America is different than most of the nations on earth: you can come here, become a citizen, and call yourself an American, regardless of your ethnic background (this may apply to Canada too...Canadians, is this the case?) and no one will say different. That is why the comments during the campaign alluding to there being a "real America" were so viscerally offensive. I could not go to Belgium, get citizenship, and call myself a Belgian, as that word carries ethnic/genetic connotations (versus saying I am a Belgian citizen)...same with France, England, Brazil, Russia, China, etc.

Without digressing into Webster's, I am sure that there were voters who selected Obama because of his racial background; others, like myself, in part for some of his objectives, in part as a vote against the objectives of his opponents. The fact he is black was not even in the top 5 reasons I voted for him.

That is why I believe that a vote is like a religion - it is yours and to you it is correct, but you do not have the right to force it upon another.

My ethnic background is German (from Hannover), Danish (from Sonderborg), English (from New Romney and Cranbrook in Kent), Irish (still looking), but I consider myself an American (no hyphens please). I also understand the perspective from which Black, Hispanic, and Native Americans view the nation - for centuries, on the outside, looking in; thus it would be erroneous to discount the affect race played in their decisions.

Those who voted for him solely because of his race made a decision no better informed than those who voted against him for the same reason. I cannot say that their vote was "wrong", only ill-informed, and that there are other issues just as important facing the nation. However, the vote is theirs, and like free speech, I do not have to agree with it to defend their right to express it.

As for "'Tis a good day to be Black", in the author's words I see only pride in being part of a significant portion of Americans, in a monumental achievement brought into being by a majority of voting Americans (again, no hyphens please), with special significance for Black Americans and their achievements as part of the fabric of the American nation. I cannot begrudge him his world view - I have not walked in his shoes.

With this election, it is also good to be a Germano-Anglo-Celt, but even better, it is a great day to be an American.