Now that he’s made history, can Obama deliver on his promise of bringing our country together? Or, the real question: will the partisan hacks around the country let him?

After his acceptance speech Tuesday night, I was inspired by his hope that we can move beyond being a collection of blue states and red states and, instead, stand together as one United States of America. After weeks of hearing about “pro-American” parts of the country (which implies there are “anti-American” parts), and being hammered by divisive “us v. them” rhetoric, I feel that it will be a long struggle to heal those wounds.

McCain’s campaign staff did such a good job of painting Obama as anti-American, socialist, and a terrorist sympathizer that when he gave his concession speech, the crowd booed. To McCain’s credit, he tried to quiet them by saying Obama had been duly elected President, and, as such, would be his President. The speed at which he made this 180-turnaround from smearing Obama to praising him was incredible to watch.

But then I read the next day about Buck Burdette being kicked off the UT football team for posting the following on Facebook: “all the hunters gather up, we have a n***er in the White House.” (http://tinyurl.com/5fdpoh) And my parents still think he’s Muslim. (He’s always professed his Christian faith: http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp.) And possibly still unqualified to be President because he may not have been born in the U.S. (He was born in Hawaii: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/06/obama-birth.html) 

I see these things and am deeply disturbed – and very saddened – by them.

I blame FOX News & the GOP for the “talking points” my parents regurgitate. Sometimes, I don’t recognize them as the people who raised me to believe in equality, fairness, and the importance of always seeking truth. As for Buck, I don’t know whom to blame: what would inspire a young man, who plays alongside numerous African Americans on his football team and probably shares classes with many others, to be ignorant enough to post such a slur on Facebook?

I hope the partisan hacks will remember and take to heart our Pledge of Allegiance, ironically written by a Baptist Minister and Christian Socialist:

The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy (1855-1931), a Baptist minister, a Christian Socialist, and the cousin of Socialist Utopian novelist Edward Bellamy (1850-1898). Bellamy’s original “Pledge of Allegiance” was published in the September 8th issue of the popular children’s magazine The Youth’s Companion as part of the National Public-School Celebration of Columbus Day, a celebration of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus‘s discovery of America, conceived by James B. Upham.

Bellamy’s original Pledge read, “I Pledge Allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

The pledge was supposed to be quick and to the point. Bellamy designed it to be stated in 15 seconds. He had initially also considered using the words equality and fraternity but decided they were too controversial since many people opposed equal rights for women and blacks.