US Senator Barack Obama's securing of a majority of delegates' votes for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States is an historic day for the US and for the world.

It is a testament to the man and his message, and to the continuing marvel of the US as a nation that a man born of a Kenyan father and a white American mother can become one of the two nominees to lead the world's richest and most powerful nation.

That this can occur less than half a century after the abolition of segregation in large parts of that country makes it even more remarkable.

To be sure, there remains a long time between now and August when the formal nomination of the Democratic candidate takes place, let alone the general election in November.

And remarkably, Sen. Hillary Clinton still refuses to concede when all but the blind can see that her campaign is over.

But to all intents and purposes, Sen. Obama will be the Democratic nominee and, on the face of it, the general election is his to lose, given the dire state of the Republican Party, even with the redoubtable Sen. John McCain as his opponent.

For Bermuda, this is an inspiring time as well. Given the Island's racial make-up and its own legacy of racial segregation, Sen. Obama's nomination should give hope to all that racial relations can and will improve.

That's largely due to Sen. Obama's message. He is a man who brings people together, rather than drives them apart. His is a message of inclusiveness rather than division, and it is a message that is badly needed in Bermuda as well as in the US.

Sen. Obama has promised "hope" and "change" as he has crisscrossed the vast expanse of the US, drawing vast crowds and inspiring record turnouts of primary voters.

It is still not entirely clear just what the "change" he promises entails. On foreign policy, he may need to inject some realpolitik into his idealism. In Bermuda we may have reservations about his tax policies. And above all, we should take care not to elevate anyone to sainthood; we are all flawed in some way.

But the "audacity of hope" is very much embodied in Barack Obama; that a man of mixed racial heritage, raised in Hawaii, educated in America's finest universities and settled in Chicago, could become the next president of the US shows that possibilities in this world really are limitless.

Barack Obama's story sucks our well-earned cynicism out of us.

A story in yesterday's Washington Post entitled "Two words with a ring of possibility" said this: "Black President ...

"Said with whispers. And gasps. Exhaled as if the accumulation of all the troubles of a people would be over, though those who know better know also that that won't happen."

The story then quoted history professor Roger Wilkins saying: "Black president. Is there still racism in this society? Of course there is. But it is not nearly the level of racism that would make the idea of the words 'black president' sound ridiculous."

And he added: " "There is a very deep joy and pride when I listen to the words 'black' and 'president' applied to a walking, breathing person who carries African genes in his body and soul."

That joy is shared in Bermuda, by black Bermudians and whites, because Sen. Obama, especially after his speech on race in Philadelphia, embodies the idea that we can live and thrive together in tolerance and harmony. Win or lose in November, Sen. Obama, you and your words will always be welcome in Bermuda.