"I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother - "

[EffieBlack]

"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."

Obama wrote about this incident in his book "Dreams From my Father:"

"{My grandfather} turned around and I saw that he was shaking. ‘It is a big deal. It’s a big deal to me. She’s been bothered by men before. You know why she’s so scared this time. I’ll tell you why. Before you came in, she told me the fella was black.’ He whispered the word. ‘That’s the real reason why she’s bothered. And I just don’t think that right.’

"The words were like a fist in my stomach, and I wobbled to regain my composure. In my steadiest voice, I told him that such an attitude bothered me, too, but reassured him that Toot’s fears would pass and that we should give her a ride in the meantime. Gramps slumped into a chair in the living room and said he was sorry he had told me. Before my eyes, he grew small and old and very sad. I put my hand on his shoulder and told him that it was all right, I understood.

"We remained like that for several minutes, in painful silence. Finally he insisted that he drive Toot after all, and struggled up from his seat to get dressed. After they left, I sat on the edge of my bed and thought about my grandparents. They had sacrificed again and again for me. They had poured all their lingering hopes into my success. Never had they given me reason to doubt their love; I doubted if they ever would. And yet I knew that men who might easily have been my brothers would still inspire their rawest fear."

When I first read this book a few years ago, I was moved and impressed by Barack Obama's insights, perspectives and depth of understanding of very the very complex and troubling race issue. Today, he again showed his true mettle.

Regardless of where you are on the political spectrum or whom you support in this race, you should be enormously proud of this man.

[slinkerwink]

1. thank you for your post!

[Scairp]

43. Here's the rub

To paraphrase Shakespeare. He could not choose his family, i.e. his grandmother. Who can? But he CHOSE that preacher and that church, not a place he went to for a short time, but to be married in, to attend when possible on Sundays, to baptize his children there, to embrace this man for so many years. This is entirely different that being asked to defend or denounce your own family. He made this choice, he needs to own it, not continue to say that disowning this minister is the same as disowning his kin. It isn't the same, and it pisses me off that people keep saying this, and that Obama keeps saying it. It just isn't so.

[Johnny__Motown]

2. I agree, and I think this is why many people on the Right also praised the speech today

[pnwmom]

3. Obama makes perfect sense to me now. He grew up hearing people he loved

saying awful and painful things he couldn't agree with. His pastor said awful and painful things he couldn't agree with. His response in both cases was not to shout at them, not to reject them, but to listen -- and to try to understand. And now, to reconcile them.

He's the genuine article.

But I'm not sure the country that put Bush into office deserves him.

[EffieBlack]

4. We may not deserve him but we may need him . . .

[aaronbees]

5. For me, it was one of the most powerful moments in his speech

It clearly pains him, this moment, but also affords him the means to rise above and clearly see how we, as a nation, need to confront the racial divide head-on and come together. I've never been prouder of a vote than the one I cast for Obama, for this and many other reasons.

Great post.

[pnwmom]

6. Unfortunately, the little sound bite is being used on TV AGAINST Obama.

People are shocked that he linked Wright to his grandmother -- without having any idea what Obama actually said.

Much of the MSM's reporting on this is despicable.

[aaronbees]

7. I'm not following much of the MSM reaction

Saw a little bit of it on MSNBC - mostly positive in the brief bit I saw. Glowing NY Times editorial. I guess I'm beyond caring what the spin is tonight, though we can always count on some quarters of the MSM to work against logic and spin it nasty. For today, I'm just thankful Obama said what he did in the manner he spoke these truths. I feel like I waited a long time to hear a speech like that on race relations, so I'll simply be thankful ... for now. ;)

[pnwmom]

11. In the sound bite, Obama is saying something like he wouldn't disown Wright

any more than he'd disown his grandmother.

Period. The rest of the sentence, where he explains WHY -- which is key -- is edited out.

[Cronus Protagonist]

19. I was surprised he used hius grandparents in that way too

Is nothing off-base for this man's race baiting?

[roguevalley]

20. does it occur to you that he has his gparents permission? He had

it for his book and now this. Good grief.

[gulliver]

8. I fail to see the equivalence between what ...

... Wright espouses and what Obama's "white grandmother" said. An old white woman privately confessing her fear of black men passing her on the street is not the same as a minor race-paranoid raving from a pulpit. Are we to equate the two just because there is a faint parallel? A parallel that conveniently underscores that Obama's grandmother is white?

It was a frank speech, a good speech, but a manipulative speech too.

