By Matt Chiappardi, Staff Writer
When the oldest of those too young to vote in the 2008 election were born, Colin Powell was already chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
A television show with a mostly black cast had been already been No. 1 in the ratings for five years in a row. And the dramatic and historic events surrounding people such as Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers and Rosa Parks were already decades old, relegated to history books rather than memory.
While many local black students recognize the historic nature of Barack Obama’s election and appreciate his stature as a paramount role model for minority children, it is the president-elect’s policies that apparently first captured their imaginations.
”Knowing that’s he’s black or half white or whatever race he is, it doesn’t matter,” said Hightstown High School senior Brieana Downs, 17, one of about 10 students interviewed with her schoolmates.
”To me it’s what he brings to the table and that he is a man of his word. I hope people get past the racial part of it.”
HHS junior Rosie Yeboah, 15, added, “Yes, he’s black, and yes that is a positive, but you have to compare his policies to those of McCain. Obama wanted to cut … spending, reduce oil consumption, increase the minimum wage, and give a tax reduction to middle-class people. For McCain, it was the opposite.”
Sophomore Denisha McKoy, 17, said policy was much more important to her than race. In fact, she said, she started the political season supporting Sen. John McCain.
”I was not an Obama supporter, but I looked at their views and the war in Iraq pushed me over to Obama because it’s a pointless war,” she said. “It shouldn’t matter if he’s black or white and I think people should just get over it. It’s views that matter.”
Senior Jonathon McCoy, 17, said, “It’s nice to know that now there’s been a black president, but it doesn’t really affect me. It’s what he thinks and what he cares about. It’s not about him being black himself.”
Jonathon added, however, that Mr. Obama is a source of admiration for him.
”He went through with the election even though he knew that he and his family would be in danger. That shows that Obama is a real man,” he said.
Murphy Wallace, while being cognizant of the history like the rest of his schoolmates, said Mr. Obama’s race didn’t matter to him either.
”I think for most people, it didn’t matter if he was black or white, but for some people it did. They wanted to see history happen,” the 17-year-old sophomore said.
Still for teens too young to be witnesses of the Civil Rights movement as their parents may have been, this moment in history does not escape them.
”He’s kept Martin Luther King’s dream alive and he’s influenced us in a better way,” said Brieana. “He’s carrying all the things that people from the past couldn’t. For me, it’s motivation. It says you can really accomplish what you want to do.”
For 15-year-old sophomore Krystal Harris, race did matter, not to her opinion, but in how she thought Mr. Obama would be perceived.
”There are stereotypical views that black people are uneducated, that they have this demeanor that they just fail all the time. For Obama, he’s educated. He went to Harvard. He was a senator. He proves a point that anyone can make a difference and race shouldn’t matter,” she said.
Even younger students at the Melvin H. Kreps Middle School were aware that they were growing up during a time when history’s page may be turning.
Sixth-grader Brianne Hendryx, 11, echoed most of the dozen Kreps kids gathered last week at the school, when she said, “I think this shows that anyone can become president.”
Fellow sixth-grader Tori Brown, 11, sees Mr. Obama’s election as nothing less than an inspiration.
”After seeing Barack, I think I’m now going to try to become the first woman black president,” she said.
