A Historic Night for Obama and Our Nation

There is no attempt on my part in this item to tell you who to vote for... or vote against.

You'll decide that for yourself when you step into the voting booth this November 4th.

It's my personal reflection on a huge event in American history that's happened this night in Denver, Colorado at the Democratic National Convention.

47-year-old Barack Obama of Illinois has received the Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States.

For the first time in the history of either major political party, that nominee is an African American. Other blacks have run for the nomination, but none have made it to the place in history where Obama now stands.

While race relations still have plenty of room for improvement, the event tonight in Denver is a positive reflection of how far our country has come in treating and respecting each other, our talents and abilities.

Think about how different we are as a nation in 2008, compared to 1968.

In 1968, I was a student at Orange Junior High School in Hillsborough, North Carolina.

Until I entered junior high, the only black people I knew were those who lived in my neighborhood and worked the tobacco fields on my family's farm or were customers at my grandfather's country store. We were cordial and greeted each other by name, but we didn't really talk. We just worked, and there was a lot of work to do.

In junior high, a poised, intelligent young lady was my first black classmate. She was an outstanding student.

And no wonder. Her mom and dad both had college degrees. Both held jobs of responsibility and respect in the community.

At that point in my life, I knew almost no one whose parents both had college degrees.

More friendships with black classmates developed while I played basketball on the school team during the 7th, 8th and 9th grades.

When I was on the 8th grade team, I was mesmerized by the talents of one 9th grade player, a black student. Mike's abilities far surpassed those of anyone on our teams or any team our school played. It seemed he never missed a shot. His vertical jump was amazing. He glided up and down the court.

He was the big man on campus.

During a road trip to play a school in neighboring Durham, I got a first-hand view of the racism Mike endured in his life, despite his athletic skill. Both our teams creamed the competition. I even saw Mike effortlessly, deliberately hit a shot from halfcourt... in the opposing team's basket, two points for them. His coach asked him why he did it, and Mike replied with a smile, "Because they needed it!"

Later when our very happy teams boarded the bus for home, a fan of the opposing team yelled an insult at Mike (you can imagine what must've been said). As Mike came to the window to face the person, someone threw a lit cigarette at him. It hit Mike in the chest. Moments later, Mike was about to storm off the bus, probably straight into a fight. He was restrained by teammates. As the door slammed and the bus quickly drove away, I could hear the people outside hitting it.

A terrible cloud was cast over what should've been a celebration of our team's victories and Mike's talents.

To be treated with such disrespect was just plain wrong.

I have no idea what became of Mike. But I hope he never had to endure another night like that.

Those were also the days when the local farm supply store where my family did business had separate "white" and "colored" restrooms and water fountains.

Our society has changed tremendously since those days, and those changes have made us stronger as a nation and brought us closer to God as a people.

Tonight's events in Denver are the latest example of that change, and one of the strongest.

Labor Day marks the traditional start of the political season, and it should be a good one, a contest like no other our country has seen.

I can't begin to predict who will win. But it'll be fun to watch and report.

Just make sure you're registered and you vote.

It would be disgraceful for our country to come so far and its people not get in the game.