[Skip Intro]

9. Wow. I couldn't put it into words. You did.

[pnwmom]

13. Then you, like the other poster, aren't putting yourself in Obama's shoes.

Obama, a black child, grew up hearing his white grandmother (and probably other whites around him) making racist statements about blacks. Can you imagine how painful that must have been for him? But he just listened, and tried to understand. Then he had a black pastor, who made racist comments about whites -- which would also have been painful for Obama, as the son of a white woman. But he listened, and tried to understand.

But instead of reacting to all this racism around him with bitterness, he rejected the racism, not the people. And now he's trying to take what he's learned and help other people to understand, too.

I think there's a great deal he could teach us, if we're not too defensive to listen.

[OzarkDem]

23. On the contrary

Obama's speech and other actions dealing with racism reveal a deep-seated anger and resentment about his childhood past, one he needs to resolve.

His unresolved issues have warped his POV about race and racism, though he hides it well.

[EffieBlack]

25. You can't POSSIBLY be serious!

[OzarkDem]

31. Yes, I'm serious

I've known quite a few AA men who were adopted and grew up in caucasian families with loving parents. Even in good homes with lots of love between family members, the outside influences - how others react - can hurt those children, no matter how much their families love them and try to shelter them from it. Counseling has helped a lot of kids growing up in these situations, but such things were rare during the times Obama was growing up.

[pnwmom]

12. It isn't a faint parallel. You seem to have forgotten that

Obama is half black, and that he looks as black as most African Americans you see on the street, and that his father was full black.

How can you not understand how painful it must have been for him to grow up hearing his beloved grandmother make racist statements? But he didn't argue with her, he didn't reject her, he just listened, and tried to figure out what made her tick. Later, he had a pastor whom he also cared about, but who also made racist statements -- which would have especially pained Obama because of the white side of his family. But he didn't argue, or walk out, he just listened, and tried to understand where the pastor was coming from.

And Obama grew into a man who, instead of being bitter over all the contradictions in his past, and the failings of those he loved, tried to understand them, tried to reconcile them, tried to bring together the opposites.

It was a frank speech, and a good speech, and I am sure it came from the heart.

[EffieBlack]

15. He wasn't equating what the two had said -

He was saying that they both have said things that he found offensive, but that he was not going to disown either one because of it since these people were an important part of him and that the good in them substantially outweighed the negative.

What you and many others don't seem to get is that he wasn't really talking about his grandmother or Rev. Wright. He was talking about AMERICA. He was showing how it's possible to love this country, even despite its faults. In so doing, he was directly countering Rev. Wright.

It's funny that so many people are parsing and analyzing this speech - just as Obama predicted they would - yet have not yet figured out how deep, how meaningful, how allegorical and how amazingly prescient it was.

[OzarkDem]

22. Deeply offensive

that Obama would put his grandmother in the same category as Wright. That was a horrible, cringe-inducing moment in his speech, filled with unresolved anger. Comparing his grandmother to Wright was Obama's way of punishing her for her remarks so long ago, something he's probably done a million times since it first happened. It was cruel and unnecessary.

This speech reveals an Obama full of underlying hostility and anger, something he needs to resolve.

[EffieBlack]

26. Thank you Dr. OzarkDem. How long has Obama been your patient?

[OzarkDem]

28. As Dylan says

you don't have to be a weatherman to see which way the wind is blowing.

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[OzarkDem]

40. More pearls of wisdom

from Obama supporters. You can never seem to go for very long without resorting to vulgarity and ad hominem attacks. Says a lot about you and indirectly, the candidate you support.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

42. You spammed all over this thread...

That Obama is a racist, and that in your utterly asinine layman's opinion, he is mentally unstable because of his upbringing.

And then you whine about ad hominem attacks.

Your attempts to play the victim are noted. Now shut the hell up.

IGNORED

[OzarkDem]

44. I said no such thing

and your attempts to paint my comments as such are wrong.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

32. What's the difference between his grandmother and Wright?

Other than the color of their skin?

[Drachasor]

30. The only difference is Obama's grandmother doesn't have a public forum

If she had one for 30+ years then she surely would have said those things in public sooner or later. They are both good, but imperfect, people.

[alcibiades_mystery]

50. Fear of black men on the street is RACISM, pure and simple

And explanations that "we are conditioned," etc., are further racism.

[HopeforChange]

10. I was raised by a wonderful woman born in 1896

My foster mother was born in 1896. She took me in as an orphan at birth in a far away third world country. She raised me and gave me love, understanding and the courage to believe I could be someone one day. She was a evangelical missionary and she often made off color comments about blacks. It was a time she came from and I don't really think she meant wrong by them but it was a world she grew up in.

She passed away many years ago but she had a profound impact on my life and where I am today I owe to her. I came to this country as a teenager with a belief in the American dream because of her. I believed I could do anything I set my mind to but be president of the USA because I wasn't born here.

I am where I am today because of this woman.

