I have been celebrating Barack Obama's victory just about any other Ethiopian / African. We are witnessing a historic moment of enormous proportions unfold as democracy in the United States of America fulfils the dreams of many.

Being people of color, it seems that we Ethiopians (or Africans in general) hardly need any other justification to rejoice about the election of a black man to the white house. In fact, the whole world has embraced Barack irrespective of their skin color. Ironically, that highly publicized and criticized ad from McCain's camp alleging that Obama is the biggest celebrity in the world (minus the negative connotations) seems to be true. Nonetheless, why has this young man captured the imaginations of billions all over the world? Here are a few points that come to ones mind
-He symbolizes the dream of anything is possible
-He has offered the world with a non-arrogant, modest leadership for its super power
-His unique geneticity and upbringing spanning continents, religions and races
-His extraordinary eloquence

Many African countries including our own Ethiopia can't enjoy the fruits of democracy and civilized social interactions yet. As much as we would like to compare our own elections with the election in the US; as much as we would like to compare our own dictators to the western democracy; as much as we would like to associate ourselves with Barack Obama; Are we really ready to have a leader like him?

Let's try to project some of his virtues to an Ethiopian perspective.
1 – He is from a minority group. Why half white half back people are identified with blacks is quite complicated or beyond this article for that matter. The CIA factbook puts currently 12.85% of Americans are black. That number includes not only African Americans but also people of Hispanic descent who identify themselves as black (In any case, one can argue that they have African origins). Many American voted for him despite the fact that he does not look like them. The fact that we hesitate to sit next to Ethiopians with a wider nose and a darker skin in Addis Ababa minibuses is quite an alarming contrast.
2 – His father is not an American. Can you imagine any person whose mother is Ethiopian and whose father is say from Burkina Faso or Laos, running for a high profile public office in Ethiopia? And, what if his name is Compaore or Sayasone?

3 – He does not see America like you and me. We have heard this allegation repeatedly from the right wing of the Republican party. I bet most of us took this as outright inappropriate if not racist. In fact, all he did was looked at his country critically and at times tried to be in shoes of poor Afgans who are caught in the war between the terrorists and the liberators. How would many Ethiopians react to a young charismatic leader who questions the heroic status of Emperor Menelik when it comes to the blood shed when he conquered the south? How would patriotic Ethiopians see a young charismatic leader who puts himself in the shoes of a Welayeta and have reservations about lavish praises to Emperor Menelik? (One more thing to note is that, Afgans are not even Americans)

4 – He has questionable associations. He has at times spent times with people whose views do not align with the stereotypical redneck (a rural white low income American). Imagine an Ethiopian politician who aims at healing wounds and talks with people who have secessionist attitudes or have been dissatisfied with the system and curse the current system unapologetically. How much name calling is there, even between supposed allies in a party in the current Ethiopian political atmosphere?

5 – He is an elite. This is the only anti-parallel I could find. He was getting slammed for being "an elite". The problem in our country is rather the worshiping the elite despite their repeated failure to connect with the day-to-day problems on the streets.

Let me add one more point which is not necessarily in tandem with the theme of the article. Barack Obama has won some 95% of the black vote. Does that mean that black Americans are racist? Why aren't the white people and the media not alleging that? Especially in the light of the fact that many black voters tend to be socially conservative (as witnessed by 70% of blacks being against gay marriage in California). There are two reasons. The first is black people have always voted Democratic in exceptionally big margins. But that does not explain the enthusiasm we have seen amongst the black community. That is because of the second reason – which comprises centuries of injustice, minority status, disadvantaged society looking for a role model and pride in oneself interwound. Once again projecting this to the Ethiopian situation, one should not be surprised when many members of "oppressed" ethnic groups seem to automatically support their "liberation fighters".

One can raise a few other issues, but that should suffice to demonstrate that what the American democracy achieved is beyond simple racial healing that could not happened anywhere else in the world let alone Ethiopia.