“What an amazing day to be black,” said Jack White in The Root. “What an amazing day to be an American.” Barack Obama’s inauguration as the nation’s first black president doesn’t mean discrimination is over, it doesn’t mean “that America has fast-forwarded into a post-racial era.” But it does mean that we’re all undeniably “the same family now,” and that’s something Americans of every color can celebrate.
“If Obama lives up to the dreams of his biggest supporters in writing a new, post-racial chapter for America,” said Jonah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times, “he will have at once done more for America than any Democratic president in generations. But he also will have cut the knot holding much of the left together. As an American and as a conservative, I certainly hope that's the case.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.