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Tears For Past, Fears For Future

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By DONNA KOEHN

dkoehn@tampatrib.com

Published: January 18, 2009

Updated: 01/18/2009 12:11 am

TAMPA - Presidential inaugurations always have brought excitement, hope and celebration for the victors, dismay and disgruntlement for those who wanted the other guy.

This time, the depth of emotion on both sides is profound.

A professor of African-American history calls Barack Obama's election a "psychological catharsis" for blacks. Tampa residents who once drank from separate water fountains rejoice at the seemingly impossible fact that a biracial man was elected in their lifetimes.

But some voice fear, if not always publically. Never before has a president-elect's very name generated controversy. His religion is viewed with suspicion, his motives questioned.

Born in Ybor City, Olympia Malone, 62, believes God played a direct role in Obama's election.

"Here comes a man from the back burner. Where did he come from? I think it was God," she says. "I think this was a divine appointment."

Malone, a registered nurse at a residential treatment facility for adolescents, says she was too busy raising nine children to attend a Martin Luther King Jr. rally or the Million Man March in Washington.

But she's boarding a bus from Tampa to Virginia, even if her lodging is a Comfort Inn more than an hour away from the swearing-in ceremony and her vantage point "someplace on the Mall" watching a giant monitor.

She just wants to be there.

"I remember going to Kress in Ybor City to buy a hot dog and I had to go down at the end of the counter. ... I could not sit down," she says. "I was given my hot dog and I had to go outside and eat it."

She rode to elementary school in the back of a bus and recalls the indignity of separate toilets and water fountains at Ybor City stores.

Malone wipes away tears as she contemplates the significance of the election.

"It means that Americans will look beyond skin color or a person's ethnic background in choosing a national leader. They will be looking for integrity and a person they can trust in."

Anthony Parent, a professor of African-American history at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, describes election night as a time of jubilation for blacks, Obama's ascension a form of psychological catharsis.

"They see within him the embodiment of hope for a brighter future that has eluded generations of their ancestors who had to endure enslavement, second-class citizenship and institutional racism," he says.

"It has been a long time coming."

Malone says Obama was the primary topic of conversation among adults at her recent holiday gatherings. But the younger members of the family seemed less enthralled.

"Younger people think this is just the way things are," says Malone, who hopes that black young men, in particular, will come to see Obama's election as incentive to achieve. "They don't know the struggle."

Six Tampa teenagers from the Boys & Girls Club chosen to fly to Washington got a taste of that apathy when they told their classmates about the upcoming trip.

"Half of them didn't know what an inauguration is," says Kristina Sutor, 14, a ninth-grader at Robinson High School.

"I actually had people ask me, 'What's an inauguration?'" says Tyler Placeres, 16, a Robinson 11th-grader.

On Thursday, the kids - accustomed to flip-flops and shorts - were given $500 by Macy's to stock up on winter coats and clothing, along with formal wear for a youth inaugural ball. Temperatures in Washington on Tuesday are expected to top out at 32 degrees, and snow is possible.

The teenagers' hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue will offer front-row seating for the inaugural parade, the part of the trip the teens seem to be looking forward to the most.

Amari Bennett, 15, a Jefferson High ninth-grader, says her family is more excited she's going to Washington than she - so far. But she does like Obama.

"He won't be focused on one set of people. He's focused on all. He'll be looking out for more than one race."

Amari's mother, Cornelia Wright, says it will be a life-changing experience for her daughter.

"I think when she gets back, she's going to be on the path where she wants to be," she says. "It's going to open a world of possibilities. It's all about possibilities. There are so many things that are possible."

Kristina found a striking blue gown for the ball.

"I never imagined I'd be a part of history, because it's going to be history," she says. "I'm going to remember this for the rest of my life."

Shervin Rassa, branch director of the Jim Walter Interbay branch of the club, had the job of choosing which kids would get the all-expense-paid trip. It was funded by The Stafford Foundation, a faith-based, nonprofit group, to give regular people a chance to experience the inauguration.

"I'm not sure the whole aspect of us going has sunk in yet," Rassa says. He says the significance of the occasion will fully register with the teens after they are there.

Also attending will be Linda Wehler, 54, of Tampa.

A year ago, she had a heart attack at a Tampa Bay Lightning game, then endured emergency surgery and a long recovery. One incentive to persevere: getting well enough to attend Tuesday's event.

"I've always wanted to go to an inauguration. But having the heart attack made that more prevalent," Wehler said.

She and her husband, son and daughter will attend the swearing-in thanks to an early request for tickets. Through a stroke of luck, her son secured tickets to the Illinois State Society ball, the unofficial ball of Obama's home state.

"I'm very thankful and very glad to be alive," said Wehler, a digital artist. "And I'm very glad to be going to the inauguration."

Jim Crouch of Tampa will not attend. He says he felt clinically depressed for two weeks following the election of Obama, whom he considers dangerous.

"He was described as this poor, young black man, but he's a mulatto brought up by white people," he says. "He had a radical upbringing."

Crouch says the liberal media did not scrutinize Obama's past as diligently as other candidates'.

