americans, from the time when workers had no rights and were completely at the mercy of greedy corporate moguls, and from the time when the only acceptable belief was christianity.

This does not mean we have completed our journey toward equal rights and justice for all Americans. There is still a long way to go before that is accomplished. But the re-election of President Obama by a broad and diverse coalition of Americans does show that we have come a long way from the bad old days.

Let us now renew our determination to complete the journey to equality, justice, and freedom for all.