While I do not condone some of the things she said, she never treated anyone with racial hatred.

So maybe there is a way to admire someone for most of their views or their impact on your life without agreeing with everything they say.

[EffieBlack]

18. It's quite ironic that people claim that Obama can't win the GE because

"Republicans" or "white people" or "independents" or "blue collar workers" or "Joe Six-pack" won't vote for him, suggesting that he has no ability to reach across the aisle or attract or work with anyone who doesn't look or think like him.

Yet, when he DOES show the ability and willingness to look past differences, to not point fingers, to see the greater good in people rather than beating them up for their faults, he's attacked for not completely distancing himself from and utterly disowning anyone with whom he disagrees.

I think that one of the things that is freaking out the RW and other Obama-haters (including those writing on DU) is that Obama has demonstrated that a strength and an ability that makes him a much STRONGER candidate than they ever imagined. It is scaring the living daylights out of them.

[VotesForWomen]

14. sure he can; you don't choose your relatives; you choose your church. nt

[casus belli]

17. You weren't listening. n/t

[casus belli]

16. To those who hate Obama I say...

...just pretend that someone you admire wrote it. Seriously, the speech is bigger than Obama. There are messages that are too important for people to ignore just because they may not like Obama. As long as the words are heard, and taken to heart, I don't care if they like him or not.

[OzarkDem]

21. But did Obama love them?

He never says so, he only talks of their love for him, as if that is all that matters.

Obama has some issues with his mother and her parents, there seems to be an underlying tone of resentment and residual anger at them.

[SeaLyons]

24. I think his comparison of his grandmother

(a private person) to the Pastor (a public person) was hard to listen to. I felt he betrayed his "white" grandmother, actually saying that she has said things that made him cringe, but that the Pastor never has. I think Obama has deep issues regarding the white side of him. I felt sorry for his grandmother.

[EffieBlack]

27. I'm sure his grandmother appreciates your pity. When has she shared her feelings with you?

You people are a piece of work.

I would think that someone with Hillary Clinton's picture as an avatar would be the LAST person to judge the choices that other people make.

[SeaLyons]

34. you're probably right, Effie

....I'm sure you're right.

[OzarkDem]

39. Its just common consideration

and respect for others. One needn't discuss such as thing with Obama's grandmother (and who would want to?) to know it was an insult to her.

[OzarkDem]

33. I agree

it was totally inappropriate.

[death to the DLC]

29. oh, for the love of God, you make me

ashamed to be from the Ozarks, that's some highfalutin ignorance you got working there.

[OzarkDem]

35. Where I grew up

Publicly comparing your grandmother to someone like Rev. Wright was considered unfair and unkind, not to mention a violation of her privacy.

In our neck of the woods, criticizing your grandmother like that in public would get you taken out to the woodshed.

[death to the DLC]

36. he was comparing mindsets,

much like the mindset my grandfather held. He used the n-word liberally, not in a hateful way, but in an ignorant way.

[OzarkDem]

38. In public, in front of the entire country

and in comparison to a Reverand whose sermons go beyond the pale in promoting racial division.

Guess it depends on what kind of family you grew up in, but I wouldn't dream of insulting my grandmother in such a way, especially to the entire country.

[EffieBlack]

45. How dare he compare his white grandmother to a . . .

[EffieBlack]

46. Why don't you check with his grandmother before deciding how she should feel about this

How amazingly arrogant you are!

[atufal1c]

48. Like Strom Thurmond?

Your post reminds me of when that vile Essie Washington, against his wishes, dared to reveal that Senator Strom Thurmond was her father.

I seem to remember her family...er...his family, taking a similar tone. Imagine! How dare she violate his privacy like that! What gave her the right?! WHAT GAVE HER THE RIGHT?!?!!?!

LOL! Just pure comedy!

[Catherina]

41. I'm enormously proud.

I'm also enormously proud of all the people I meet in real life who are genuinely excited about Obama and don't have a racist bone in their body. Most of us have come a long way.

I wept when I read that passage. It reminded me of my 6 year-old niece's pain and confusion when a few kids in school repeatedly taunted her that her mocha-colored skin was "dirty". For the children's sake, for a tomorrow with less hate - Barack!

[cooolandrew]

47. He excels my expectations time after time. I am hugely proud.

[MethuenProgressive]

49. The story was a rhetorical trick to equate PastorGate with being mean to his grandmother.

So now, if you think PastorGate is an issue, you evidently hate Barack's grandmother.
He's good at what he does, that Obama.

[EffieBlack]

51. It that's what you took away from it, it says more about you & your mindset than anything Obama said

[newborn]

52. Obama used his ailing grandmother for political purposes

what a low blow to a relative.