28 March 2008
Debate Continues About Presidential Candidate’s Speech on Race
Speech boosts Barack Obama’s ratings, prompts dialogue on sensitive Issue
Washington -- Barack Obama has sparked debate ever since he declared himself a Democratic candidate for U.S. president. But his speech on race in America started a significant conversation among television pundits, op-ed writers, bloggers and average Americans that shows no sign of ending.
Obama’s poll ratings teetered in recent weeks, dipping after videos of Jeremiah Wright, the fiery former pastor of his Chicago church, appeared on YouTube, forcing Obama to distance himself from Wright’s inflammatory comments. But his ratings bounced back after his March 18 speech in Philadelphia, in which he explained his relationship with Wright and tackled race issues head-on.
Within days a CBS News poll recorded “good reviews” for his speech and Gallup Daily showed him edging ahead of Hillary Clinton by a few percentage points. He gained the endorsement of former rival, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, on March 22.
“I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas,” Obama said, something that makes him a walking representative of an issue that has profoundly influenced -- and divided -- America for four centuries. “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.”
Race is an issue that “this nation cannot afford to ignore right now,” Obama said. The recent controversy, he added, reflects “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.”
Because problems in the African-American community predate the nation’s founding -- originating with slavery, continuing in subsequent legalized discrimination and opportunities denied in the present day -- racism continues to define the world view of even successful blacks. But, Obama said, “anger is not always productive … it distracts attention from solving real problems … and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change.”
People across color lines share the same concerns, he said, and the lack of economic opportunity affects blacks, whites, Asians and Latinos, creating resentment in all affected communities. The race issue diverts attention from “the real culprits … a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices and short-term greed … economic policies that favor the few over the many.”
A UNIFYING FORCE FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY?
Richardson, from a Latino background, called Obama “a once-in-a-lifetime leader,” endorsing him in hopes of unifying Democrats. This could bring more Latino votes to Obama.
“Senator Obama has started a discussion in this country that is long overdue, and rejects the politics of pitting race against race,” Richardson said.
Even critics such as Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson, who said Obama should have refuted more specifically the “toxic views” of Wright, called it an “excellent and important speech on race in America.”
Others saw courage and complexity in Obama’s refusal to disown Wright, instead using Wright’s views to explain the context from which those views emerged and the cultural divisions that created them. Bob Herbert, in the New York Times, lauded a “worldview that embraces both justice and healing.”
Civil rights activist and George Mason University professor Roger Wilkins told America.gov that, given that blacks and whites do not have the same experience of racism, “To try to speak to both blacks and whites at a level they both understand and which sought to pull them together toward a better understanding of this deep and profound American problem was very courageous.
“It provided a platform, a jumping off place for further rich conversation,” he said, adding that Obama’s words about his white grandmother helped to evoke a common humanity.
“He can be unabashedly a person who is defined as a Negro in the United States and still be someone who can reach across the racial divide,” Wilkins said.
Other African-American observers agreed. Emira Woods wrote in The Black Commentator, “He elevates this pivotal issue at a critical moment. Obama gives a striking call to action, encouraging this generation to do its part.”
“This amounts to a new set of talking points for a discussion about race,” according to Eugene Robinson in the Washington Post.
Politico columnists Jim VandeHei and John F. Harris emphasized “the specificity with which Obama discussed racial attitudes and animosities” that politicians rarely address -- and also his skillful appeal to voters he needs to win.
Obama is the first African-American to have a real chance at becoming a U.S. presidential nominee. African Americans make up about 12.5 percent of the U.S. population.
“America can change. That is the true genius of this nation,” Obama said, “What we have already achieved gives us hope -- the audacity to hope -- for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.”
