More than one-hundred thousand people gathered in Grant Park, Chicago last night to celebrate the start of a new chapter of the American story. The jubilant and emotional faces in the crowd told the truth that had been obscured by eight years of Republican domination of American policy – that this is a diverse nation where people from all over the world have been called together to live in one great society. We will learn to celebrate our differences, or we will fail.Not long ago when Barack Obama was seeking his first primary win in Iowa, a predominately white state, many African Americans were supporting Hillary Clinton. The prospect of a man with an African heritage actually winning the presidency of the United States seemed to many blacks an unrealistic dream. But when white voters in Iowa spoke in favor of Obama, many blacks started to believe that their time had come in America at last.

Last night in his eloquent concession speech, John McCain praised the historic nature of his opponent’s victory. Today in a speech at the White House, President Bush also took a shot at marking the significance of this election for all Americans who value civil rights. Rightly so, this is a time to recognize and celebrate our country’s continuing shift towards the ideals of its forefathers. We may take the occasional detour, but on the big timeline we always seem to move in the right direction.

But this election, despite all that it has accomplished for America’s future, is also marked with stark failures that simply cannot be ignored. And in California, where it now appears likely that voters will approve an amendment to the state constitution to outlaw gay marriage, the African American community that voted so resoundingly for its own equality last night bears the responsibility of that failure.

Looking at the exit polls in one of the nation’s most liberal states, a disturbing trend is evident. While whites voted 53% – 47% in opposition to the amendment, African Americans were far less enlightened on this fundamental issue of equality in America. In what should be an eye-popping number for progressives, 70% of African Americans voted in favor of the amendment to ban gay marriage. An even larger number of African American women, 74%, voted in favor of the ban. So the very group that helped bring America a victory for racial divides last night also helped continue a culture of discrimination and intolerance towards gay Americans.

In his victory speech, President-elect Obama had this to say about America’s diversity:

“It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.”

Those words are of course a call for unity in America, and it’s a call that’s long overdue. But the party of CEOs and Wall Street bankers has always known that dividing the electorate on social issues is its only path to victory – and they’re unlikely to let even a popular President Obama govern unchallenged. If they are to challenge the progressive economic policies of this president-elect then they’re going to have to keep pushing to divide the middle class with social distractions; gay marriage is sure to be front and center as long as Americans keep voting like they did last night in even the more liberal states of this nation.

The Obama approach to campaigning seems to take social divides off the table by refusing to engage in such debates. By stating an opposition to gay marriage, Obama effectively ended that debate in the 2008 campaign and took from the Republicans what could have been an effective distraction from the Republican record of governing. He did the same thing with offshore drilling, by the way – conceding the possibility of an expansion of offshore drilling under an Obama administration. That move rendered the Republican cry of “Drill baby, drill!” ineffective as a means for swaying voters.

But last night we saw the price of Democratic fear of the gay marriage debate. Their unwillingness to serve as champions on this issue certainly didn’t help the cause in California. Similar bans were also approved in Arizona and Florida. And perhaps even more disturbing, Arkansas actually approved a ban on gay couples adopting children. The price will only prove worth it if President-elect Obama turns out to be a Trojan horse in this war, and uses his new position of leadership and authority as a tool for the advancement of acceptance in America of gay and lesbian couples. His words last night provide some amount of hope in that regard, but progressives will be looking for a lot more from our next president on this very important chapter of the civil rights movement in America.

While we wait to see what the impact on America might be for countless gay and lesbian citizens under an Obama presidency, we should not forget that the struggle for civil rights has not come to and end. Perhaps it has just taken on a new face in 2008.