Welcome to the Future

Barack Obama is going to piss me off in all kinds of ways over the next four to eight years, but now, in this time of dreams between the election and the inauguration, I’m enjoying the fact that the United States of America is going to have a black president.

I see at least three good things coming out of this:

First, it says a lot of good things about our country and our people that a black man can become president. To be clear, a McCain victory wouldn’t have meant we’re racists, but an Obama victory is strong evidence that we’re not. We’ve come far. I’m proud of us.

Second, maybe some of the less conventional black leaders (Al Sharpton, call your office) will finally fade from the scene. Black political power no longer has to rely on guerilla politics.

Third, we now know how the story of American racism ends: The racists get their asses kicked. Racism won’t vanish in a week or a year or even a decade, but it will vanish. Barack Obama’s victory is a clear message to all the hardcore racists out there—the KKK, the Nazis, Stormfront: It’s over. You’ve lost. You are no longer important. There’s no place for you here in the future.