Boring is good

Martin Luther King, Jr. reminds us that "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." That's easy to forget on many days, especially in the world we've been living in for the past seven years. America is hardly a moral authority these days, endorsing torture extraordinary rendition harsh interrogation.

But when you compare the images from the High Museum's current exhibition "Road to Freedom" with the fact that the Democrats just chose their first black presidential nominee, and, as Ezra Klein says, "Not only might a black man be president, but at times, many forget to even be surprised by it," and I for one can't help but hope. To move from the horrors of gangs of white adolescents screaming at black adolescents, for daring to attend the same school, to the beautiful, happy, peaceful image of Obama in that previous link, in one generation. That's something. I'm not saying things are great now, or racism suddenly ceased to exist. I'm just saying that the arc of the moral universe does indeed bend toward justice. And it is so wonderful, and necessary, to be reminded of that. To be reminded that people may be imperfect, but they are also capable of change.

PK reminds me of that too, in his comment that the gay marriage pictured on his Mama's website might indeed have been a bit boring. To which she replies, "Someday hopefully it will be."

Progress is slow, agonizingly slow, and when you're in it, when you're pounding your head against that wall, it feels immovable. Thank goodness we occasionally get these beautiful reminders. Of course, we shouldn't rest. Because these reminders should not be so few and far between. I am far from suggesting that we should be over the moon simply because in 2008 we finally realized that a qualified black man was, first and foremost, a qualified person. And hopefully it won't take another 40 years to figure out that two men in love, or two women in love, are, first and foremost, two people in love. But I am saying that we should, from time to time, take a moment to appreciate just how far we've come. It makes the distance left to go seem that much more obtainable.