Someone I Recognize

There are certain things that I've come to know in life. Dominicans, on average, can cut the best hair, due to the diversity in hair texture that comes from having such a rich, diverse ethnic background. I know that bus drivers have the capability to multitask at the highest level: they have to drive a two to three ton vehicle that is difficult to navigate, answer an array of questions from riders, keep a tab on who owes what, and be responsive to the stop bell that may ring at any given moment - all at the same time. I know that the best way to keep a parking spot in the midst of a blizzard is to place a lawn chair there - duh. I know that Jamaicans make the best roti wraps and that an Irish girl's freckles will illuminate in the July sun quite radiantly. I know all this and more because I'm a big city boy, and I love it.

Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska made a point this past election season of expounding upon the values of small towns. She would know, as she's from a small town and governed in one. But hers was a cynical Us-Versus-Them point; small town values are true and sincere, as opposed to...

Well, with the election of Barack Obama, I can say that I am truly proud to be an American. Not because we elected a Black man. But because we elected a guy I can identify with. From a big city, with big city values and traditions, highly educated and genuinely intellectual, intensely cosmopolitan and having a perspective that comes from living and working and eating and breathing among an array of people who come from all over the world. In my lifetime, I never thought that America would ever elect a liberal Robert F. Kennedy would recognize. I always thought it was an Alan Sorkin dream, and nothing more, that America would elect a man of the machine. It is my honor to say I was dead wrong.

Big city values are not about being "tolerant" of homosexual people, but it's about recognizing them and saying vaya con dios. Big city values are the ironic relationships between entire groups and individuals: we'll have our prejudices about Puerto Ricans, Asians, Jews, et cetera, but I'll defend Lopez, Tran and Toss to the death if need be. Big city folks value eliticism, because we recognize it as a step up for our kids from where we are now. We don't look at an Ivy League school's acceptance letter and say "No way, son. This is too elitist for you". Our parents cry at the news, look for every opportunity to let the world know their kid's an Ivy Leaguer and, of course, get the decals. Big cities value hard work, social activism and religious observances.

Whether I got the day off of school because it was either MLK Day or "some Jewish holiday" (Rosh Hashanah), my life's enriched by the contributions of people who etched a niche in a place that was accepting but not forgiving; livable but hard. Maybe it is that I am the son of immigrants that I am willing to take solace in a Haitian taxi driver's dream and vision, along with a Nigerian math teacher's upbringing and travels. It's a splendid thing to grow up amidst a mass transit that sucks, a beautiful looking harbor so polluted that it's seriously not a joke to tell someone you gave them water from there, or Black cops who perfectly practice racial profiling. No one ever said life was perfect.

President-Elect Obama traveled to many places before making Chicago his home. He had to play the game to rise, hence the association with Reverend Jeremiah Wright. He registered thousands of residents to vote with liberal people that were even more passionate than him, hence the association with Bill Ayers. He attended top tier schools in some of the worlds finest cities. His liberalism is sharpened because he knows to analyze, then synthesize information in order to come to a conclusion both opponents and the other side can respect. Mr. Obama doesn't apologize for his parts nor their sum. He's strong and deliberate, even in his nuances. He's a city guy, wutchu thought?