Many Americans are proud to be a part of what I consider the healing of the American wound. This wound, healed by the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States was inflicted by Slavery.

If Obama is successful, his presidency will elevate the image of black Americans to higher levels.

If his administration ends up like Jimmy Carter’s, it will be the last time America will see a person of color in the White House in this century.

I also believe President elect Obama will put an end to the dominant belief in the black communities that America is so racist that the country will never give a black person the support they need.

In other words, “the white man should not be trusted.”

I would like to believe that Obama’s election finally means that all will be judged as individuals and by what they prove on a personal level.

Right now we are also judged by the images of our ethnic groups.

For example, immigrant workers from Latin America had an image of being content to work long, hard hours for low wages.

That image had a considerable impact on the way Latin Americans were viewed.

President George W. Bush helped change the Latino image when he made the decision to reach out to Hispanics voters.

It was a common theme for the leaders of the conservative base to market the idea that they should reach out to Hispanic voters because many Hispanics had the same values.

While conservatives do not have a monopoly on family values, they were successful at changing the image of Latin Americans among their peers.

President elect Obama had to scale huge obstacles to change the image of African Americans. He may not change the fact the 70 to 80 percent of black American fourth graders are reading below the national average.

Nor, can he change black men’s attitudes towards their families and persuade them to go back home to lead their households in positive ways.

Will Obama’s election reduce crime rate in prominantly black communities?

Here are things a Successful Obama presidency will accomplish.

A successful President Obama will open avenues for black Americans who seek to be leaders of businesses such as fortune 500 companies or many other ventures they choose to pursue.

He will also put an end to an age- old debate by black scholars and intellectuals about whether white people would ever elect a black man, or woman, to the highest office.

Black people have harbored, and still do to a certain extent, the feeling that for a long time they had to do for themselves.

The feeling that they couldn’t depend on anyone, especially white folks, to help in anything.

That argument goes back to the days when Marcus Garvey was a powerful influence on black America.

The core of Garvey’s philosophy was to encourage his followers to go into business for themselves.

He believed that black people should have organizations of their own, and be self-reliant. Then they would not be at the mercy of white people.

Garvey asserted that “America is a White Man’s Country.”

“Why should I waste time in a place where I am outnumbered and where if I make a physical fight I will lose out and ultimately die?”

But Garvey’s philosophy seems to ignore the role white Americans played to end slavery, segregation and racism.

It also ignores all the white people who died helping Harriot Tubman with the Underground Railroad.

It also ignores the Republican platform that Abraham Lincoln ran on that had four entries rejecting slavery.

Garvey’s supporters seem to ignore the signing of the emancipation proclamation; they ignore the end of Jim Crow law.

They also seem to ignore the fact that many white people were beaten and some were killed during the civil rights marches of the 1960’s.

The truth of the matter is that white people, more than any election since Carter became president, voted overwhelmingly for a democrat; they voted for Obama, a blackman .

Without a doubt, the image of America will change. While racism isn’t dead ,we are on the right track concerning that issue.

Despite all of this country’s scars concerning slavery and racism, Americans have finally shown that anyone who aspires to be president can do so, regardless of race.