Obama and America Make History – Obama’s Victory Heals

Friday  November 7,  2008

For over 200 years America needed and struggled to emancipate herself from its racist past, to flip its dark page and opt for a brighter future.

Emancipate she did!

On Tuesday, November 4, American voters flocked to the polling places from “sea to shining sea” in droves and elected their first ever African-American President.

The long-fought presidential race came to an end in the early hours of the election night, when Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois defeated his Republican opponent Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

Having resoundingly surpassed the 270 mark in Electoral College votes, Sen. Obama was declared the projected winner by CNN, FOX, ABC, CBS and NBC/MSNBC. The historic moment rang in at 8 o’clock Pacific time to the cheers of millions of Obama supporters, including millions of Armenian Americans across the United States and the Diaspora.

The election ended graciously thanks to both the defeated candidate Sen. McCain and victorious candidate, now President-Elect Obama.

In his concession speech, Sen. McCain, exhibiting a noble spirit, said: “A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him. (BOOING) Please! To congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love. … This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight. … America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.”

President-Elect Obama in his usual, much-admired temperament graciously declared: “Senator McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he’s fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him; I congratulate Governor (Sarah) Palin for all that they’ve achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.”

The 2008 U.S. presidential election shattered several records and eliminated numerous misconceptions.

It attracted an unprecedented number of young, African-American, middle-aged, female and other minority voters.

It also set aside the false notion that the so-called “Bradley effect” would obstruct the election of a Black candidate to the Oval Office, the highest position of the Land. In fact something opposite happened: The Obama bandwagon effect emerged and broke through the long-entrenched social barriers.

In an October 24 article published in USA Armenian Life Magazine and broadcast on the worldwide web, this writer predicted “America will make the highest and best use of this historic opportunity to emancipate itself from its racist past, by not letting the narrow and misguided racist alarms affect the outcome of this groundbreaking presidential election. … Just like the saying goes ‘anything is possible in America.’ Despite its many hardships, America continues to be the land of opportunity.”

President-Elect Obama said: “If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. … It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled, Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. … We are, and always will be, the United States of America.”

Under Obama, America has a unique opportunity to free itself from yet another dark page. “The long and painful tenure of one of the most anti-Armenian U.S. administrations is finally coming to an end. Armenian-Americans, along with most Americans and the rest of the world, are fed up with the Bush-Cheney team and their bellicose neo-con agenda. The list of blunders committed by the Bush administration is very long: the invasion of Iraq based on false premises, mismanaging the U.S. economy with the national debt reaching ten trillion dollars, and taking deeply offensive positions on key Armenian issues,” wrote Harut Sassounian, the Publisher of the California Courier on the eve of the election.

“After promising to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide during his first campaign, Pres. Bush failed to keep his word. … Furthermore, he recalled U.S. Ambassador John Evans from Armenia, simply because he had the courage to tell the truth about the Armenian Genocide. … Sen. Obama, long before running for the Presidency, was making supportive statements on Armenian issues. … Sen. McCain, on the other hand, has opposed all congressional resolutions on the Armenian Genocide over the years and has remained silent on the Artsakh (Karabagh) conflict, Turkish and Azerbaijani blockades of Armenia, U.S. aid to Armenia, and U.S.-Armenia relations. In other words, a vote for Sen. McCain is simply a vote for the continuation of Pres. Bush’s anti-Armenian policies,” concluded Sassounian.

Obama-led America can bring much needed solace to millions of victims and survivors of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923 at the hands of Turkey, by officially re-affirming the U.S. record on the tragic events that caused the loss of an entire homeland in Western Armenia; by treating equitably her strong ally in the Caucasus, the newly re-established independent Republic of Armenia; and by re-affirming America’s commitment to the principle of the right to self-determination for freedom-loving peoples around the world, including the Armenian Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabagh Republic).

Is it a coincidence that during the presidential elections since 1980, every general election candidate – Pres. Carter, Pres. Reagan, Pres. G. H. Bush, Pres. Clinton, Pres. G. W. Bush, and now President-Elect Obama – that acknowledged the Armenian Genocide, was blessed with victory? Is it also a coincidence that the only two general election presidential candidates – Al Gore and Sen. McCain – that opposed proper recognition of the Armenian Genocide, were defeated?

By antagonizing Armenian-Americans, both Gore and McCain managed to drive the Armenian-American electorate away from their campaigns. To their chagrin, Armenian-Americans supported G. W. Bush in 2000 and Obama in 2008 with much determination.

In the 2000 U.S. presidential election, Armenian-American voters across the United States and especially in Florida voted heavily in favor of G. W. Bush. Gore’s insensitive and insulting opposition to the Armenian-American issues cost him the presidency.

During this year’s presidential election, the clear majority of the Armenian American electorate not only voted heavily in favor Obama, but also made unprecedented campaign contributions and mobilized numerous volunteers all over the U.S. and especially in the key battleground states.

Now that the election is over, we must cherish the value of this historic moment by further developing mutual empathy; by better understanding each other; and together we must move on toward a kinder, gentler society where the wounds of all the victims of all the great injustices in the form of slavery and genocides – from the Armenian to Jewish Holocaust, Cambodian, Darfur, and other genocides, are healed.