Obama’s Philadelphia Speech Marks Milestone in American Politics
Drawing on his half-black, half-white roots as no other presidential hopeful could, Obama asserted: “This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected.”
PHILADELPHIA — (AP) — Democratic Sen. Barack Obama on Tuesday tried to stem damage from divisive comments delivered by his pastor, while bluntly addressing anger between blacks and whites in the most racially pointed speech yet of his presidential campaign.Obama confronted America’s legacy of racial division head on, tackling black grievance, white resentment and the uproar over his former pastor’s incendiary statements.
Obama expressed understanding of the passions on both sides in what he called “a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years.”"But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races,” he said in a speech at the National Constitution Center, not far from where the Declaration of Independence was adopted.
Obama rarely talks so openly about his race in such a prominent way, but his speech covered divisions from slavery to the O.J. Simpson trial to the recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina. He also recognized his race has been a major issue in the campaign that has taken a “particularly divisive turn” in the last few weeks as video of his longtime pastor spread on the Internet and on television.
Full Text of Speech
Full Text of Speech
This entry was posted on March 18, 2008 at 4:24 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: 2008 elections, Barack Obama, Politics, Racism
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March 18, 2008 at 7:02 pm
I’ve heard so many people criticize his speech.
And I suppose it may have been politically dangerous in what the last 2 elections have proven is a nation of folks who are …well…not too bright.
But I’m not stupid, and I thought the speech was quite brilliant and it belw me away.
I did get a very depressed feeling about it toward the end , though. He must know how dangerous such honesty can be. And I’m sure there are many who wished he would have denounced the preacher.
But he was loyal to an imperfect old friend.
I don’t know. I hope I’m not being gullible. I just really LIKE the man.