Obama On Race: “Let's solve this problem in this generation, so it doesn't persist for the next one.”
I've been saying it since before anybody else: race excites the base. This election (as so many others have) will hinge on the issue of race -- whether Obama is the nominee or not. I give him a lot of credit for talking about it and not just blowing a dog whistle like some of the other Democratic (and Republican) candidates.
Here's Obama, speaking in Iowa in November of last year. Listen carefully, it's how a leader talks:
"But here's the thing that I've said before and I'll say it again. We do have a legacy of racism in this country, and we see it in our daily lives. There's a reason why African Americans are more likely to be incarcerated. There's a reason why Hispanic Americans are more likely to be without health care and in low-wage jobs. It has to do with the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow and discrimination.This sweeping narrative is big enough to include the Rev. Wrights AND the Sean Hannitys.And even if people aren't discriminated against now...that legacy still persists. And one of the things that we have to do is finally acknowledge that legacy and go ahead and try to make it right. Not by calling each other by names, not by acting suspicious towards each other, but rather simply saying, let's go ahead and solve this problem in this generation, so it doesn't persist for the next generation."
I don't know of anyone else who can provide that narrative. That's why Obama gets my vote every time.
Speaking of Wright, I'm more convinced than ever that he is a real turn-on for the likes of Sean Hannity and Howard Fineman (and everybody in between). In fact, if he (Wright) didn't exist, the powdered, pampered poodles of the press probably would have invented him.
Yeah, Rev. Wright. Want to know the dirty secret about him? Michael Wright has the scoop:
...[T]he problem is that Wright's opinions are well within the mainstream of those of black America. As public opinion researchers know, the problem is that despite all the oratory about racial unity and transcending race, this country remains deeply racially divided, especially in the realm of politics.I've been saying it since before anybody else: race excites the base. So Obama's got his work cut out for him. Can he lead? We'll see...Most white people and the mainstream media tend to be horrified (in a titillating voyeuristic type of way), when they 'look under the hood' to see what's really on blacks folks' mind. Two thirds of whites believe that blacks have achieved or will soon achieve racial equality. Nearly eighty percent of blacks believe that racial justice for blacks will not be achieved either in their lifetime or at all in the U.S.
In March 2003, when polls were showing strong support among whites for an invasion of Iraq, a large majority of blacks were shown to oppose military intervention.
...one could argue that Reverend Wright's criticism of racial dynamics in the U.S. and American foreign policy is milder than the biting criticism of American capitalism and imperialism found in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the last years of his life.
"Can he lead?"
Oh, he can lead. The question is can the throwbacks manage to follow. Or, perhaps, are their enough of them to really matter.
Oh yeah: Obama hit it out of the park. I've only seen a bit of the video, but on the page -- it's great.
By now, it's a measure of how ridiculous this campaign has gotten that when you say "It's a great speech," some people simply roll their eyes like that's an insult.
Tough shit.
It was an outstanding speech.
"...when you say "It's a great speech," some people simply roll their eyes like that's an insult."
Those are the people who haven't really listened to Obama and have bought into the "he's just a great speaker" meme. It isn't just how he delivers, it's the words and the ideas behind them. The fact that he keeps presenting these important ideas, expressed so well, is one good measure of the substance of the man.
So unlike Bush, who has a staff of top shelf (Republican, which is always rail compared to Democratic) speech writers and he still comes off as a high schooler who didn't read the book he's reporting on.
Some people will listen to this speech for a repudiation of Rev. Wright -- which it did not contain. Absent that, they'll write off the speech, missing one of the great addresses of our era.
As I said somewhere today, the people who are only waiting for that repudiation are the racists, partisans and hypocrites who wouldn't accept it anyway and would only start looking for the next excuse to criticize him. And, actually, they'd have one. Failing to stand up against the misbegotten bullies of our current political culture would be far worse than failing to repudiate a black man who merely criticized white society.