Barack Obama Gives Historic Speech

As reported here last night, Barack Obama is delivering an address on race and politics in America at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, PA. I will be back shortly with my opinions and analysis of the speech. In the meantime, you can check out my preview, and/or leave your own reactions in the comments section.

The address that Barack Obama gave today really could not have been any better. He exceeded even the highest expectations. There is more to making history than history-making speeches, and the proof in this pudding will be how the tone int this campaign shifts in the days ahead, but I felt as though all of us were witnessing an iconic moment in U.S. history.

After the jump, my brief comments, and hopefully our conversation will start.

Most of what is great about this speech is contained in my preview, to which I would now add, well done. He explained the black experience, and the context of Reverend Wright, in ways that were so resonant and elegant as to be practically unassailable.

I wanted to focus a little bit on a part of the speech that surprised me, and where I think he really scored. Barack Obama explained white people to me.

...a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience – as far as they're concerned, no one's handed them anything, they've built it from scratch. They've worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.

Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren't always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.

Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze – a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns – this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.

This is, I think, key to Obama's resonance with white voters. For years, I argued with people in my family, lifelong Democrats, working people, carpenters, about the issue of race and black anger, and the response was always the same:"Yeah, but I didn't do it." I lost patience every time.

What Obama has done is tried to understand, and lend credence to, what is a justified anger and sence of betrayal for a lot of blue-collar whites. My family are a lot of Irish-Americans, and they felt like they'd put in the sweat, done the right thing by voting for Democrats, etc., yet still ended up on the wrong end of the stick. Obama understands them, says it is OK to be angry, when every liberal they've ever talked to called them racist for their trouble.

I write about black issues a fair amount, both here and elsewhere, and I am constantly impressed with how little grief I get for it. It's my feeling that there's no way I get it right all the time, but I think that with an issue this explosive yet elusive, any honest attemot to understand is appreciated.

The crucial point, though, is that he ties our problems, not to our divisions, but to the real engine of lower and middle class stagnation, our shared enemies, our shared goals.

I want to close with Barack's own words, after he's told an anecdote abote a young woman named Ashley forming an emotional bridge to an elderly black man.

"I'm here because of Ashley." By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.

But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins.

Update: I will try my best to respond to comments, and will devote some time to it this evening, so check back later. If you have a comment specifically addressed to me or that you would like me to comment on, please copy it to me in an email to: TommyChristopher@comcast.net.

Update: Responses to comments

8:40PM I want to start by addressing my emails. A reader named Patricia B. wrote a lengthy, thoughtful response , and many of her thoughts and experiences mirrored my own. She is hopeful, but not optimistic, that America is ready for Barack Obama.

Dlajsj writes:

So it turns out that Obama called for the firing of Don Imus, but continues to defend Rev. Wright:

"Obama First White House Contender to Call for Imus' Firing Over Racial Slur By JAKE TAPPER April 11, 2007 In an interview with ABC News Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., called for the firing of talk radio host Don Imus. Obama said he would never again appear on Imus' show, which is broadcast on CBS Radio and MSNBC television."

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3031317&page=1

So according to Obama, Rev. Wright is racist, but OK. Don Imus is racist, but must go. This apparently, is Obama's concept of transcending race.

TC: Well, the Imus thing is not the same, there were key differencs. There was an added misogynist element, and the context was completely different. However, I disagreed with the firing as well.


My wife and I wondered, did he write it? I'm a writer myself, a "wordsmith" so to speak. I've listened to King, and Kennedy, Malcom and Dubois, and in Barack's speech I heard echoes of them all. For those who seek reconciliation, we have found it. For those that do not, they have missed
it.

It won't diminish him in my mind if he didn't write it, but if he did...he is truly a man for the times.

N. Xavier Arnold

TC: I don't know about this specific speech, but Obama does employ speechwriters.

9:23PM

Dear Tommy,
Cal, thanks. I think Obama's empathy for the working-class white experience is going to be key. I will watch the PA polls closely.

9:28PM

Suzanne-Marie

Suzanne, I do get worn down from time to time by some of the vitriol in the comments, but the productive ones make this very rewarding. Remember, too, that only about 1% of people who read a story leave a comment, so they are not really representative of the larger audience.

Carol G. wrote a great, lengthy reply that I loved every word of, but which I will excerpt here:

Dear Mr. Christopher,

I am a White, middleaged woman, who truly believes that this should never have been an issue to begin with. This Pastor, whom I believe is close to 70 years old, has probably endured a lot of racism, and a lot of dissillusionment, and pain in his life. A lot of White people have no idea, how much discrimination is held against the Black American.

...And while we may venhemtly disagree with them, we do not separate ourselves from our family members. When I was in the South visiting relatives, I was so shocked to hear some of them say Nig***. And they were also very against Martin Luther King Day. I could not believe my ears when I was down there. It made me sick and I am White, so I can't even imagine how a Black person would feel hearing that garbage. I don't think this should be brought up again, but I do think the Economy should be focused on now. These are just my thought's on the subject, and yes, I do feel that Mr. Obama did a great job on his speech this morning. Sincerely, Carol

P.S. My Husband and I both left the Republican Party last year, and signed on to the Democratic Party. We both are very impressed with Mr. Obama, and my Husband is a retired Lt. Col. from the Army, who is also White, and from the South. So a lot of White people see thru this, I believe, and are sick of this kind of thing. Very dirty campaigning.


Marlin G writes:

Dear Sir,

I was moved by the explanation of the mix of ancestry of Obama and his wife. He spoke of white, black, brown and Asian in this country. How his wife was a mix of slave and owner. As with many politicians, he has ignored the native Americans (We are only called Indians because an Italian was lost), in that all the other U.S.races have successfully eliminated all but a few of us. Also black men and all women got the right to vote long before us. Additionally, if you have any black features, the government considers you applicable for minority benefits, but you can be 100% native American, but you are not a minority unless you belong to a federally accepted tribe. As his wife, I am a product of slave and slave owner, some French, some German and If Dr. Leaky is right, I am also an African American. I do not belong to a white, black, brown, Asian or Red church. I would only belong to a church that accepts all, and promotes all of Gods people.

Marlin G

Marlin, I've been to black churches, and I'm sure Trinity would accept you or me. As for promoting, I see your point, but one issue I have is that you have to recognize the exaggerated role that black clergy and the church have played in modern civil rights and political activism.

Marriana L writes: