I am trying to stay on the high road but exactly when are we going to challenge ALL of the candidates on ALL issues? We got an opportunity to hear from Obama on race. Now I want to hear where Hillary Clinton and John McCain stand.
They don't have to respond to individual personalities but I want to know exactly what is thier understanding of the situation. Where are they coming from and above all what are their faith orientations. We now know that Obama is a devout Christian. We know something about his church and the work of the church. It would be instructive to compare the works of all three churches.
March 18, 2008. The historic speech begins:
"We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.”
On Rev. Wright:
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.
"The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through — a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And 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. On RaceI chose to run for president at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together -- unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction -- towards a better future for our children and our grandchildren.
This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story.
I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton’s Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I’ve gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world’s poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners – an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.
This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either “too black” or “not black enough.” We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well. On Trinity United Church of Christ In my first book, Dreams From My Father, I described the experience of my first service at Trinity:
People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend’s voice up into the rafters….And in that single note – hope! – I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion’s den, Ezekiel’s field of dry bones. Those stories – of survival, and freedom, and hope – became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn’t need to feel shame about…memories that all people might study and cherish – and with which we could start to rebuild. The Bottom LineI would not be running for President if I didn’t believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation – the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election. Next Page">Full address here
This has to be one of the greatest speech since the Martin Luther King, Jr. "I Have A Dream" speech and under extreme pressure. The man went beyond the bar and hit a home run.
On April 4th we will observe the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and in many respects African Americans have wondered in the wilderness. We have made progress and we have many leaders but could anyone name the top three items on the Black agenda? Beyond the global issues war, economy, health care, what are the specific unique concerns of Black America? Leadership is critical to cultivating and maintaining unity. In this hour of crisis we are beginning to look to Barack Obama.
He is intimately aware of our problems and he has demonstrated the qualities that activate our faith. It has been said that the single most important contribution that biblical faith can make to human existence is the capacity to transcend given reality. We expect this in church but it is extraordinary in a politician.
Only a couple of hours have passed and across the board Blacks are embracing the message. Jesse Jackson put the speech in perspective for FOX. They seem to have had difficulty grasping the full significance of the moment. In the spirit of reconciliation it is encouraging to know that they had the wisdom to bring Rev. Jackson in to interpret. It is good that we are all reminded of the Jackson campaign within this context. Perhaps we can avoid mistakes of the past if we take a little risk. It is hard to understand how anyone could see this speech and not be moved in a profound way to self examination.
The bar has been set so high for Obama that I can't sit still waiting for him to take the stage. I'm nervous going back and forth from CNN to FOX and assessing each comment. There seems to be an audio problem, my mind pauses on sabotage but I have to believe it is nothing but God. We need time to get ourselves together for this. We have time to call everyone and make sure they are tuned in. Mark Lamont Hill is on point trying to explain the Black church vernacular and Melissa Harris-Lacewell is really driving the points home. She is so articulate, informed, and clear. The examples she selects are instructive. They have found a shared space and both are representing us well. Politically astute, young, gifted, and Black.
Here he is I have to watch...
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