History Made

Yes, we all know that history was made on November 4, 2008 with the election of Barack Obama. But, we all need to remember the milestones in American history that brought us to this point. Some, certainly not all, of those moments:

• The slave ships that arrived in Jamestown in the early 1600s
• The election of Abraham Lincoln, a devastating Civil War, and the 13th Amendment
• Jim Crow
• Harry Truman desegregating the Armed Forces
• Brown v. Board of Education and other cases fought and won by the NAACP
• Jackie Robinson
• The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s which produced the Civil Rights Acts and, vitally important, the Voting Rights Act that empowered all Americans to participate in their democracy
• The election of African-Americans to more and more offices at the local, state, and national levels - including the historic election of Doug Wilder as Governor of Virginia.

Sure this list could be longer and more inclusive, but you get the point. Barack Obama's victory is the latest, but not the last, step in our nation's promise to live up to our finest ideals of equality and government of the people, by people, and for the people. "Yes We Can"

Yes, November 4, 2008 will be always remembered as one of the finest moments in American history. But, please remember all the other fine moments that made this day possible.