Yes, indeed. Change has come to the land of the free. Perjalanan panjang bangsa Amerika dalam berdemokrasi dan memperjuangkan kemerdekaan dalam berbagai hal akhirnya memberikan torehan yang sangat bermakna di dalam sejarah. Today, the first ever African-American man gave an acceptance speech as the elected President of the USA in front of thousands of people of all races.
45 tahun lalu, tanggal 28 Agustus 1963, di Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC, Martin Luther King Jr. memberikan pidato tentang pergerakan hak asasi manusia, tentang segregasi warna yang masih terjadi di Amerika Serikat saat itu. “I have a dream”, he said. “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
Terpilihnya Barack Obama sebagai Presiden AS dalam pemilihan Presiden tahun ini menunjukkan bahwa sebagian besar rakyat AS telah berhasil menyingkirkan prejudice dan meniadakan preferensi warna kulit dalam memilih pemimpin negaranya. The American has gone so far from separation of seat on the bus by skin color to actually elected an African-American man as a President. I thought it would only happen in movies. At least not this soon.
The campaign and election process also went on without much drama. Tenang, dewasa, demokratis, dengan beberapa ucapan atau jargon yang mungkin sebenarnya tidak perlu diucapkan (it’s politic, what do you expect). Cemoohan, kritik, tuduhan, judgemental comments, dikeluarkan dan disampaikan ke pihak oposisi tapi tanpa adanya pertentangan atau pertengkaran lebih lanjut di luar batas. When I listened to Senator McCain conceded through his speech, I just felt that that was what democracy is all about. No hatred, no jealousy, no illogical emotion in accepting the defeat. My respect goes to Senator McCain as a true gentleman and respected politician.
These past months following the campaign and election process in the US just makes me wish and wonder. Will Indonesia have the same democratic campaign and election process in 2009?
