A Day in History-

Actually, that is every day. However, today was a moment in history. Though the election was concluded on Tuesday I am still working the shift I started on Tuesday night. If you got here without seeing my profile, I am a correctional officer. I am writing this from jail.

This shift I am working a dormitory in a medium security jail facility. During the course of the evening the two televisions in the housing unit became tuned to the election results. One was in Spanish, the other in English. Both happened to be the same broadcast, and I could see both from my duty station.

I will say up front, I voted for Obama. I was pleased that he won the election. Though it registered in my mind that the election of a Black man to the White House was historical, it did not register as truly significant. Other than being factors in making up who we are and thus lending interest to each of us as human beings, ethnicity and skin color have never been of any special importance to me.

Not that I have adopted that attitude to be progressive or politically correct. It just has never been very important. So, I recognize the historical significance of the event, but do not experience it personally.

More important to me is the hope for change. It was that hope more than any affection for Obama as candidate or political figure that defined my vote.

Anyway, I observed the conclusion of the election of the President of the United States from the confines of a jail dormitory, and in the presence of a mix of inmates.

The several Black inmates were quiet but celebrated a victory I can only imagine. Some of the White inmates were obviously not pleased, but were neither vocal on the matter nor disruptive. Though I know that several of them were inclined toward White Supremacy, they did not act out in response to the news that Obama was victorious.

What surprised me was the response of the Hispanic inmates. A good percentage of the Hispanics I am supervising tonight are not citizens, and are not enjoying the best that the United States has to offer. Yet they were excited and elated by the news of Obama's victory. They were even more attentive to the events presented on the television than the other inmates in the dormitory.

The evening went well. I monitored the dormitory for any potential friction among inmates as a result of the news. The evening went well. They are now all asleep, and I have a moment to drop these observations into my blog.

The impact of this national decision will take time to become fully visible. Like most days in history the significance of any given day is not fully known without the perspective of time.

I feel vaguely hopeful.