One Giant Leap for mankind!

At the founding of our country the atmosphere was much different. In all of Europe (where our ancestors are from) at the time it was commonplace to own slaves from either your own country or other countries. You could become a slave because of dept you owed, punishment for a crime, prisoner of war, or any other various reasons. This was not strictly an African phenomenon, all countries were subject to slavery. At one time nearly 25% of the Roman Empire were slaves.

North America was no stranger to slavery. The Native Americans had slaves captured from other tribes as well as debtor slaves before there was ever a United States. The first African slaves arrived some time in the early 1600's.

The slave codes of 1705 defined a slave as any imported person who was a non Christian in their native country. It also classified them as Real Estate and not humans affording the owners exemption from punishment if they kill their slaves.

Not all Americans agreed with this practice, enough so that they were willing to fight for the rights of slaves. The Civil war was waged greatly on this one issue and the practice of slavery did not end until the conclusion of the Civil war and the drafting of the 13th Amendment in 1865. This Amendment abolished the practice of slavery but did not end the attitudes towards slaves.

There have been many milestones in the Civil Rights movement since then, from Rosa Parks not giving up her seat on a bus in Montgomery Alabama in 1955 to Marin Luther King's infamous "I have a Dream" speech in Washington DC in 1963. We have seen progress, we have seen change. The prejudice of old is slowly passing away with each new generation. Each new generation breaking new ground, making new strides in making all people equal.

Last night was ONE GIANT LEAP for mankind as Barack Obama leapt from the oppression of centuries past to the dreams of Martin Luther King. Going from slave, to free, to leader.

I do not agree with Obama's politics and would have much rather seen Alan Keys or Clarence Thomas as the first African American President but I can put all that aside for a moment in time and realize the history of today.