Obama Delivers Historic Speech on Race
Truly historic--does it ask too much of Americans accustomed to polarizing sound bites rather than sincere struggle and somewhat ambiguous honesty?
Obama Urges U.S. to Grapple With Race Issue
By JEFF ZELENY
PHILADELPHIA — Senator Barack Obama delivered a sweeping assessment of race in America on Tuesday, bluntly confronting the divisions between black and white as he sought to dispel the furor over inflammatory statements by his former pastor.
Mr. Obama again condemned the more incendiary remarks of the pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. But, drawing on his experiences as the son of a white mother and a black father, Mr. Obama went on to try to explain to white voters the anger and frustration behind Mr. Wright’s words and to urge blacks to understand the sources of the racial fears and resentments among whites.
While his immediate political goal was to tamp down any doubts that his association with Mr. Wright has caused among voters as he battles for the Democratic presidential nomination, Mr. Obama also sought to link his theme of understanding and reconciliation to more concrete issues at stake in the election as the economy weakens.
“The fact is,” he said, “that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through — a part of our Union that we have yet to perfect.
“And if we walk away now,” he continued, “if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.”
After running a campaign that in many ways tried not to be defined by race, Mr. Obama placed himself squarely in the middle of the debate over how to address it, a living bridge between whites and blacks still divided by the legacy of slavery and all that came after it.
His language reached at times for the inspiration and idealism of the civil rights movement, but for the most part addressed the politics of race in straightforward terms that seemed intended to keep the discussion grounded in the realities of the moment.
Obama Urges U.S. to Grapple With Race Issue
By JEFF ZELENY
PHILADELPHIA — Senator Barack Obama delivered a sweeping assessment of race in America on Tuesday, bluntly confronting the divisions between black and white as he sought to dispel the furor over inflammatory statements by his former pastor.
Mr. Obama again condemned the more incendiary remarks of the pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. But, drawing on his experiences as the son of a white mother and a black father, Mr. Obama went on to try to explain to white voters the anger and frustration behind Mr. Wright’s words and to urge blacks to understand the sources of the racial fears and resentments among whites.
While his immediate political goal was to tamp down any doubts that his association with Mr. Wright has caused among voters as he battles for the Democratic presidential nomination, Mr. Obama also sought to link his theme of understanding and reconciliation to more concrete issues at stake in the election as the economy weakens.
“The fact is,” he said, “that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through — a part of our Union that we have yet to perfect.
“And if we walk away now,” he continued, “if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.”
After running a campaign that in many ways tried not to be defined by race, Mr. Obama placed himself squarely in the middle of the debate over how to address it, a living bridge between whites and blacks still divided by the legacy of slavery and all that came after it.
His language reached at times for the inspiration and idealism of the civil rights movement, but for the most part addressed the politics of race in straightforward terms that seemed intended to keep the discussion grounded in the realities of the moment.
posted by Faithful Progressive at 9:15 AM
1 Comments:
I agree -- it was a historic speech. I've seen comparisons to Lincoln, FDR, and Kennedy, and don't think that's overreaching.
Obama stood up and spoke the truth. I admire his character tremendously. But I fear that people of character do not get elected anymore. I hope I am wrong.
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