Barack Obama on Race

On Tuesday, Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama took a significant political risk in making a major speech on the subject of race. The speech was given in response to the controversy over incendiary comments made by Sen. Obama's former pastor of twenty years, Dr. Jeremiah Wright from Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ. Clips of Rev. Wright's sermons have been played endlessly over the last week.  While at least one of the clips was badly taken out of context - Rev. Wright was quoting someone else, not speaking for himself - his words are deeply offensive to most Americans, and apparently to Sen. Obama as well.

Obama chose - against the advice of his advisers, apparently - to make the speech on the issue of race an attempt to turn the controversy into an invitation to the nation to engage in a frank conversation about race relations. Obviously there were political realities in play in the process, but all but the most cynical agree that the Illinois Senator feels strongly about the issue on a personal level.

By all accounts, the speech was well written and masterfully delivered. Now, for the past 48 hours, news programs have dissected the speech and they have continued to play the sound bytes of Rev. Wright over and over again. The race genie is out of the bottle and it is getting pretty silly, even by American political campaign standards.  Just today, Sen. Obama, speaking off the cuff to a Philadelphia radio host, used the phrase "typical white person." Within hours, Talk Radio and the blogosphere blew a collective gasket.  Lost in the din was the fact that Sen. Obama was talking about his own grandmother when he used the phrase, and he was actually trying to validate the fear that some whites feel around black people.  He was trying to say that good, decent people of both races hold racial stereotypes.

It is a shame that Sen. Obama's speech could not have been given in a different setting and under different circumstances.  It was a ground-breaking, maybe even historic speech, but it is being buried under all of the yelling and screaming.

First of all, it was refreshing to have a politician talk to us like adults; He seemed to be talking to us, not at us.  Second, it was his own words.  There were no speech writers involved.  Obama is said to have been up till 2:00 am Tuesday morning writing the speech.  Third and by far the most important, Obama acknowledged the proverbial thousand-pound gorilla in the room: racial stereotypes and prejudices exist among otherwise good, decent people of all races.

Again, setting aside the fact that Sen. Obama is a candidate for President, he is uniquely qualified to give the speech he gave. His father was black and from Kenya, his mother was white. He was raised in a single-parent home by his mother with lots of help from his grandparents.  He has had to live in two worlds.  He has personal insight into both of those worlds.  When he spoke of black anger, he has seen it firsthand.  When he spoke of white resentment, he has seen that firsthand also, in the life of his grandmother.

At one point in the speech, Sen. Obama said we faced a choice: We could continue to wallow in our prejudices separately, or we can come together and talk about it; we could continue to play the clips of Rev. Wright over and over, or we can acknowledge our anger and resentment and start the process of repairing the breech.

Sadly, if the past 48 hours are any indication, we have chosen to wallow and play the clips.  And nit pick.

On another note, Sen. John McCain showed again today that he is a class act and an honorable man.  He fired a staff member today who was passing on a link to a YouTube video that linked Sen. Obama and Jeremiah Wright to Malcom X and the Black Panthers.  This is the second time McCain has publicly taken action to correct a supporter or staffer who was playing dirty.

One wonders if Sen. McCain can maintain this high standard if he ends up facing Sen. Clinton in the General Election.

Comments

[alisha]

"One wonders if Sen. McCain can maintain this high standard if he ends up facing Sen. Clinton in the General Election."

Your blog was very insightful and shows true humanitarianism but the above comment leads me to believe that you don't think Obama will make it to the General Election. Please respond.

[Luke Easter]

John, Hillary or Barack

Well, well, well sooner or later it raises its ugly head,
This is only for the adults so send the kiddies to bed,
No longer only politics because front and center is race,
Who’s the best qualified has just become second place.

An issue that will never die is the main topic once again,
But what about the discrepancy between women and men?
Same route, education, position and decisions day after day,
The exact same job however, it’s never the exact same pay.

Oh, but this is very different, special, black against white,
What ever happened to the distinction of wrong or right?
Wasn’t that the main reason to leave England and begin?
A new land where equality is an opportunity for all men?

Notice that I didn’t mention supporting equal rights for all,
March 2008, we still have black and white shopping malls,
Then there are areas where only the Italians will fear to tread,
Some neighborhoods you walk in only to be carried out dead.

A preacher of the church of Jesus Christ says America be damned,
Isn’t that like opening peaches only to find pineapples in the can?
So, who in the heck am I to say anything, well it is only because,
Every single bible I have ever read claims the greatest gift is love.

Didn’t a guy named Paul say forget those things that are behind?
Can you reach for the future with the past foremost in your mind?
What is all this crap about being qualified to handle foreign policy?
More important is getting America straight, sure makes sense to me.

Why aren’t Geraldine and Jeremiah running their own campaign?
Because most in this great nation are fed up with the same old thing,
Republican or Democrat, whichever way you vote in this election,
Make sure it is not status quo we need an entirely new direction.

Think hard before casting your ballot for John, Hillary or Barack,
It’s only March 21 and there’s plenty of time still left on the clock,
Do not let hatred cause you to cast your vote based solely on fear,
Whosoever wins the election will be there a minimum of four years.

The wrong candidate might cause damage that we could never repair,
All because once again the wrong person is being sent to reside there,
Whomever that is represents the entire country not just the White House,
The “President of the United States,” is not a game of cat and mouse.

Poems By Luke Easter

[Alan Riley]

Hi Alisha, thanks for the comment. I think that there is probably a 75% chance that Obama will be the Democratic nominee. That said, if I've learned anything this political season, it's that it's not over until it's over. One year ago, everyone thought there was at least an 80% chance the two nominees would be Rudy Guiliani and Hillary Clinton, and we see how that turned out.

If Clinton does emerge as the Democratic nominee it will be because the Superdelegates gave it to her, in which case the party is in deep, deep trouble. The millions who have been energized and even brought into the process by Obama's candidacy will be disenchanted if not just plain mad, and all of the complaining the Democrats did about the 2000 election ("the voters were disenfranchised!") will look like nothing more than political hot air.

Obama's campaign manager hit the nail on the head yesterday when he said that Clinton has "serious character issues" and would be "a flawed candidate." 53% of the electorate do not believe she is honest and trustworthy, and it's hard to win a general election with negatives like that. I'm sure the McCain camp is really hoping that she will be the nominee after comparing how Hillary's campaign has been run as opposed to how well Obama's has been.

The next few weeks should be interesting to say the least. Thanks again for your comment.

Luke, great poem! You are a talented wordsmith.