We believe: Sen. Barack Obama made history and created a bright vision of the future when he accepted the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

It’s often difficult to grasp the significance of history as it unfolds. We need the perspective of hindsight to truly determine the importance of an event and its effects.

Some events, however, are so intensely unique that they rewrite history even as they happen. Such an event was Sen. Barack Obama’s acceptance speech Thursday night in front of 84,000 cheering, standing, flag-waving supporters.

Obama didn’t mention race in his speech, but it was very much in the back of people’s minds as they watched his unlikely, audacious bid to become President of the United States. A black man has won the nomination of a major political party and stands on the threshold of occupying the highest office in the land.

His accomplishment comes after hundreds of years of slavery, Jim Crow laws and bitter civil rights battles that split the nation and left deep scars. Trace the history of black America and you will find pain, suffering, repression and an indomitable will to be recognized as citizens equal to white Americans.

It was probably no coincidence that 45 years ago Thursday, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C. Part of his dream was that people not be judged by the color of their skin. The years of such prejudice aren’t over, but Obama’s nomination signifies that they’re fading fast.

It’s probably no coincidence that Obama chose to give his speech in an outdoor arena, the huge Invesco Field, home of professional football’s Denver Broncos. Obama mentioned John Kennedy a couple of times. It was 48 years ago that Kennedy gave his celebrated New Frontier acceptance speech at Los Angeles Coliseum in front of a similar-sized crowd.

Obama spoke Thursday of recent history, saying of the two terms of President Bush, “eight is enough,” and linking his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, “inextricably” to Bush.

The extraordinary sight of Obama accepting his party’s nomination is a landmark event in the march toward racial equality and illuminates a future of hope that King and Kennedy would have marveled at.

Whether he wins or loses in November, Obama has begun a new chapter in American political history. He has opened the greatest door of opportunity to everyone, regardless of skin color — just as King envisioned 45 years ago.