Of the many reasons why I support Barack Obama for President, I find that the most outwardly obvious one is easily the least important. While I am proud that America has come so far in her journey of racial reconciliation that an African-American candidate is only a few weeks away from the White House, my support of the Illinois senator has a lot more to do with our shared goals, hopes, and ideas than our shared complexion.

Senator Obama’s appeal is to the best of America, what Abraham Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature”. Our better nature is to unite under the banner of freedom and community, not to divide neighbor against neighbor.

Strict but loving parents who gave me a Catholic upbringing and Quaker elementary schooling instilled in me the belief that unless you are willing to be a part of the solution, you have no right to complain about the problem.