Yesterday I was chatting with a neighbor of mine and our conversation turned to politics. We both had Obama signs in the front yard and we were both proud of him and hopeful for things to come.

But he shared something that took me off guard.

“Now my boys will have no excuses”.

It was simple as that. I had never thought about this for my own son. I had never thought that he would be limited by any means by the color of his skin. But this election was a change not only for my neighbors son, but for all children of color. Every parent can now look at their child, and despite their color or economic status, they can rise as high as they wanted — even to the position of President of these United States.

Barack Obama had used the word “hope” to cover many different aspects of our lives. While I had hoped for economic change and a change in military policy, others were hoping for an end to the days when, and we all heard it during the election, “the country isn’t ready to elect a black man”.

Obama’s election as well as his acceptance speech should inspire us all. For those who have said that we as a society can’t expect that a single mother can do a good job raising her child — “yes we can”. For those who have said that we as Americans could never look past the color of a persons skin as they were filling out their ballot — “yes we can”.

When it was time to leave I shook my neighbors hand and smiled. We were both glad that change was coming. We were both hopeful for the future. As I walked back to my house, a smile stayed on my face. Hopes had already been realized and change was already here.