Looking back over 60 years in the USA

It was 60 years ago, July 13, 1948, when I arrived in New York, on a boat from the “old country.” I was 15 years old, poor, with $2 in my pocket. Now I still carry only $2 in my wallet, but next to that, there is a credit card.

Yes, I was very poor, but I had HOPE. I know exactly what Sen. Barack Obama means when he talks about hope. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, my hope was to become a surgeon someday. Only in this land of opportunity, hopes can become reality. What a beautiful country.

In 1948, Harry S. Truman was president. He was the vice president when President Roosevelt passed away. There were 48 states and the District of Columbia, with a population of 140 million. Alaska and Hawaii were still territories. The Eisenhower Highway was not yet built and a brand new Cadillac cost around $3,000. Oh, yes, gasoline was 35 cents a gallon. The gas station attendant filled up the tank, cleaned the windshield, the back window, and checked under the hood. He smiled, and thanked you for your business.

I did labor work for $1 an hour, and baby sat for 50 cents an hour. So, one hour of hard labor could buy me three gallons of gasoline. How does that compare with today?

People left their homes unlocked and the milkman left the bottles of milk in a galvanized box by the front door. Crimes were almost unknown, and young people addressed their elders as “Sir” and “Ma’am.” A hamburger cost 10 cents, a cup of coffee five cents, and a 10-mile bus ride between Washington D.C. and McLean, Virginia, cost a dime. A movie cost me a quarter and I paid the same for a haircut.

An ugly blot

At the same time, there was the ugly side of America — Segregation. In his infamous speech, George Wallace, the governor of Alabama, a Democrat, stood at the door of the University of Alabama and shouted: “Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!” If only he knew that 45 years later, a black woman would be the Secretary of State and a black man would be the nominee of his Democratic Party for president of the United States.

“Colored only” and “White only” signs were displayed in all public places in the South, and the Ku Klux Klan freely exercised their power of intimidation. But the oppressed had hope for a better tomorrow. They said “We shall overcome”. Looking back, we have overcome. Sixty years ago, Senator Obama could not have occupied a front seat in a bus, much less become a senator. What a beautiful country,

Over the last 60 years, we have navigated through hot and cold wars, with mixed results. But America continued to grow and prosper. As long as we are free, we shall overcome any adversity, and defeat any foe, as long as that foe is not from within. In the ’50s, the Russians sent a Sputnik into outer space. In the ’60s President John F. Kennedy asked the nation to put a man on the moon within a decade, and it was done.

Today, we cry about the cost of gasoline, the threat of terrorism, crimes in our streets, trade deficit, national debt, corruption in high places and uncertain future. However, as long as we remain free, we shall overcome all these obstacles. By free, I mean freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom from fear and freedom from want. These are the freedoms guaranteed to us by the Constitution.

With HOPE, determination, and the will to do, we shall overcome all obstacles and solve all problems. We have done it in the past, we can do it now, and we shall do it in the future. All we have to do is set our priorities: educate our children, restore the family, do the right thing and vote for the right officials. With that strong base, we can do the impossible and stand in the world as a beacon of hope.

We are blessed to be citizens of these beautiful United States. God bless America!

X Dr. Rashid A. Abdu was an intern at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Youngstown who rose to be director of surgical education there. He was in private surgical practice for many years and on the faculty of the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine since its inception.