Obama Gives Major Speech on Race
Today in Philadelphia, Barack Obama gave a major speech about race.
Yahoo News summary: Obama confronts racial division in U.S.
Entire text of the speech: A More Perfect Union.
Last week, Obama addressed the Rev. Wright controversy as soon as it emerged as perhaps the most heated issue of his campaign so far. However, this controversy continued to dominate the election news.
Obama’s speech directly confronted the controversy thoroughly and placed it in the larger context of race issues in the U.S.
This was an important speech and I encourage everyone to watch it (and/or read it).
This Election Referee website does not endorse any candidate, but it does present strong opinions. Racial division is a sad reality of U.S. politics. The Rev. Wright videos inflame this divide. It was necessary for this controversy to come to light. For many, Obama’s candidacy offers hope to bridge some past divisions. The Wright controversy is a major obstacle.
Whether you support Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain, someone else, or nobody, let’s not make this election about Rev. Wright. It is important to confront “race-baiting” tactics and race issues as they emerge, but then we need to move forward. Most Americans yearn to transcend past divisions. Sadly, some people want to wallow in these divisions and exacerbate them.
Americans should learn more about history. Let’s not ignore race as an important part of our past. Let’s aspire to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Dream.
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Comment by Bingham37
Posted on March 19, 2008 at 3:14 pm
What was he supposed to do… tell the pastor how to do his job? Ok, now I’m a little better at speaking back to authority… but I grew up in a Lutheran atmosphere that was not at all conducive to openly disagreeing with any elder, much less a pastor! Yes, I disagreed a lot… but those discussions are for with your family or other parishioners.
Obama is someone who can help bring the black church into the 21st century. I’d rather that he felt like he could be part of the solution rather than just abandon it as a lost cause.
Comment by Nancy
Posted on March 19, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Bananas, The guy should have gotten up and walked out of the church rather than listening to that garbage. He sat there - just like Bush did when told about the World Trade Center. Like it or not, this election is about racism, genderism and ageism. I wish the world was a better place but fact is it isn’t and I for one have race and religion fatigue. Everyone that I know does.
Comment by Bingham37
Posted on March 20, 2008 at 7:41 am
So we can only respect people if they agree with us? We can only listen to them if we already know what they’re going to say… and whatever they say is appropriately sanitized to be completely pc?
I don’t agree. I think that I’ve learned to be a stronger person by knowing where I disagree with others. I think that people only really grow when they are pushed outside their comfort zone.
The reverend has probably rarely had to compromise and has always been surrounded by people who defer to him… who allow him to believe they agree with him so as to avoid conflict. Yes, if those people would knock him upside the head more often… he’d be a better person. But if anyone who disagrees leaves the church… how’s he gonna grow? He doesn’t seem to be the type of person who would really listen to differing views… so it would have to come from someone in his own community that he trusts.
Who knows? Maybe since that speech after 9-11 he’s had some personal breakthroughs. Maybe he doesn’t want to step in and talk with the media because we all saw what happened to Gerry when she tried to talk to the media.
Nobody knows his heart and we (who don’t go to his church and haven’t seen him evolve over time) can’t know who he really is… the guy Barack knows and loves as much as, say, a nun that a girl has known all her life and respects as a member of her family.
Comment by John
Posted on March 20, 2008 at 12:56 pm
I think the only thing Obama regrest is getting caught. He is intelligent, no doubt so how are we supposed to believe that this rhetoric was going on and he did not know? Sounds like the Audacity of Ignorance to me.