INSIGHT

Xolela Mangcu

IF YOU see me with bloodshot eyes, it is because I have been crying a lot over the past 48 hours.

If you see me dancing around in my car, it is not because of the music.

And if you should catch me jumping up and down or mumbling to myself, it is not because I have completely lost it.

It all has to do with what some have dubbed America’s “Mandela moment”.

This is how the man behind the moment, Barack Obama, described its essence: “Because of what we have done on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.”

But even the word “change” is way too banal. An out-of-body experience is more like it, or at least that’s how veteran civil rights activist John Lewis described the moment.

Sometimes I am not even sure whether my tears have been just in celebration of Obama, or also in despair at how we turned out. After all, we have the copyright on the Mandela moment. This is how we were supposed to have turned out before our own autocrats and cynics stole that moment from us.

Some may say I despair too easily. After all, America has had 200 years, and maybe we too will get over these bumps. I hope they are right.

Obama said many things in his speech but the most important was this: “I will listen to you, especially if we disagree.”

Can you imagine a South African politician saying that, when those who present themselves as democrats turn out to be intolerant autocrats in drag?

Maybe our Obama will come too. But he or she had better come soon. I do not have 200 years to wait around.

One marvels, too, at the generosity of Obama towards John McCain and at McCain’s own graciousness in defeat.

Colin Powell spoke about the election as the best example of the clash of ideas among the different parties, allowing the American people to make an informed decision.

Maybe we can learn something from that going into our own elections next year.

I have always believed that Obama would win this election. He said the election proved the United States was a place “where all things are possible”.

People talk about the emergence of China as Africa’s strategic partner going into the future. China is a powerhouse, no doubt. But for the values of “democracy, liberty and opportunity”, I will look to Obama’s America any time.

We have done much to damage our relationship with this great nation over the past decade. Obama, who was shunned by our leaders when he came here some years ago, gives us an opportunity to repair that strategic relationship.

The new leaders of our country need to seize the moment – first by acting like true democrats in relation to their own people, and then by reaching out to Obama.

Above and beyond the speech was just the beauty of the moment. My favourite senator, and now vice-president-elect, Joe Biden, walked onto the stage with his hand outstretched. Michelle Obama gave her man a high five and a hug, and their eyes locked for a little while. A lot was said there in that moment by these two Ivy Leaguers who have risen to the most powerful political position in the world.

But above all, this was about the American people and their ability to make mid-course corrections.

I thought about my friend, Jerry Dunfey.

I remember him once saying to me: “Hey, Xolela, there is this new guy from Illinois, man. He’s something; look out for him.” I thought about tireless and seasoned organisers such as Harry Boyte and Prexy Nesbitt. What Harold Washington started as the first black mayor of Chicago, Obama finished as the first black president of the US. What a class act. “On this day, in this election, at this defining moment …” The Mandela moment.

Xolela Mangcu is convener of the Platform for Public Deliberation at the University of Johannesburg and a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington