Inspiration: 6 years Before He became President, President Obama was Mistaken for a Waiter

President Barack Obama’s remarks regarding the George Zimmerman verdict brought light to the fact that he once dealt with racial discrimination before he was the leader of the Free World. This led to the resurfacing of a piece written by Katie Rosman of the Wall Street Journal in 2008 about an incident in 2003 when Obama was a state senator. Rosman recalls going to an event to celebrate the release of Sidney Blumenthal’s book, The Clinton Wars.

The incident was one she would never forget. She wrote:

“Standing by myself I noticed, on the periphery of the party, a man looking as awkward and out-of-place as I felt. I approached him and introduced myself. He was an Illinois state senator who was running for the U.S. Senate. He was African American, one of a few black people in attendance. “We spoke at length about his campaign. He was charismatic in a quiet, solemn way. I told him I wanted to pitch a profile of him to a national magazine. (The magazine later rejected my proposal.) “The following year I watched as he gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, and then won his Senate seat that fall. On Tuesday, Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States.”

Incredible! She approached a humble Barack Obama, who would, within six years, be the President of the United States. Here’s where it gets weird:

“What I will always remember,” Rosman wrote in 2008, “is as I was leaving that party … I was approached by another guest, an established author. He asked about the man I had been talking to. Sheepishly he told me he didn’t know that Obama was a guest at the party, and had asked him to fetch him a drink. In less than six years, Obama has gone from being mistaken for a waiter among the New York media elite, to the president-elect. What a country.”

Yup, that’s the sort of scrutiny many face just based on their complexion and appearance. Those who ignore race relations issues are part of the problem.

Moral of the story: Never look down on anybody except you are admiring their shoes.