When Doves (and Hawks) Cry

Perhaps the most overarching race cliche in this country is that white people can never understand what it's like to be black. The struggle, it is said, is manifested in a hundred smaller cliches; from being pulled over by cops to receiving subpar service in restaurants, to a host of more subtle snubs and indignations.

It's true I will never directly know what black people go through, but reactions to Barack Obama's electoral victory from a cross section of African-American leaders should give our entire country pause.

We all saw Jesse Jackson sobbing like a baby in Grant Park. Fewer saw Condi Rice pull rank at a State Dept press conference before her trip to the Middle East, to gushingly proclaim renewed hope for the democracy and her pride in being an African-American. Then there was Colin Powell, whose entire family wept on Tuesday night the moment Obama prevailed. Perhaps more tellingly, Mr Powell teared up the following day, when sharing the story with a British journalist. The old warhorse is, as they say, still "working through" his emotions.

Regardless of ideology, these are savvy people. They surely saw the polls like everyone else, indicating McCain was a clear underdog. But their uncharacteristically personal, even cathartic, reactions suggest they didnt really believe their country could fairly consider and willfully employ a black man's leadership. That these shrewd, measured African-American figures could harbor such apparent doubt and release this degree of pent up emotion about an objectively "expected" electoral outcome should make us all stop and reflect.

I think what these proud, accomplished trailblazers are trying to tell us, through their tears and excitement, is that even in 2008, it's a real disadvantage being black in this country. That, even for them, being black in the land of the free presents inferior choices and limited expectations. That this observation is more than just a literary or cinematic cliche - it's their witness. It's their lives. The election, at least viscerally, meant more to them than typical political reform, a recession or even armed conflict, to be calmly assessed on the evening news. This suddenly black President overwhelmed them emotionally, shattered lifelong expectations, and marked profoundly personal moments in their already exceptional lives.

Time will tell what outward policy manifestations the Obama administration will bring, but in only 24 hours, the heart of our nation - the inside - is undergoing enormous psychological transformation. The way blacks and whites perceive themselves, each other, and our shared destiny will never be the same again.