Opinion: Despite security snafu, they are still joyful

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WASHINGTON -- With record crowds massing to hear a piece of the celebration, it was a noble and prestigious cast of people who were shut out, official tickets notwithstanding.

The National Council of Negro Women, a nonprofit group that advocates for education and civil rights, had planned a day of poignant celebration.

It’s pink headquarters sits on Pennsylvania Avenue across from what used to be a 19th century slave-trading market, where an attempted escape by 77 slaves was once foiled by bad weather.

But several people were unable to get through the security lines when the gates were overrun. They stood in a clutch pressed against a security fence, watching the swearing-in on a video phone, useless $75 tickets in the pockets of some.

‘I think security takes priority over us, but they didn’t plan very well,’ said Zina Pierre, a former special assistant to President Clinton and a member of the council who was wedged in a knot of people so tight some couldn’t move their hands.

But the sheer joy of the moment managed to eclipse the misfortune of being locked out.

‘The 49th president coming through,’ a man hollered as an 18-month-old African American baby boy was passed over the crowd’s heads, mosh-pit style, and into his mother’s arms on the other side of the fence.

When Barack Obama finished the oath, it took a few seconds for the reality to set it. Not everybody could see the video phone’s tiny screen. Then a collective whoop went up.

‘To see a black man get in the First Car and go to the First Church just makes me want to cry,’ Pierre said.

And then she did.

-- Faye Fiore

For the record: An earlier version of this post said the headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women was an 18th century slave-trading market.

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