The day after last November’s election, Americans looked in the mirror and, for the first time, saw a new vision of themselves. This new America has been said to be a reflection of and culmination of changes that have been taking place for decades.
Of course, the re-election of the country’s first African-American president was an historic event in itself. But that was not all that the historians were cataloguing this year. President Barack Obama is said to have won as a result of a diverse grassroots coalition of women, minorities and young people groups that have not historically been considered the political power structure in this country. Voters for the first time approved same-sex marriage in three states. Wisconsin elected the country’s first openly gay senator. Two states legalized the recreational use of marijuana. And record numbers of women, Asian Americans and Latinos will be serving in Congress.
