Obama’s Speech on Race
Since this speech isn’t well-suited for sound bites, I’m posting it here in video and text. (It’s probably faster to read it if you’re in a hurry.)
First of all, it’s nice to hear a speech from a national politician that speaks to it’s listeners like adults. That’s rare. And I can’t recall hearing anyone holding public office speaking this candidly and honestly about race relations in America. He laid many things out on the table that never get a public airing and he did it without posing or pandering, save a small section of trade-protectionist posturing. But I don’t think it detracts from a very eloquent and honest speech.
I’ve already heard some reactions that I expected to hear. Some have said he took the politically expedient route. But it seems to me that disowning his pastor would have been easier, if more cowardly. Others have said that he excused what his pastor said. But I hear Obama explaining while condemning, not excusing.
That national conversation about race that everyone from Bill Clinton to my local right-wing radio host says we need to have: this is it. At least, this is part of it. I know a lot of conservatives Republicans will dismiss it out-of-hand, which is a shame. One thing I like about Obama is that he listens to others in good faith, even if he disagrees with them. I’m hoping his critics will extend him the same courtesy.
