As a child of the 60s and 70s, I'm feeling it's "deja vu all over again," to quote Yogi Berra. Much of what was said by Dianne Feinstein, and then Obama, referenced Kennedy and King. Intentional and purposeful, bringing back memories of social activism, ideals of equality and equability, tolerance and striving to improve our country.
The coverage I heard was split between streaming from AP/MSNBC and then watching ABC's TV coverage. AP's pundits' comments were sexist and ignorant. "These are the only men who know what Obama is going through." "We thought the crowd was loud for Jimmy Carter, but listen to them roar for Bill Clinton ... and his wife, Hillary, who will have a place in the Obama administration."
Excuse me? How about these are the only PEOPLE who know what Obama is going through. And how do the pundits know WHO the crowd roared for? Maybe it was for Hillary, not Bill, Clinton. Or both of them. Needless to say, these pundits are men.
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, on the other hand, notes that there's a huge accolade for The Clintons. She doesn't assume it's for Bill rather than Hillary. Maddow acknowleges that both of the Clintons are important public figures.
Our society has a short memory. People argue that discussing racism shouldn't be necessary, that to move forward we need to stop using the progressives' language of the 60s and 70s. But if male reporters in our national media still perceive the world through the lens of gender stereotypes, then I doubt that we can abandon efforts to consciously address racism, ageism or sexism.
Precisely the opposite, in fact. So much of what our nation is facing we faced 30 and 40 years ago and thought we could resolve in the next decade or two. Energy issues, social justice issues, controlling nuclear proliferation — thousands of young and old people worked hard to address the problems associated with theses issues ... and then the nation's focus shifted towards celebrity and status worship during the Reagan era and beyond. I wonder: if we hadn't lost our focus in the 80s and 90s, perhaps we wouldn't be scrambling to regain our momentum now.
But here we are, invoking the ideals of Camelot, with Feinstein saying, "In that spirit we pledge ourselves to unity and renewed call to greatness." And Rick Warren praying that we all strive towards a purpose-driven life.
Obama set the tone of urgency, addressing us as citizens, emphasizing our responsibility to participate in democracy. "We remain a young nation, but it's time to set aside childish things ... Greatness must be earned ... For us our forebears sacrificed. We must begin again the work of remaking America ... We must restore the vital trust between a people and their government."
Lowery's final invocation brought it full circle, sounding an updated version of the rhetoric of the Civil Rights movement, and finishing with a 60s Baptist minister's rhyming refrain, so reminiscent of Martin Luther King and Jesse Jackson.
This time, I hope, we don't let up until we do achieve the changes that this country — and the Earth — needs.
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