[Courrier International, France]
Folha, Brazil
'We are All
Americans'
"Never before in the history
of this planet has a mixed-race person of African descendent been its most
powerful inhabitant … The Americans couldn't have given a better response to
the world … today, we are all Americans."
By Sérgio Malbergier
Translated By Brandi Miller
November 6, 2008
Brazil
- Floha - Original Article (Portuguese)
Never before in the history
of this planet has a mixed-race person of African descendent been its most
powerful inhabitant. Even though the polls have already indicated Barack
Obama’s victory, it is so epic and multidimensional that it fills us with amazement
and exhilaration.
Obama is a global phenomenon;
his victory reflects not only the choice of most Americans, but the great
majority of human beings - which gives him even more legitimacy as a leader.
And leadership will be needed to get the world out of this recession that
remains of unknown size, but looks like it will be ugly.
So much the
better that it's the United States shining this renewing ray of light on the
depressed global arena. Among the truly
terrible things bequeathed by eight years of Bushism, perhaps the worst is the
sharp and stupid anti-Americanism.
As irrational as it is widespread,
this nurtures, and for some it justifies, obscurantist and dangerous forces like
Russian neo-Czarism, Chinese absolutism, Chavista petro-populism,
Iranian nuclear messianism and Islamo-fascist
terrorism.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Absurd concepts such as that
the U.S. is a nation of brute, ignorant and hickish
people are spit forth by the supposed worldwide intelligentsia, despite the
fact that the country has the best universities on the planet, is the biggest
producer and consumer of culture, is the most innovative and creative nation of
technologies, has the highest number of Nobel prize winners, invented the Internet
and YouTube, and is by far world's largest economy.
And the conversation which
goes like, “New York is fantastic, but has nothing to do with the United States,”
would be like saying “São Paulo is fantastic, but has nothing to do with
Brazil.”
And what about those who
thought it was impossible for the “racist and reactionary” United States to
elect a Black and progressive president in such a decisive way? (Is anyone bold
enough to say what year Brazil, which has many more African descendants, will
have a Black president?)
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
The Americans couldn't have given
a better response to the world (and to Bushism) than leading Michelle and
Barack Obama to the White House.
Not that his explosive
electoral victory, as impacting and transformative as it is, guarantees a happy
ending to the sad history of George W. Bush in Washington. The challenges are
as big as Obama's triumph, if not bigger.
But the global satisfaction
with Obama’s inspirational achievement has already given some impetus to a world
that is slowing, almost stopping.
Let’s root for Obama and for
what his impressive victory represents. Today, we are all Americans.
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Sérgio Malbergier is the editor of the Money section of the
Folha de S. Paulo. He was the editor of the World section (2000-2004),
a correspondent in London (1994) and sent as a special correspondent to
countries like Iraq, Israel and Venezuela, among others. He has directed two
short films, A Árvore [The
Tree] (1986) and Carô no Inferno [Carô in Hell] (1987). He writes for Folha Online
on Thursdays.
E-mail: smalberg@uol.com.br
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[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
November 13, 5:12pm]
