Dignity

For more than three decades Eugene Allen worked in the White House, a black man unknown to the headlines. During some of those years, harsh segregation laws lay upon the land. He trekked home every night, his wife, Helene, keeping him out of her kitchen. At the White House, he worked closer to the dirty dishes than to the large desk in the Oval Office. Helene didn't care; she just beamed with pride.

Perhaps I'm being unrealistic, but I am already weary of all the focus on the racial aspect of Obama's election. The meme about the first black president may be accurate, but it is false--and it is counterproductive. The emphasis should not be applied to his race; it should be applied to the fact that he prevailed, in large part, because he specifically minimized his race and focused instead on his nationality.

That said, I heartily recommend this exceptionally poignant piece.

Quiet dignity never goes out of style.