By

Senator Tom Harkin

President Obama Is Writing a New Chapter in Black History.

In past Februarys, we have celebrated Black History Month by recounting the contributions of long-ago heroes such as Frederick Douglass and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. But this February with President Barack Obama in the White House our annual celebration has a new twist. In addition to reading about Black history in textbooks, we are witnessing an extraordinary new chapter in Black history with our own eyes.

On Inauguration Day in Washington, D.C., I had the privilege of being present on the specially constructed inaugural platform, looking out across the Mall and the famous monuments. Just before noon, when Senator Obama emerged from the Capitol building to take the oath of office, I watched as he looked out on a throng of nearly two million Americans, all cheering their hearts out. And he looked further in the distance to the Lincoln Memorial where, in 1963, a great minister said “I have a dream” a dream that, one day, our children would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

With the election of Barack Obama as President by a strong majority of the American people, that day has resoundingly arrived! Those two million people on the Mall and a couple billion more around the world were cheering President Obama because of the amazing content of his character.

Last month, I chaired the confirmation hearing for President Obama’s nominee for Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, head of Chicago’s public school system. Mr. Duncan talked about how the new President had inspired students in Chicago. As he put it: “It’s never been so cool to be smart.”

I call this “the Obama effect.” Our new President has captured the imagination of young people all across this country. They seem to be saying: “I want to be like Barack.”

Driving to work one morning recently, I heard an inner-city school teacher interviewed on National Public Radio. She talked about how her students had a whole new attitude since the election. She talked about one student with a reputation as a troublemaker who said and I’m paraphrasing here “I want to do better in school. My teachers say that I’m impossible. I want to be possible.”

That is the Obama effect. And variations on the Obama effect have spread all across our country and all around the world. Despite the terrible economic downturn, people have a new sense of hope and optimism about the future.

After just a little more than a month in the White House, President Obama is already making his mark on history, signing major bills to combat discrimination against women in the workplace, to extend health insurance to millions of children from low-income families, and to stimulate the economy.

As the Obama administration goes forward, we are witnessing a new chapter both in Black history and in our broader American history. We are reminded that Black, white, brown, yellow, and red we are one national family united in a shared destiny. We are all rooting for our new President, because we know that his success is vital to the success of our entire nation.