Election Day in Brooklyn
[click audio clip below]
[audio:http://blogs.journalism.cuny.edu/nicholasloomis/files/2008/11/edayprojection.mp3]
That was the scene at Solomon’s Porch in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn when MSNBC pronounced Barack Obama the projected President-Elect of the United States on Election Day night.
To be in New York City that night made the exorbitant rent, exorbitant everything else, sardine can population density, late trains, and the vibrant variety of vermin totally worth it. Not because I’m some Obamaton who spent the night celebrating with young liberals in the city, but because I am a journalist and we relish the opportunity to watch history in the making – or, rather, the reaction to history in the making. Either way, Bed-Stuy was a great place to watch it.
[audio:http://blogs.journalism.cuny.edu/nicholasloomis/files/2008/11/edaybababaro.mp3]
With most significant historical events, I believe that it is the reaction to the event, rather than the event itself, that makes it significant. It is the symbolism and sentiments we attach to these events that truly affect our world, and sentiments are strong when it comes to race in America.
We all knew that Barack Obama is black throughout the election. However, he didn’t present himself as a black candidate any more than McCain presented himself as a white candidate. When race came up, Obama addressed it eloquently and dispassionately, and it was again put on the back burner. That is until Election Night.
I shouldn’t have been, but I was really surprised how much talk there was on the streets and in the media about the First Black President (or the second, if you agree with Toni Morrison, who has recently rescinded her 1998 opinion) on election night and in the days and weeks thereafter. It seems it was on the minds of everyone, including John McCain, who gave an extremely eloquent and gracious concession speech that touched often upon the historical significance of what just happened.
He even drew enthusiastic applause from the Obamaniacs at Solomon’s Porch at times.
But, of course, the day was Obama’s.
[audio:http://blogs.journalism.cuny.edu/nicholasloomis/files/2008/11/edaybarack.mp3]
***EDITOR’S NOTE***
Love it or hate it, Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses got things going for Obama. Here are a couple of pictures I took in my home town of Davenport for my former paper during the months he (basically) lived in Iowa.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get any of McCain because he pretty much skipped Iowa and went straight to New Hampshire. Correlation? I’ll leave that for the reader to decide.
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