"We ain't ready, to see a black President"

Above is the music video to the song "Changes" by late rapper 2pac (Tupac Shakur). Tupac was an incredibly influential rapper during the hip/hop boom of the 1990's. Despite being murdered in September of 1996, 2pac and his music have continued to make an impact on popular culture today. 2pac has often been hailed for his sharp verses in which he addresses real life issues such as poverty, hunger, or even politics.

"Changes" was recorded sometime between 1992 and 1996 (the true date is unknown) and released after 2pac's death in 1998. In the song, a verse stating: "We ain't ready, to see a black President," is uttered. I first heard this verse several years ago and found it interesting that 2pac had assessed America as unready for leadership from a black male a mere decade ago. As a result, in the wake of a black President being elected, I have felt profoundly impacted by the prophecy of this late rapper and the feeling that America has finally overcome much of its hateful and racist past.

Obviously, racism and bigotry still exist throughout all of America but clearly something major has changed in the past decade: an evolution of equality. 2pac announced to the world in the 90's that America was still not ready for a black President, but today, by an overwhelming majority (at least electorally), America was overjoyed at the election of a black man as commander in chief.

Unfortunately, there is no black and white answer to what exactly has changed over the past decade to push America towards more racial equality. I wish I could blog here the ten step process that America underwent to reach Martin Luther King Jr.'s "dream," but I can't. Instead, I can only reflect on the unbelievable significance of this election, and I can think of no better way than by showing how far America has come in a short period of time. America's racist roots have been in existence since before America was its own country in the 1700's and were further exacerbated by slavery, Jim Crow laws, and segregation continuing until only 30-40 years ago. It is incredibly to me that somehow in the last 10 years we made the jump from viewing black people as virulent to society to now giving a black man the most power in America.

The election of Barack Obama does not mean the journey towards racial equality is over, but is certainly a huge step in the right direction. Obama's platform for his presidency was "The Change We Need" and I think it is appropriate that the title of the song stating that America wasn't ready for a black President was "Changes." At the end of "Changes," 2pac repeated one phrase over and over, "Things will never be the same...," and after Obama's election, this phrase has never been more true: Things will never be the same.