MAILBAG:

My father was born in 1908 in the New Mexico territory. The Mexican revolution was underway at that time, and Pancho Villa was harassing our border. My father’s family was escaping from the poverty in their family home in Arkansas. His family was a slave-owning family.

From New Mexico the family continued its journey until reaching California and settling in Los Angeles. Their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren still live here. My wife and our children settled in Newport Beach 36 years ago.

After our national election the other day, I met with some friends who are local business and professional people and we discussed the results of the Newport Beach City Council elections. Of course, the results of the state and national elections were also discussed. The universal reaction was a stunned response to the election of Barack Obama as president and the imminent reign of a liberal government. The atmosphere was morose. The majority wanted to begin at once to reverse the liberal trend and restore a conservative government. Even though I did not agree with the last eight years of conservative government, I respected their dedication to bring about a restoration of a political philosophy that had been wholly rejected by the electorate. Something, however, was missing. No one spoke of the truly remarkable, historically profound significance of the election of a black president.

I think that a generation is generally calculated as 25 years. If that’s the case, my grandfather was born six generations before the 2008 election of a black president.

I think the emphasis on conservative versus liberal political philosophies is healthy and should be supported by their adherents, but the failure to recognize a truly historic change in America’s social value system is blind, stupid and inherently dangerous. I wonder if Obama’s election signals a turn toward a more open and accepting nation, or simply an unusual blip in traditional thinking. My meeting the other day concerns me. Maybe my friends had accepted the results of this election and simply moved on to their normal left-versus-right concerns. Maybe not.

James M. Parker

Newport Beach

Add ‘Michael Glueck’ to the race

This is to announce my candidacy for the office of Orange County Commissioner of Wealth Distribution to assist President-elect Obama, who wants to redistribute the wealth. I seek no salary — only 10% of the gross take.

Michael Arnold Glueck

Newport Beach