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Thursday, November 6, 2008
He'll also cherish what he sees as an "opening of possibilities as a people, as a nation" that comes with Tuesday's election of Sen. Barack Obama as president.
"It's a testament to the nation," Jenkins said Wednesday.
Long before Obama breached the nation's racial divide, Jenkins proved that it could be done, at least in the microcosm of Maine.
Lewiston, one of the last cities in Maine to see Ku Klux Klan activity in the 1920s, elected Jenkins as its mayor in 1993 and again in 1995. The following year he became the first African-American to be elected to the state Legislature, representing Lewiston in the Maine Senate.
A decade later, Jenkins was elected mayor of Auburn, then re-elected in 2007 in a historic write-in campaign.
"I was blessed that people have given me a chance on a very small scale," Jenkins said. That experience encouraged him, he said, knowing that "someone like me could dare to dream."
Now, with Obama's election, Jenkins says more people can share in the dream.
He's already heard from many minority people in the Twin Cities about Tuesday's historic vote, which he called "a paradigm shift."
He had received "a ton of calls" from Somali newcomers to the community, Jenkins said. Most were excited about being able to register to vote and to cast their first ballots to elect an American president.
The result, Obama's victory, reinforced their belief in the legendary "land of opportunity," Jenkins said.
"It makes my heart swell," he said.
That's
not to say the United States is becoming color blind, nor should it, he
said. "We need to take into account and celebrate our diversity."
The nation should come together as a team but utilize its players to the best of their abilities, he suggested.
He expects that Obama will lead in that direction.
Jenkins wasn't an Obama fan immediately.
"I
came late to the dance," he said of his support for the next president.
Now, however, he believes the nation has a leader who will correct its
course.
"He'll have the chance to do something different, to do something better," Jenkins said.
Obama
will help lift the hopes of people facing multiple problems, he said.
He expects the next president to bring the change that voters on
Tuesday demonstrated they want.
"Yes, we can," he said, echoing Obama's campaign motto.
SOURCE: Sun Journal, Thursday, November 06, 2008