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Stu Bykofsky: My first post-racial column: America is on the ascent

TO CELEBRATE the historic election of Barack Hussein Obama, America's post-racial candidate, I will write my first post-racial column. I was going to open by calling the names of the race merchants who look at America, warts and all, and see only the warts.

TO CELEBRATE the historic election of Barack Hussein Obama, America's post-racial candidate, I will write my first post-racial column.

I was going to open by calling the names of the race merchants who look at America, warts and all, and see only the warts.

I was going to tell them to sit down and shut up because a country - this one - that has just elected its first black president cannot fairly be accused of systemic racism.

Then, an editor suggested that if I named names, I was being mean-spirited.

Exactly! Just as mean-spirited, and

evil, as those who wildly exaggerated our racial problems.

That's not being post-racial, said the editor.

To gain his historic victory, Obama did what Ronald Reagan did in 1980 - he waved the magic wand of optimism to pull votes out of the "enemy" camp. He created a mandate to lead America - all colors, all ages, all faiths, all states.

In Philadelphia, Obama racked up 83 percent of the vote. When the race was called, spontaneous, joyous celebrations broke out in the streets. It was like the World Series, without rally towels. It was like the Million Man March, with whites.

Last week, Philly got the sports monkey off our backs. This week, America got the race monkey off its
 
back.

Good thing, because in the opinion of some alarmists, black people would have rioted had Obama fallen short. Why does this old(er) white guy have more confidence in African-Americans than some black columnists?

I'm not blind. America still has racists, just as some dogs have fleas. America has anti-Semites. America has those who hate blacks and Asians and Hispanics and Laplanders.

Every nation mistreats minorities in some way. Sadly, it's human nature. The important questions are these: Is the discrimination sanctioned by the government, or opposed by it? Does hate reflect the majority, or the minority?


 
In America, law opposes the hateful minority.

We've always had bigots, the ugly Americans, but they are on the descent. America the beautiful is on the ascent.

Obama is our living, skinny, jug-eared proof.

Every - and I mean every - wave of immigrants has been greeted with derision and discrimination by (some) earlier-arriving immigrants. We even managed to discriminate against the people who were here first - native Americans.

In Philadelphia, we had anti-Catholic riots in 1844. Catholics rose up, got educated, fought back and moved into the mainstream. Italians were discriminated against and fought back. Jews followed in their footsteps, and so did African-Americans. Philadelphia is on its third black mayor. Is skin color a real issue to the vast majority any more?

None of this minimizes some of America's bad behavior, which is actually bad behavior by some Americans. When it falls on you, it's not trivial.

But as Obama said Tuesday night, to those who question "the dream of the Founders . . . tonight is your answer."

America's never-ending quest for equality is not over with Obama's election. There remains work for America and Americans to do. We are up to it.

America is a like a big college fraternity. When new "pledges" come along, whether from Senegal or South America, they get hazed. I don't like it, I wish it weren't so, but it is.

"Outsiders" everywhere get the short end of the stick until they "prove" themselves. In many countries, they never can.

In America, they can.

Barack Obama just did.

All Americans should be proud. *

E-mail stubyko@phillynews.com or call 215-854-5977. For recent columns:

http://go.philly.com/byko.