I'm PROUD to be an American!

I've been thinking a lot about our new president and the new era we are entering as a country. I don't know about you, but I am so proud to be an American today. Not that I haven't been proud to be an American before, but I'm so proud of what we have done by not only electing our first black president, but by choosing a candidate for president that represents hope for our future. He's not only our 44th president, he's a symbol of how far we as a country have come in terms of civil rights and tolerance and equality. Yes, we still have a ways to go for sure. But to many of my generation and the generation before me, it would have seemed impossible that we would have lived to see a black man or woman be sworn in as President of the United States in our lifetime. I can only imagine the hope that brings to so many children of not only black ancestry, but children of all minorities, that anything is possible. Children whose own parents may have discouraged them from dreaming big are now saying with complete confidence to their children that "you can be anything you want to be!" I believe the events of this day give us as a country more credibility around the world to people and countries who may have judged us as a people unjustly. They may not have given us the credit we deserve for being people of compassion and fairness; of tolerance and righteousness. I believe President Obama exudes and represents these qualities. By electing this man by such a clear margin, we have told the world that this is the type of country we are and want to be. We are that country. I'm proud to be a citizen of that type of country. I'm proud to be an American.