"He's playing to the most ignorant, who are blindly willing to follow him," he says. "What scares me the most is his idea of 'Let's spend more.'"

Bill Keller of St. Petersburg, who has a nighttime radio show on WWBA, 820 AM, states unequivocally that Obama is not a Christian.

"Just because I call myself a giraffe doesn't make me a giraffe," he says. "Anyone who supports the slaughter of babies, the radical homosexual agenda and giving away parts of Israel flies in the face of biblical Christianity."

He says people who criticize Obama are called racists or hate mongers, and therefore, most people won't openly express their views.

"Mine is a position a lot of people hold," he says. "But very few people will go on the record and take the heat for it."

Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, says 12 percent of Americans believe Obama is a Muslim.

"That number is especially high among white evangelical Protestants," he says. "The name Barack Obama sounds Muslim. A second, more elusive belief is that Obama is the Antichrist."

That belief is fueled by Internet sites that report predictions of the end of the world.

"In times of great tribulation, people begin looking for the Antichrist," Lugo says. "One-third of white evangelicals believe the Rapture will occur in their lifetimes."

During the Rapture, Christians believe they will be taken from Earth to participate in the second coming of Christ, and those who have died will be resurrected. The Antichrist in Christian prophesies will oppose Christ during that time.

Because of the role Jews are thought to play, rumors increase anytime there is unrest in the Middle East, Lugo says.

"There is no question that the concern that Obama is the Antichrist is out there," he says.

Mark Saunders, senior pastor of Bay Life Church in Brandon, is aware that some Christians are worried, although no one from his congregation has expressed those fears to him.

"Admittedly, there are some who live out their faith like Chicken Little, always waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop or opine on the emergence of apocalyptic signs and figures," he says.

Christians who live by their faith trust in God no matter who is in power in Washington, Saunders says.

"Like I always tell our people, 'Relax. God's got us.'"

Although black and white evangelicals have similar beliefs, many diverge sharply in their views of Obama, Lugo says.

Malone, who believes Obama's election reflects a divine hand, has high hopes for what his presidency means.

"This is for Hispanics, Jewish people, Asians, anyone on American soil," she says. "He's including everyone to say, 'Yes, you can.' This will give everyone in America, especially minorities, the chance to say, 'You know, if this man can do it ... I can, too."

TAMPA AREA

Here is a list of places to gather in the Tampa Bay area to watch the broadcast of the presidential inauguration Tuesday.

Tampa

The Tampa Theatre, 711 N. Franklin St. Admission is free, but seating is first-come, first-served. The theater opens at 10 a.m.; coverage begins at 11 a.m. Snacks will be served, and viewers can bring bag lunches.

University of South Florida Marshall Center, 4202 E. Fowler Ave. Free telecast of the inauguration on multiple screens, refreshments. Sponsored by the USF Center for Leadership & Civic Engagement, which will offer volunteer opportunities and encourage continued civic participation. Doors open at 10 a.m.

Bible Based Fellowship Church, 4811 Ehrlich Road. Free. At 10 a.m., a panel discussion by community leaders, followed by a live feed of the inauguration at 11:30 a.m. Speaking on what the future may hold will be the Rev. Gonzalo Cruz, former city council member Bob Buckhorn, lawyer and civil rights activist Delano Stewart, and Walter Smith, former president of Florida A&M University. Call (813) 264-4050 for information.

University Area Community Center Complex, 14013 N. 22nd St., Tampa. Attend the Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival's Leadership Luncheon, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., for $10. Today is the deadline for reservations at distribution@tampablackheritage.org or 1-888-224-1733, ext. 143.

St. Petersburg

Coliseum, 535 Fourth Ave. N. The Friends of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum and the International Association of Firefighters, Local 747, will host a lunch and a big-screen viewing beginning at 10 a.m. Tickets are $25. To reserve a seat, call (727) 323-1104.

Compiled by Donna Koehn

IN WASHINGTON

Here's a list of Florida-related inaugural events and activities in the nation's capital:

An open house Monday hosted by the Florida state Democratic Party from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Florida House on Capitol Hill.

The first Florida "Sunshine and Stars: 2009 Florida Inaugural Ball" Monday at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, sponsored by the Florida State Society and Florida House. Dancing and dessert will begin at 9:30 p.m. and conclude at 1 a.m.

A "Friends of Florida" reception Tuesday to honor the Florida congressional delegation at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian from 7 p.m. to midnight.

The official Obama "Southern Inaugural Ball" Tuesday at the D.C. National Guard Armory for Florida and 10 other states. Doors open at 8 p.m. and events begin at 10 p.m. and conclude at 2 a.m.

Several open-house events Monday and Tuesday at the Washington offices of some of Florida's members of Congress for visiting constituents.

Compiled by Washington reporter Billy House.

Tribune reporters Billy House and Cloe Cabrera and News Channel 8 reporter Yolanda Fernandez contributed to this report. Reporter Donna Koehn can be reached at (813) 259-8264. Watch Yolanda Fernandez's story on Bay area people attending the inauguration a

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