I just read Barack Obama’s speech on race. Firstly, I must say, Wow!
I cannot think of a speech that explained the issue in a more accurate, productive, and agreeable way. Better yet, he made the speech not in some isolated, marginalized sector of society. He made it as a front-running presidential candidate.
He explained much more than his relationship with Reverend Wright by offering an excellent speech on modern race relations in the United States.
He mentions the different ways that different groups experience similar emotions such as fear and anger, which can lead to divisiveness, racism, or the accusation of racism. He explains that those emotions can increase divisiveness and contribute to the racial stalemate in the United States. But he encourages the people of the United States to unify and work-together to overcome the common problems that face us all and that can cause the anger and fear.
He points to the common need for education, healthcare coverage, and good jobs–three needs that I routinely focus on heavily in this blog. He points to the common obstacle of government corruption, marked by corporate interests, lobbyists, special interest groups, and backroom deals.
He also makes note of what he fondly calls the “quintessentially American” notion of self-help, which to me empathizes that we need a culture that encourages individuals to work hard to better their lives as much as possible and that we need to unify and help ourselves as a country (and world).
He emphasizes his belief that the United States people want to unify and make the aforementioned mutually beneficial changes and his hopefulness about it. He, of course, has firm hope in his ability to bring about the changes as president.
As nothing specific to Obama, I see reforming the current government “from the inside” through voting and electoral politics as hopeless. I do not vote, and I do not endorse any political candidate. I instead find hope in non-government methods and direct action. However, if all politicians transcended, as much as Obama does, the usual divisiveness and bland political correctness of electoral politics, then I probably would not see it as hopeless.
Regardless of my feelings about reformist politics in general, I love Obama’s speech, and I admire him for using his powerful words to help spread understanding and unity even in the context of an issue as divisive, angering and seemingly hopeless as race. Even though Obama preaches hopefulness in electoral reform, I see the speech as revolutionary!
I posted the speech in the forums. I beg you to read it in its entirety.