Sometimes you know that you are attending an event that will go into world history, as a common memory across the continents.

There can be said to be three such global joint experiences in the last 20 years. 9. November 1989 was one such day, when East and West Germans independently tore down the Berlin Wall. 11. February 1991 was one such event when Nelson Mandela was able to walk freely for the first time in 27 years after being imprisoned for his fight against the apartheid regime. 11. September 2001 was such a world-historic moment when Al-Qaeda's hijacked passenger plane crashed infernally into the World Trade Center.

Now we can add a fourth date to this list: 4. November 2008, when Barack Hussein Obama (47) was elected US 44. president. As the first colored head of state in North America and Europe in modern times, he appears as a symbol that even a 500 year-long history, beginning with colonialization and occupation of Africa and America, can be overcome.

Let's not even hope that Obama can manage to meet the huge hopes he himself has created through his two-year election campaign, or through his rhetorically consummate speech night for 5. November. It is hardly in a man's power to carry out the ten-point list he has promised to fulfill:

Reduce America's CO2 emissions by 80 percent by 2050 and create a binding global agreement currently under the Kyoto Agreement. Withdraw all forces from Iraq within 16 months and not have permanent bases there. Create a clear goal of removing all nuclear weapons on Earth. Close Guantanamo Bay. Double US aid to halve poverty. De-politicize the US military intelligence to avoid a new Iraq manipulation. End the Darfur killings. Invest NOK 900 billion for renewable energy and have one million electric cars on the roads by 2015.

Nothing less. Obama is in danger of becoming a national or global version of Deval Patrick, the black Massachussett who in the 2006 election of the nearly all-white state thanks to Obama strategist David Axelrod's PR campaign on "change" and "hope." In several areas, Obama copied the Patrick strategy and keywords. But Patrick's pursuit of office probably won't be copied, since accusations of camaraderie and money wasting have ended.

Obama's biggest challenge will be to live up to his own promises. At a time like this, the most important thing is not to ask what Obama can do for us, but what we can do for Obama. It is a whole world that is now witnessing that not only the United States gets a fresh start. Or as Obama put it in his victory speech: "To all of you watching tonight from across the ocean, from parliaments and palaces to those curling up around radios in the forgotten corners of the world: Our stories are individual, but our future is divided. A new beginning for American leadership is here. "

The world has responded with joy and anticipation. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says Obama's "incredible trip to the White House will inspire people not only in your own country, but around the world." And herein lies the most important message from Tuesday's Obama victory: It's about learning from the Americans' choices, being personally inspired and creating positive change in society. Can Obama, can we. Yes, we can.

Obama's overwhelming victory – by 52 to 46 percent, with probably 364 against John McCain's 174 electoral votes – put the speculation and skepticism of the Norwegian press to shame in recent months. The polls were correct, as they were when Obama won against Clinton this spring.

Nevertheless, the Norwegian media have been full of claims about a Bradley effect, that whites do not vote for blacks – even if they say so. The myths about Bradley's defeat in California in 1982 are alive, despite the fact that he was not affected by such alleged white discrimination. The measurements were correct even then. Obama's crushing victory will be the defeat of many media critics after the many wrong predictions.

But it is most important to look ahead. Especially the young people in the USA – this election has mostly been a generational showdown – have shown a radical belief in change. 40 years after the 1968 uprising, young Americans are now behind a revolution that is democratic and globally unifying. May it go as with the American youth uprising in the 60s: That the ideas and actions cross the Atlantic and reach Norway as well.

Cowardly utterances

Over the past week, several media outlets have raised the issue of the UN Human Rights Council's new, worrying instructions to its Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression. The abuse of free speech will also now be considered.

Despite the seriousness of this: It is not the UN or foreign forces that in today's Norway most threaten free speech. It is not the majority of Norwegians who are most prevented from speaking out, but rather minorities and their ability to express themselves like others, especially when the opinions are oppositional and politically incorrect.

Ali Farah's text in Ny Tid has been debated, and Ny Tid has explained why the victim should also be allowed to speak out against attacks in other media. Morgenbladet's editor Alf van der Hagen chooses another method. For two weeks he has refused to explain his comment on October 17 that Farah is "the real racist in Sofienbergparken". And that "the rational response the next time we pass a group of Somali men [will] be to go in an arc outside."

When Dagbladet asks for an explanation, van der Hagen states that he is "busy in meetings" and "does not have time to comment on the matter". It is probably wise in the media to silence critical questions to death, but it is also cowardly to throw out undocumented accusations of racism against individuals and then refuse to justify them afterwards. In this way, bold minority voices are in danger of being gagged in the future, since everyone now sees the rage that the majority and those with defining power possess.

There is no doubt that circulation will increase by academic majority Norwegians being allowed to refer to Muslims as "shining, able-bodied men". But for now, van der Hagen owes Somali men an explanation. An apology is too much to ask.