THE REVOLVING DOOR

I phoned F_____ in New York the night of the Inauguration. I was thinking a lot that day of my elders and the changes they've seen, and of course we were all thinking about other cathartic and historic marking moments. F______ told me that she had witnessed the March on Washington, Black Panther Rallies, Woodstock, and now this. She told me, "Black people didn't do this, Karen; white people didn't do this: AMERICANS did this." We talked for a while about the Presidential Family. F______ thought the children looked so nicely dressed, she thinks Michelle is a strong woman and a classy lady, and she hopes that Barack isn't "getting groomed, like they did with Dinkins."

Before we got off the phone, F______ added, "I liked Laura, but her husband had to go. It was past due for him. I have to admit, I did like seeing that man get evicted from his apartment."

YET ANOTHER GLASS CEILING OBAMA CRACKED

In 1989 I was in college and dating a guy who was African-American (I'm white). When my mother was informed of this, she was worried for me. I asked her to explain. "It's not that I think it's wrong," she said, "but I think it's really hard on the children. I think they grow up not knowing who they belong to." Never mind that I was 18, not planning to breed, and many dates away from choosing a life-long partner; in any case my mother may have been talking about herself: In her Massachusetts of the 1950s, she grew up with the nuns telling her that her Protestant father would go to hell, but she should pray for him just the same.