By Kathy Chaffin
kchaffin@salisburypost.com
Retired Salisbury Post reporter/columnist Rose Post said Tuesday’s inauguration of Barack Obama was a proud day for America.
“I think he’ll be an excellent president because he’ll know that people of many different backgrounds have things to offer this country,” she said. “I think he’ll bring out the best in all of us.”
Post, who wrote about the Civil Rights movement and desegregation of public schools during her 56 years at the newspaper, said she was thrilled when voters elected their first African-American president Nov. 4.
“It was time,” she said. “Twenty years ago, even 10 years ago, it never could have happened. It’s a big step toward becoming the kind of nation that we think we are and that we say we are, a nation in which everybody has rights.
“I think it says the best thing that’s been said about our country in many years. We should all be proud of ourselves.”
Post, 82, said it’s time that everyone in this country has an opportunity to take a stand and be part of government. “No one should ever be eliminated from it because of race, being poor or any of those things,” she said.
Growing up in a Jewish family in a predominantly-Christian community, Post knows firsthand what it’s like be a minority. “The other kids were nice and didn’t leave me out of things,” she said, “but we were different and always felt that.”
During her time at the newspaper, she had the opportunity to report on many outstanding African-American leaders in Salisbury. “There have been some very important black leaders here,” she said.
When the public schools were getting ready to desegregate, Post hosted meetings in her home between African-American and white parents and their children so they could get to know each other.
“They found out that being black or white didn’t make them different,” she said. “They had different skin, but it didn’t make their abilities any different. It didn’t make any difference in them being kind to each other. It made no difference in their honesty …”