Lone Star Lutheran

Issue date: 11/6/08 Section: Opinion

Josh Haby, staff writer [Click to enlarge]

So, it's over. What's been called potentially the most exciting and important presidential election of our lifetime has come to a close. Its not like it flew by though. Some say that it was the longest presidential race in U.S. history (Joe Biden announced he would seek the Democratic nomination in March 2006), and definitely the most expensive with an estimated $5.3 billion price tag, but the history doesn't stop there of course.

As has been drilled into our heads since the media picked up on it, no matter which of the two primary parties that would have been elected, their position would have broken barriers. SPOILER ALERT: We had our first viable African-American presidential candidate and our first viable female vice presidential candidate all in one race.

But what does this mean? It has been said that these developments have shattered gender and race issues, (I personally didn't get that memo, but my TLU Webmail has been acting up) but I am hesitant to give this election that much credit. Women are still paid less than men for doing the same work, and believe it or not, racism, prejudice and other injustices are and will still be out there for years to come.

My biggest fear is that these historical precedents will be overlooked and lost in the shuffle, or give society an "easy out" to dealing with two major issues of the day which combined affect a large portion of our population.

It simply isn't enough that we had our first black nominee or our first female vice presidential nominee. The issues run deeper than the influence that one person can hold. Racism, prejudice, and discrimination are historically rooted so deeply that they can't be overcome by the position one exemplary person holds.

This is true for race and sex, because all groups who are oppressed feel the plight for equality. Keep this in mind when someone asserts that we've overcome inequality because of November 4th. In the future, the generations to come may assert that this date was a turning point in American history, but we should realize that this is but a building block in the bridge toward equality.

Continued...

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