Today Barack Obama went from being a "political 'hero' to a national legend" with his speech on race and religion today in Philadelphia, at the National Constitution Center, not far from where the Declaration of Independence Hall. Even with my 50-year old cynical ears it was a stunning, no, it was speech that stopped people, pundits, opposition in their tracks. Obama "put it all on the table" described by MSNBC conservative-tilting Pat Buchanan, taking on the "Race Anger"in this country. Buchanan seemed to search for ways to be critical and said it might be one of the greatest speeches since the Martin Luther King Jr. "I have a dream speech".Obama confronted frontally America's long-legacy of racial division straight on, taking on things like: black grievance, white resentment and the uproar over his former pastor's incendiary statements. He drew on his politically unique bi-racial half-black, half-white roots as no other presidential candidate could personally address as he asserted:
"This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected."
He went on to characterize the understanding of the passions on both sides or the racial divide in what he described as:
"a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years...
...But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races,"
The "speech" discussed issues regarding divisions from slavery to the O.J. Simpson trial to the government's efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Furthermore, he recognized his own race as being a major issue in this presidential campaign that has now taken on in the last few weeks: "...particularly divisive turn."Obama emphatically said the sermons delivered by Rev. Wright
"...rightly offend white and black alike."While Obama absolutely rejected what Wright said, he also remained loyal to the man who had inspired his religious faith, officiating at his wedding, baptizing his daughters and who has been his spiritual guide for nearly 20 years.
"I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community," Obama said, speaking in front of eight American flags. "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."
Obama's speech continued where he admitted he knew Rev. Wright to occasionally be a fierce critic" of U.S. policy" and that his pastor sometimes made "controversial remarks in church that he disagreed with", but then he said
"...he never heard Wright talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms". These comments that have become a source of debate recently "were not only wrong but divisive" and have raised questions among voters...
...I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and YouTube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way. But the truth is, that isn't all that I know of the man...
...Wright's comments have sparked a discussion that reflect complexities of race in the United States that its people have never really resolved......We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow...
...The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright's sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning...
...the anger often distracts from solving real problems and bringing change. But he said it also exists in some segments of the white community that feels blacks are often given an unfair advantage through affirmative action...
...If we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American," Obama said, drawing a rare burst of applause in a somber address...
... the tasks of his campaign to be the first black president is to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America."
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