Mar 18 2008
Obama gives moving speech about race
I’m not going to even attempt to hide the fact that I’m an Obama supporter, as it would be unfair to all parties involved. However, regardless of your affiliation, today’s speech was a complete masterstroke. I have no doubts that Clinton supporters and Republicans will attempt to spin it the other way, but to anyone that listens to/reads the full content of the speech and has a realistic view of how we deal with race relations in this country (or rather don’t deal by plugging our ears and pretending that all is well because it’s better than it was a few decades ago) should recognize that Obama has expertly addressed an extremely volatile issue.
In the midst of campaign that is beginning to descend into some sad and petty bickering and in danger of hitting some large social landmines that could divide the country and the party at a point when it is so close to real unity, Obama has stepped into a parental role. He does this by not only addressing the uproar over remarks by his friend and pastor Reverend Wright, but by also choosing to speak to last week’s comments from Clinton Geraldine Ferraro. The Senator did not mention Ferraro’s remarks in an effort to shame the Clinton campaign. Rather, he equated the public outcry over her inflammatory rhetoric with that of Reverend Wright’s and used both of these perspectives to address the real issue, that race is still a very real issue in this country and that it is one that we must acknowledge and address in a respectful and reasoned manner.
I have listened to Senator Obama speak on several occasions. I had the pleasure of seeing him speak in person in the cafeteria of my former office building when he was running for Senate in 2004. On more than one occasion, his words have brought tears to my eyes. Several instances have brought a large swell of pride to my chest that I swear manifested physically inside of me. This was not one of most stirring speeches in terms of delivery, which I partially attribute to the fact that, unlike many of his best speeches, he was not bolstered by the arena crowd that seems to feed him with their energy. However, in listening to the content of this speech and how diplomatically he dispatched the chaos that flew about the cable news channels and headlines last week, I have never thought this man to be more presidential.
This is video of the full speech, it runs at about 40 minutes:
You can also read the full text of the speech here.
