Within the framework of the mission of the National Underground Railroad Center, the election of Barack Obama as the first person of color to be President of the United States is of surpassing historical importance.

For many citizens — whites as well as blacks — the election signals the healing of a long-festering wound in our national psyche: the wound of the legacy of slavery that for too long prevented African Americans from fully participating as equal members of society.   The promise of equality, as it emerged in the aftermath of the Civil War 143 years ago, was delayed, postponed and opposed until passage of landmark civil rights legislation in the 1960s.  But even then, rights guaranteed in the law did not always or everywhere translate into full acceptance or acknowledgment.  While voters claimed that they had gotten “over race,” it was clear from the meager number of blacks elected to national office (only one African American U.S. Senator in the 20th Century) that the white majority, for whatever reason, could not or would not affirm the principle of racial equality.  Just how much of a struggle it has been for blacks in America to achieve equality is poignantly described in this New York Times article.

Today, with the nation grappling with two wars and confronting an economic crisis that is prompting fear of another Great Depression, voters have placed their confidence and trust in a man with an inspiring vision of hope and inclusion and a clear purpose to bring the nation together in common cause.  The parallel to another, now distant time, is worth remarking upon:  in 1861, with the United States in crisis, voters turned to a man with inspiring vision and clear purpose to prevent the nation from splitting apart.  Abraham Lincoln, from Illinois, became the nation’s 16th President and set in motion actions that not only changed the course of history, but opened the long, winding path that has now culminated in the election of an African American as President of the United States.

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There is much analysis and opinion online and in print about the meaning and significance of the Presidential election.  Tom Friedman’s column in the New York Times is especially relevant in the way he links Obama’s election to America’s long struggle with the vestiges of slavery.  Also, here’s an editorial from Galesburg, Illinois, about the symbolic meaning of Obama’s victory.

“Our nation’s racial wounds have not disappeared, but in one day — Nov. 4, 2008 — Americans put distance between the horrors and civil injustices that haunt our past.”  Tom Martin, Editor, Galesburg (IL) Register-Mail

We welcome your thoughts on this historic moment.  Please post your comments and thoughts about what this election means to you.

Earlier this week, we posted a commentary on the Freedom Blog suggesting that race — although talked about by the news media as a potential issue in the Presidential election — would probably not play a significant role in how voters choose between Barack Obama and John McCain (at least in the views of most political observers).

We should have known better, it appears.  With just five days left in the election campaign, race is becoming a hot topic.

You don’t have to look far for the evidence.  On Wednesday, an effigy of Obama was found hanging from a tree on the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington.  Police are investigating, and UK and state officials all expressed outrage and embarrassment over the incident.  At a McCain rally in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, demonstrators were videotaped uttering contempt for Obama . . . with one man shockingly suggesting that if the Illinois Senator became President, he might soon be shot.

It is worth emphasizing that GOP nominee McCain has and continues to condemn these kinds of outbursts.  He told CNN’s Larry King that in his view, only a “teeny, tiny” minority of people will vote solely on the basis of race, and that economic worries are by far the overriding issue of the election.  Political observers also point out that race could in fact propel Obama to victory as African Americans flock to the polls to cast their ballots overwhelmingly for the Democratic candidate.

Still, a truism of today’s political environment is that anyone (whether part of a candidate’s campaign or simply acting on their own) can access the megaphone of the media spotlight or the Internet to inject prejudice, hate or fear into the quadrennial Presidential election event.  A young white woman who faked an attack by an African American man got her 15 minutes of fame in the national news media, and soon faded from view.  Yes there are undoubtedly some (many?) people who heard or read about the incident and took it to heart as confirming their worst fears about people not like them.

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, attempting to create a dialogue about race, chimed in with a column quoting at length from a research study indicating that many people subconsciously believe that dark or black skinned people are “foreign,” or “less American,” and that this perception could impact the Nov. 4 voting.  Incredibly, the research found that respondents — California college students — perceived that Obama was less an American than former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Kristof concludes his column by suggesting that the 2008 election “creates an opportunity” for serious discussion about “the murky complexities of race.”  That’s a noble — necessary — goal.  But as the election draws to a close, it is becoming increasingly likely that voters will have to first endure a last minute assault of racial animosity and fear as they decide whether to take the historic step of electing a man of color to the White House.

Postscript:

The latest NY Times/CBS national poll (which indicates a 51% to 40% Obama lead), shows that Obama’s candidacy has changed some perceptions of race in America. Quoting from the Times:  “Nearly two-thirds of those polled said that white and black people have an equal chance of getting ahead in today’s society, up from the half who said that they thought so in July. And while 14 percent still said that most people they know would not vote for a black presidential candidate, a question pollsters often ask to try to gauge bias, the number has dropped considerably since the campaign began.”

The 2008 Presidential election has captured the world’s attention. What is especially compelling this year is that, for the first time, an African American candidate has won the nomination of a major political party.

The selection of Barack Obama as the Democratic Party nominee was the culmination of an intense and lengthy political process that brought unprecedented focus on the age, gender, religion, culture, and race of the various candidates of both parties. It’s also spurred any number of news articles probing the question of race in America, and whether Obama’s candidacy will help foster meaningful dialogue on racial issues, or lead to further divisions.

These questions will be at the heart of a Community Forum at the Freedom Center on September 2. “Moving Beyond Race in the Presidential Election” will explore the news media’s influence on attitudes about race through the filter of the 2008 Presidential campaign. Hosted by Senior Curator Carl Westmoreland, the forum will feature three local media panelists:

Peter Bronson, editorial columnist for the Cincinnati Enquirer;

Jeri Tolliver, radio host on 1230 The Buzz;

Michele Hopkins, reporter, WLWT Channel 5.

The forum will be held in the Harriet Tubman Theater from 6 - 8 p.m. It is free and open to the public. For more information about Community Forums please contact acorley@nurfc.org or 513.333.7518.

With less than 100 days to go before the November election, presumptive Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain are gearing up for their party’s nominating conventions and the final post-Labor Day campaign push.

We’ve been examining both men’s positions on human trafficking and have found — not altogether surprisingly — that neither of the candidates or their campaigns are focusing much time or attention on trafficking-related issues. That doesn’t mean, however, that Senators McCain and Obama are ignoring the issue. On the contrary, both men do have a record of public comments and positions that address (sometimes directly, sometimes obliquely) human trafficking and contemporary slavery. It’s just that in an election in which economic, environmental and foreign policy issues will continue to dominate the political dialog, human trafficking is not likely to become a “hot button” issue.

A closer look at their campaigns reveals that of the two, John McCain has been the most specific in mentioning trafficking as an issue of concern. His overall position was outlined in a speech in May. In it, McCain discussed his “vision for protecting human freedom and dignity,” which contains several elements, among them the creation of a governmental Inter-agency Task Force to better coordinate government policy on human trafficking. The speech did not explain how this proposal differs from an inter-agency task force authorized in the 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act and later manifested in the creation, in 2003, of a senior working level group called the Senior Policy Operating Group (SPOG), which meets quarterly.

McCain also has advocated increased disclosure requirements for web-based companies to enable law enforcement to better track down child porn, human trafficking and illegal sex businesses that often solicit customers — and victims — online.

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