Obama Delivers Sweeping Speech on Race

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT Politics Blog: March 18, 2008
Obama Delivers Sweeping Speech on Race
By Katharine Q. Seelye


Barack Obama at the National Constitution Center (Jessica Kourkounis/NYT)


....11:27 a.m. Mr. Obama is delivering a sweeping discourse on race in America. He is getting a very warm and positive response from the audience, with murmurs of agreement at each new passage and an increase in applause as he builds toward the end. Audience members are nodding their heads at each other.

“I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election,” he said.

One of the most powerful passages was when he spoke of Reverend Wright: “I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe. These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.”

11:20 a.m. Mr. Obama says that, “The profound mistake of Reverend Wright’s sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It’s that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country – a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old — is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know — what we have seen – is that America can change. That is true genius of this nation.”

11:14 a.m. Mr. Obama has been describing what he calls “a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years.” Here are some key passages:

I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely.
…
But the truth is, that isn’t all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor.
…
Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety – the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity’s services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear.
…
And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions – the good and the bad – of the community that he has served diligently for so many years....

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/obamas-speech-on-race/index.html?hp

[Tarheel_Dem]

1. I heard parts of the speech on Stephanie Miller, and I'm just a big old

quivering mass as I type. I can't wait to get home to listen to the entire speech. KO should be good tonight.

[luckyleftyme2]

2. he's caught between idealism and realism

It's sad to say but no matter how noble his cause he still has to deal with reality. Like
dr. KING he will seek a path of peace but will continually face the ugly face of the past.
I'm caucasian but have lived both in the north east and south east.
The underlying scourge of racism is in all races,all religions and all corners of this planet.
It isn't as open as the 50's but it still exists. He is right when he says we are moving forward.But he is also right to recognize both white,black,latino and oriental have a certain amount of racism.
But the main thing we as voters have to do is filter the hype from the facts. to stick together to protect our candidates and our right to vote.
He is one of the finest orators I have heard in a long time. And I wish him well!

[Cha]

3. That's right, Obama..

Not This Time.