Reply #29: THe problem with Obama's argument and his speech

[kennetha]

Is that in a way he speaks as a person who can play on both sides of the great racial divide, since he is himself a biracial or postracial person. But most of us aren't that. Most of us have lived only one side of the street. So we will have a different vision and a different range of formative experiences.

Why does that matter? Well, think of the part of the speech in which he tried to give equal validity to black grievances and white resentments, while offering a formulation for transcending and rejecting both ultimately. That was no doubt powerful stuff. But who is actually positioned by their lived experiences to accept his assessments and prescriptions in a visceral, rather than merely intellectual way? Well, certainly a post-racial or biracial person like himself who has lived both sides of the great divide and has struggled and largely succeeded at forming a coherent self out of the contradiction.

But certainly not, say, blue collar whites in Pennsylvania or inner city blacks. They are prepared really to only one half of his message.

So in a way the thing is bound to fall on many deaf ears.

It could indeed be the START of a dialogue that ultimately leads to racial reconciliation. But it is only barely a start. Barack needs more than that.