From a policy perspective, I’m not sure what I think of an Obama presidency. But watching and listening to two of my kids, both 14, one of whom identifies himself as black, the other who identifies herself as bi-racial, I can tell that the impact is significant. The fact that a black man is on the verge of becoming president is speaking to them. It’s expanding what the future looks like in a country I’ve always loved. It’s talking to them about their place in the United States — their place in what came before them, their place in what is before them.

Though they are young, they understand the movement of time, from a country that once bred and tolerated evil in its race relations, to today, when a black man will, barring an electoral earthquake, become president. (If you think I am too loosely using the word evil, read Diane McWhorter’s Carry Me Home – mandatory reading for all Americans.)

As a father, whatever an Obama presidency may or may not do to my taxes, may or may not do to healthcare, I can say this: it will change how at least two of my children view where and how they fit in this country.

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