“This is our moment. This is our time. …To reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that out of many we are one. While we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubt…we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of the people: Yes we can.”
-Barack Obama
We are at a crossroads in our country’s history. We have allowed divisive issues to define who we are and, in the name of freedom and false hope, have forsaken many of the pillars upon which our country was founded. But last night we took the first step down the very long road to reclaiming the soul of our country.
That journey won’t be easy and there will be missteps. But we will not be making it blindly. Or alone. We have walked this path before, we’ve merely forgotten.
And now we have somebody who can inspire us to lift our foot when we are tired. To overcome when we meet obstacles. And to help our neighbor when they cannot go on. For this is a collective race, not an individual one.
While we are mired in war, on the brink of environmental disaster and have a rapidly collapsing financial system we must still take the next step. We must come back together.
To solve these problems we must to collectively believe again. To work together again.
This election had nothing to do with experience. Or policy. It was about finding the right leader. Finding the person who could inspire a nation.
And last night was more than breaking racial barriers. It was more than engaging a generation just now coming of age.
It was about restoring America as a beacon of hope for people the world around. And particularly for everyone of us living under the fifty-starred flag charged with keeping the lamp lit.
For without hope, success means nothing. Without hope we are merely individuals. And without hope we leave our children and their children nothing.
Hope can unite us and can make us a collective once again. Today we take the first step away from being 300 million individuals fighting for our share and the first step toward being the united America that has overcome every challenge put in front of us.
On September 12th, 2001 we bonded. We vowed to remember that feeling. That sense of purpose. We were reminded of what mattered and the American Dream was reinvigorated. We realized the American Dream wasn’t about accumulating wealth or a house or a bigger SUV. Nor was it about living an easy, comfortable life.
In fact, the American Dream isn’t really a dream at all. It is a way of thinking.
The American Dream is about making ourselves better people. The better people we see in our dreams.
Rooted in that is the belief that merit triumphs. That you can’t keep a good man or woman or country down. And that standing on the shoulders of men does not make one a giant.
The American Dream is hope.
And yet, that feeling slipped from our grasp. That feeling and our bonds were rooted in the tenuous emotions of fear and uncertainty. Two emotions with which our country has little collective experience dealing. And it tore us apart.
The last decade has been difficult. The challenges we now face are enormous. But this election showed that millions of people are ready, willing and able to get behind something. To take a stand and believe in the American Dream and the country they love once again.
Today, November 5th, is a lot like September 12th. We again have a collective notion of what hope feels like. We have the clarity of vision that comes from focusing on what it takes to be the better people we see in our dreams.
Most importantly, we now have a leader who can remind us of this feeling, of the better us and who will enable us to begin to live again the American Dream.
This time that feeling and our bonds are rooted in hope and optimism. Two emotions that are inextricably woven into the our social fabric. This time we are focused on what is possible, not what is scary. This time, I hope, it is here to stay.
Remember this feeling. This moment. For this is the moment when we rediscovered who we are.
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