Long before Vice-Presidential nominee Governor Sarah Palin was elected Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, there was Susanna Madora Salter. In 1887, Salter threw open the door for women to hold political office. She became the nation’s first woman Mayor in Argonia, Kansas. The results of the election traveled quickly across the county and even around the world.
The door that Presidential nominee U. S. Senator Barack Obama has walked through was opened by Alexander Lucius Twilight. He became America’s first black elected to political office. In 1836, Twilight became a member of the Vermont House of Representatives.
The humble beginnings of women and blacks in politics have now risen to their greatest heights, with a chance to hold the most powerful political office in the world. When you go to the polls and vote on November 4, you will be part of a milestone in America’s political history. You will help put either our first black as President or our first woman as Vice-President of the United States.
This historic presidential race shows how far we have come in granting equal rights and opportunities to women and blacks. Though we have come far, we still have much to go. Racism and sexism still exists in this country. Far too long, we have judged people’s worth by their gender and race. Fortunately, God does not judge others the same way. We look at the outside, He looks at the heart.
We see how God values people by looking at His Son, Jesus Christ. During His time on earth, history records how Jesus reached out to women and people of different races upsetting the political climate of His day. Due to His teachings and refusal to stop, He was sentenced to a tortuous death. Yet, even death could not stop Him. For three days, He lay in a tomb, then a miraculous resurrection happened and Jesus rose from the dead. When He did, a great wall of separation came crashing down. The wall that separates mankind from God was demolished and the wall that divides people from each other was destroyed. Through Jesus Christ, we find our answer for the barriers that separate us. He is our hope for today. He is our hope for America.
