Being Assyrian, I was always reminded of how important my race was while growing up. We Assyrians were an illustrious people that made profound scientific, political, mathematical and military-based contributions to the world. We were powerful, enviable and all too important to the histories until, well, we got our asses handed to us by all the people we pissed off. Since then, we have persevered against endless persecution in our native Middle East. As our people were moved and murdered and their pasts destroyed, we banded together in what small numbers we had and survived. Even to this to day, we face baseless intolerance and violence. Our very presence on the face of this Earth is a symbol of strength and diligence. We had the willingness to press on across thousands of years of shit times. I am supposed to be proud of my people. I’m not.

This United States of America has grown through endless hardships as well. I don’t need to reiterate all the wars, whether or a literal or political battlefield, we fought. You’ve been spoon fed that since the first grade. Yet, people like Thomas Jefferson and Tom Payne and Robert Kennedy are immortal in impact. I admire these men and so many others like a starry eyed child loves a super hero (Spiderman or whoever it is that the kids like nowadays). This country’s history, while anomalous and turbulent, is something to behold. Countries world wide mold their growth based on our formulas. Even despite recent times, the US is a country we should be proud of. I’m not.

In fact, the only thing I find myself being moderately proud of are the Bears and Bulls. It is total bullshit that sports teams are the only things I am proud to be a patron of. That’s just the way I feel, unfortunately. Totally stupid, I know.

However, Mr. Obama won last night. While I was tied up in the suburbs (damned second shift) and could not be in a sea of support during his speech, I was happy. More than happy, actually, I was relieved. I did the macho guy thing where I scrunched up my face to disguise the fact that I was getting a little misty. I truly do believe in Barack and honestly, I don’t much care to touch on the topics all over again. It’s become an exhausting chore and, frankly, would like to let things lie while President Elect Obama starts devising his “change”. I still can’t swallow away my feelings of uncertainty for where we’re heading. In fact, there may be more potential uncertainty now than 48 hours ago due to the possible implications of having a black president. That aside, I genuinely feel my confidence growing.

I know how my heritage has been tainted with squabbling over ridiculous religious ideologies and misguided ambition. I could prattle on about how shitty our country has been, both in social impact and the moral disagreements I have with actions taken. Somehow though, I may have a different perspective. I’m not saying I’m proud of this country yet. I am saying Barack may be the man that changes that for me.