Don’t get me wrong; I’m not talking of the new President shifting into the White House! I’m speaking of a black kid named Barack Obama who grew up in a household of whites. His mother was white and after her husband left her, little Barack grew up with grandparents who could in all probability trace their white ancestry back to the Mayflower and Merry England!

And in a household of whites, a black child was raised!

But the child grew up, not knowing, never ever feeling he was different from the rest of them, and therein lies some of the secret of the charisma and confidence we see and America saw in electing him the 44th President of the United States of America.

He grew up not knowing he was different. He didn’t have to overcome his blackness, he had no blackness to overcome. He didn’t have to strain to become a white, he knew no difference between him and a white.

And though he was a black kid in a white house, he grew up a normal child. Something for us to ponder about, what?

We, who place so much emphasis on colour!

I have a friend in the south, who isn’t exactly a paleface. The other day I got a call from him asking whether I would look for a bride for his son. I told him I would and he asked me to check my mail where he’d sent some points about the type of bride he was looking for. I did, and was unpleasantly shocked to see the first sentence; yes you’ve guessed it, ’Wanted a fair bride’.

“Bob,” he called a day later, “did you check your mail?”

“I did,” I said.

“I hope you’re looking!”

I quietly disconnected and have decided not to take his calls for awhile, knowing I’ll blast his head off.

‘Wanted Fair Bride’. Can you imagine the thousands of intelligent, highly educated, beautiful, dusky girls who are bypassed because of that one line? Imagine if that had been the criteria for the White House this time: ’Wanted White President’!

Oh yeah, they would have got another Bush and missed a brilliant man called Obama. For years that’s what they did, and they always had ’A white man in the White House’, but today with the mess the world is in, there is a great sense of hope and expectancy, a sparkle in the eye and a confidence in their step as America and the world look at this black man.

Maybe after January’s inauguration ceremony, we need to wipe off forever our stupid colour preferences, to realise that black or white makes no difference at all, so that other Obamas can spring from our own backyards; children who will never ever feel different; and grow up, calm and confident like lil’ Barack did; a black kid in a white house, to become the first black man in the White House!

It’s about time you, whose colour ain’t sparkling white, stride into the world with a bold and confident step; your time has come!