Fifty years after school desegregation and 40 years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., history was made in a way that many thought would never happen: Sen. Barack Obama, an African-American man was elected president of the United States.
Alma Gross, a 75-year-old Black woman who grew up in a small southern Kentucky town says she never thought she’d live to see the country elect a Black president.
“Knowing that generations before me had to endure harsh treatment from slavery and oppression, to see the struggles we suffered during the ‘50s and ‘60s, and even to know that injustice is still present today; I never thought I’d live to see a Black person elected to lead this country,” said Gross.
While Blacks in the United States have undoubtedly gone through various adversities and injustices over the past several decades, during his celebratory speech Tuesday night, Obama noted how much more progressive the country has become over the years.
“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that this is a place where all things are possible, tonight is your answer,” Obama said to the crowd of more than 100,000. “It has been a long time coming, but because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment; change has come to America.”
