Not In My Lifetime

[sleigh]

Until recently, I really didn't think that there was a chance in hell that I would see a black man as president of our country. I'm looking forward to seeing that historic moment today.

And hopefully, if I live long enough, I might see a few other firsts:

-- A woman elected president (as long as it's not Sarah Palin, please...). That, I think, is conceivable. Hillary Clinton's run for the nomination, and (I must admit) the choice of Palin as McCain's running mate have hopefully been enough to break down the barriers that Geraldine Ferraro first assaulted back in '84.

-- An openly gay person elected president. I suspect that one may have to wait a long, long time...

-- An openly non-Christian elected president. My preference would be for an openly agnostic or atheist, which I think is the one with the least chance. I suspect that a Jewish president is most conceivable. A Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, etc. is nearly on a par with an agnostic or atheist.

What barrier(s) would you like to see broken in the future? What do you think the chances are?

Comments

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

I wish I felt you were right. But in my small experience, I sense an unspoken prejudice toward Asians -- one I think might surface is one were to run for president. I look at the attitude toward the Japanese from those of my parents' generation, or the prejudice that came to the surface in the Vietnam era, or the general attitude of people toward China.

I hope you're right and I'm wrong though!

[davidschroth.livejournal.com]

minnehaha K is probably a better person to speak to it, but an Asian-American was running for office (U. S. Representative) locally, and lost.

I don't think he lost because he was Asian - I think there were other smears utilized by his opponent that probably had more of an impact.