Race in America Mar 20th 2008
Anybody out there catch Obama’s speech on race Tuesday? Wow is all I can say. That might be the most presidential speech I’ve heard in my life (and I’m particularly impressed that he supposedly wrote it all himself).
For full video and text, check here.
Choice bits:
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.
and
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. What we have already achieved gives us hope - the audacity to hope - for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
and
Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, “Not this time.” This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can’t learn; that those kids who don’t look like us are somebody else’s problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.
Of the three main candidates left (Obama, Clinton and McCain), Obama is certainly the only one I’d feel comfortable voting for. He even almost makes me wish I wasn’t leaning towards the Christian anarchist position more with each passing week. (Almost being the keyword there…)
It’s also worth mentioning that Obama’s speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church, which he references, is worth checking out too.
tags: Obama, politics, race
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who am i?
i'm a twenty-something starting this journey called life. i studied microbiology and chemistry in college and currently work as a systems analyst. that means i manage computers (and a lot of them at that -- linux, solaris, os x, and windows). but that's just what i do to pay the bills. less important than where i am at now is where i am going. for quite some time i've had a nagging voice whispering "mission" in my ear. thus the direction i walk. contained in these pages is a log of a bit of that journey (and everything else that i do).
nick said on Mar 21st 2008:
I’ve been told his speech was absolutely amazing. One of the Bible study members last night said that it’s the only speech he can remember that he would feel comfortable comparing to King’s “I have a dream…” (it’s worthwhile mentioning that this comes from a man who would definitely not be willing to vote for the Senator).
I guess I should listen to it at some point…
Brandon said on Mar 22nd 2008:
Any comment not related to Obama and his speech on race will be deleted. Things need to stay on topic. This isn’t the place to butcher the guy for being pro-choice.