Obama victory unleashes a special sense of joy for African-Americans

By Lauren Otis, Staff Writer
   Wednesday was a day like no other for Evelyn Turner.
   ”I’m so proud and excited,” said Ms. Turner, 86, a resident of John Street. “It is the first time we have experienced one of my race in the top office of the nation,” Ms. Turner said on the day after Barack Obama rode to a historic election victory as the first African-American to ever win the presidency of the United States.
   ”I have always been hopeful, because we are qualified,” Ms. Turner said from her front steps. In electing Mr. Obama, now the rest of the nation and world understands that too, said Ms. Turner, who grew up in Natchez, Miss., before moving north to Princeton with her husband after World War II.
   ”I’m so happy,” said Redding Circle resident Ulrick Gabriel. “Everybody’s happy,” Mr. Redding said, noting he took Election Day off in order to watch the results.
   The day after the election, black residents, politicians and other community leaders spoke of the pride, elation and satisfaction they have felt following the election of Sen. Obama. While not ignoring the difficult task before him as incoming president at a time when the country is engulfed in an economic crisis, confronting high energy and other prices, and engaged in war on two fronts, they nonetheless noted they have much to celebrate in Mr. Obama’s election.
   ”It is the biggest thing that has happened in my lifetime,” said Princeton Borough Mayor Mildred Trotman. “I never thought that I would live to see a black person elected president. It is just so exciting, I have never in my life seen this excitement,” she said.
   ”When I think of this election, I guess the words that come to mind are jubilation and elation,” said the Rev. Carlton Branscomb, pastor of First Baptist Church of Princeton.
   ”We have truly redeemed Martin Luther King’s dream that people will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” said state Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Lawrence). “This is something that was a longtime coming. I never thought I would live to see it,” she said.
   ”I am so proud of this country, I cannot tell you how proud I am of this country,” said Princeton Township Committeeman Lance Liverman. “I think it’s unbelievable,” he said. “I think it’s time,” Mr. Liverman added.
   Lawrence Township Mayor Mark Holmes called Mr. Obama’s election “probably the greatest defining moment in the history of politics in the history of this country.”
   Mayor Trotman said, “I’m still up in the clouds.” She noted that Mr. Obama’s election “is good for so many reasons,” not only symbolically but practically, for his ability to grapple with current domestic economic problems, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and America’s standing in the world.
   After the election, Mayor Trotman, 67, said she spoke with her younger sister, and they recalled growing up in North Carolina and having to use “colored” dressing rooms in stores and other segregated facilities. She said she also remembers when John F. Kennedy was elected president, the first Catholic to win the presidency, and what a big deal that was. “But this is so totally different, and not just because he is the first black to be elected president,” she said.
   ”It brings with it a different kind of newness, a different set of emotions,” Mayor Trotman said of Mr. Obama’s election. “I know very well, being a black woman, is this the end of racism? I know it is not,” she said. On the other hand, “maybe this really is the beginning of finally eradicating racism, and classism, and sexism, maybe this is the beginning of the end of all of the isms,” Mayor Trotman said. “It is difficult to explain it because there is a calmness about it,” she said of the feeling now that Mr. Obama has been elected.
   ”We will see and have seen not just a change but a sea change in the way people in the country have come together, how this country views African-Americans and how it is viewed by the world as well,” Sen. Turner said. She said Sen. Obama will be “a transformational president,” but noted that given the problems facing the country, “we all need to support him now, now is when the work begins. He’s got to lead,” she said.
   ”From my perspective I’m delighted, elated and feel this country is blessed to be going in this new direction,” said Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson-Coleman (D-Ewing). She said Sen. Obama had been the candidate who most eloquently and persuasively articulated the need for a change in the country’s direction, and “he happens to be a man who is equally black and white … who speaks to this country, binding it’s people together.”
   She added, “Thank God we’ve got someone in there who understands what it is like to come from a working family, who understands we are our brother’s keepers, and have an obligation to lift up all those around us, that makes me feel really good,” Assemblywoman Watson-Coleman said. She noted that even under President Obama, rectifying the problems of the country will take time, and Americans will need patience. “There are things we want him to complete that he will not complete in the first term,” she said.
   ”Now when you tell your children they can be anything they want to be, achieve anything they want to, you really mean it,” Mr. Liverman said.
   ”This just speaks volumes to younger people,” Sen. Turner said, adding there is now no one in the country about whom it can’t be said “even you can become president of the United States.”
   Sen. Turner said she always told her children they could achieve what they set out to, but “I knew then, there were limitations.” She added, “But now that bar has been removed and my children can say to their children that the sky is the limit.”
   Sen. Obama “is just a phenomenal person,” whose message didn’t emphasize his race, instead underscoring that “I represent change, I happen to be African-American,” Mayor Holmes said. In this regard, Mayor Holmes lauded the president-elect’s ability to supercede ethnic and political boundaries “and represent all people.”
   Mayor Holmes said it is good Mr. Obama “doesn’t get ruffled easily” given the task he faces in unifying and elevating the country. “He’s up for the challenge and I do believe he will really offer change,” he said.
   The Rev. Branscomb said members of his church were filled with joy at the election of an African-American but “I think it is bigger than that.” Sen. Obama “represents excellence on so many levels” and viewing him as just African-American is one-dimensional, the Rev. Branscomb said. “He represents unity and hope for the entire nation. He is trying to be somebody who represents hope for everyone,” he said.
   With a black African father and a Caucasian American mother, and experience with native cultures like that of Hawaii, Mr. Obama exhibits an “innate respect” for all peoples and cultures of America and the world, the Rev. Branscomb said. “When you see him interact he is comfortable in all of these settings and that means a lot to me,” he said. This is reflected in how positively people from nations around the world have responded to Sen. Obama’s election, the Rev. Branscomb said. “He is saying a new day is here for America to shine in the world.”
   The Rev. Muriel Burrows, pastor of the Witherspoon Presbyterian Church in Princeton, said Sen. Obama’s election “was for me a very special gift.”
   The Rev. Burrows said she was born and raised in apartheid South Africa and just received her American citizenship in September. One of the first things she did was register to vote. The election “for me was a real watershed moment,” the Rev. Burrows said, noting it cemented her faith in the ability of her adopted country to recognize the intelligence, dedication and leadership of someone like Sen. Obama regardless of the color of his skin.
   Although her church doesn’t actively engage in partisan politics, it was clear who members of Witherspoon Presbyterian backed in the election, the Rev. Burrows said.
   ”It has been a wonderful, wonderful time. We’ll be celebrating for a while,” the Rev. Burrows said. “We are not going into this with blinders on,” she said, noting how much difficult work Sen. Obama will need to do as president. “But, for now, we are celebrating.”