Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's personal lawyer, speechwriter endorses Obama

[politicasista]

Snip (very long but good read. :))

Dr. King's personal lawyer, speechwriter backs Obama

Clarence B. Jones was one of the closest confidants of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.


Clarence B. Jones, Author of WHAT WOULD MARTIN SAY and Scholar in Residence at the Stanford University Martin Luther King Jr. Research & Education Institute

Endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States


Race has been the most divisive theme in the history of America. In 1903, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois said that the problem of the 20th Century was the “color line.” The challenge of the 21st Century is how we as a nation transition from the legacy of slavery, which defined race relations in America for previous generations, to a multi-racial society predicated on the pursuit of excellence. Until we, as a country, can come to terms with our past of slavery, segregation and racial discrimination, relations principally between whites and African Americans will continue to define much of who we are as a nation.

Martin Luther King, Jr., a minority dreamer with a majority vision, bequeathed to us a unique and historic opportunity to chart a new direction. In 12 years and 4 months, from 1956 to April 1968, he may have done more to foster racial, social and political justice in our country than any other event or person in the previous 400 years.

Martin knew that the “freedom” he sought from racial oppression was a necessary prerequisite for African Americans to achieve economic parity. Most importantly, he knew this could not be done without a substantial base of support within the majority white community. His “Dream” for America, so eloquently described in Washington, DC on August 28, 1963, cannot be realized for current and future generations, in our information technology-based economy, without an abiding recommitment to the pursuit of educational excellence. To accomplish this, however, requires a special kind of political wisdom and leadership.

I am pleased to join so many of my colleagues, with whom I worked in the Civil Rights Movement under Dr. Martin Luther King’s leadership, to publicly support Senator Barack Obama in his quest to become the 44th President of the United States.

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