I voted early this year because there’s always the possibility of a fatal accident, and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to vote against the saber-rattling bullies who seized control of this country eight years ago.

My vote went to Barak Obama. I didn’t vote for him because he’s black, but it was a bonus that he is. After nearly fifty years, I finally live in the country my history teachers told me I had been born into -- a country where anyone can grow up and run for president. We still haven’t elected a woman, but one prejudice at a time.

When I was 14, I walked out of the darkness of the Tennessee Theater after having watched a beach party movie starring Connie Francis to find the doors blocked by ushers in their red bellhop uniforms. A line of black men and women was backed up out of sight.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“N*****s are trying to get in,” one of the ushers said.

“Why can’t they come in? What did they do?” I asked.

“Have you ever seen a n****r in here?” the usher asked.

In the next moment a horrible realization came over me. Knoxville was one of those places I had read about where black people weren’t allowed to mingle with whites. I wasn’t stupid; I had seen the “White’s Only” signs and the separate water fountains and restrooms, but they were so familiar -- like downtown street signs -- that the meaning had never sunk in.

As the usher let me out, I saw a white youth, not much older than I was, step up and spit into the face of one of the black girls standing in line. She kept her eyes straight ahead with quiet dignity, saliva dripping from her face. From that moment forward, I knew I would never be the same again.

Shedding racism, which I had not been taught, turned out to be the easiest of my prejudices to cast aside. I still had sexism and homophobia to overcome. In time, I managed, however, to leave them all behind. But it was racism that burned the worst because it was the first mindless injustice I encountered.

When I cast my vote for Obama, it was a liberating experience. There is still a lot of blind hatred out there, but major progress is being made and I now live in the country my history teachers told me I had been born into.