Quotes of the Day

The African slaves who provided most of the labor that built the White House never imagined that a black man would ever own embossed stationery that read "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue." Even the dreamer himself, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., might not have imagined that 40 short years after his murder, we would be planning an Inauguration of the first man of African descent to ascend to the presidency. No minority of any ethnicity had ever looked beyond the scarce representation of a few Senators and seen anything that suggested that the doorknob of the Oval Office could be opened by anything other than the hand of a middle-aged white male. (See pictures of Barack Obama's family tree.)

One of the youngest Presidents in the history of our nation will bring new shades to the canvas of white leaders who came before his unprecedented political career. Senator Barack Obama has proved to be a biracial icon who can mobilize blacks and whites alike. Perhaps his mixed parentage gave him the multicultural background needed to be culturally bilingual, creating the dialogue that may bridge our divide.

Our national demographic has metamorphosed into a darker-hued population, which is changing how America plans for the future. The cultural dialogue and language are changing. Political parties, churches and corporations must rethink how we go forward and with whose needs in mind. Without question, Obama's Administration will reshape the good-ole-boys' club we have seen for centuries, altering the political terrain, and it may very well spawn new hope for the disenfranchised.

But before we light candles and sing "Kumbaya," it may be wise to adjust our expectation to a realistic depiction of attainable goals. No one man's appointment will end all racial tension. Nor will it totally eradicate the residual bitterness inherent in a society where such atrocities as slavery and Jim Crow lie only a few miles behind us. In fact, the economic crisis facing the country demands that the Obama Administration move past the pettiness of race matters with the haste of a paramedic driving an ambulance. Tomorrow we will not care about the color of the driver nor the pronunciation of his name. Instead, our hope is in his ability to provide the medicine this nation desperately needs to rise again.

According to recent reports, some white Democrats said they couldn't vote for Obama because he was black. And yes, a few blacks may have voted for him solely because he was black. But most blacks have not been blinded by race. Though proud of his blackness, those who did vote for him were far more thoughtful in making the decision and based their vote on promises that he now must keep. To think that this election was a shoo-in for him among blacks because of our affinity for our own people is disingenuous at best and at worst insults our intelligence. And it ignores the fact that many other blacks have run for President and walked away without winning a primary, much less the presidency. Neither Shirley Chisholm, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Alan Keyes nor any other black candidate amassed black support the way Obama did. (See pictures of Barack Obama's campaign behind the scenes.)

As Barack Hussein Obama places his brown hand on that black Bible and takes his oath, it will not make him merely the President of blacks who admire him nor leave him indebted to whites who assisted him. He cannot acquiesce to the liberals who support him nor vilify the conservatives who don't. He must remain a philosophical centrist who garners our best and brightest from both sides of the aisle. He must transcend all of that and rise to the global perspective of his calling and through it serve his God, his country and the rainbow coalition of the people of this great nation. We can hope he can re-establish the international respect we have lost and gradually convince the watching, waiting world that a change for us is good for them.

The war of the long primaries is finally over; the crazed bickering of the campaign is finally gone. What remains is the strong survival instinct that made us reconstructive after the Civil War, resilient through the Depression and tenaciously united after the atrocities of 9/11. If we are to succeed from here on out, black, white and brown must melt into a brilliant depiction of red, white and blue. One thing is sure: President-elect Obama was right when he said, Together we can!

Jakes is an author, a pastor of the Potter's House church in Texas and a producer of the upcoming film Not Easily Broken

See the next President's to-do list.

See pictures of Barack Obama's campaign behind the scenes.

• T.D. Jakes