I normally try and steer clear of politics on this blog, but I can't help myself. I was sitting at work today reading TPM when it dawned on me that Barack Obama was giving his "race" speech. I was able read a copy of the speech shortly after it was delivered. I thought it was beautiful. Please, please, please read the whole speech or watch it in its entirety on a U Tube link. Don't trust the snippets you get from the teevee, paper or radio. I created a new blog so that you, dear reader, can read the text without getting bogged down in the partisan comments that come with the the text as posted on other political blogs. I really think this speech will be remembered as a great and timely piece of American political rhetoric. It is important because he is dealing directly with the problem of race and its perception in differing communities. He understands that there is racial resentment on all sides and that this resentment has its basis in lived in experience. But he also hopes for the possibility of us being able to transcend racial divisions to tackle problems that are not limited to race - poverty, education, health care. I am also impressed that he is also not completely disassociating himself from his pastor who made the inflammatory remarks - he rejects the remarks yes, but not the person - which is an incredibly brave thing to do given our current level of political discourse. Finally, Marc Ambinder of the Atlantic has reported that Obama wrote the speech himself. No speechwriters, no focus groups, no message testing. Apparently he worked on it for a few days and showed it to some aids shortly before giving it. If this is true, it is all the more impressive. Can you imagine the Current Occupant of the White House coming up with anything 1/100th as eloquent as this speech without help?
Here's the link to the text of his speech.
This link may turn out to be my outlet for politics. This way I can talk about politics and you dear reader can choose to link to it or not link to it. It will be your choice to read my crappy opinions (mostly borrowed from people smarter than me) on politics. Who knows, maybe I'll even give interested parties posting privileges and we can have a free for all.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Hey Old Man: Your other blog won't allow non-Google/Blogger comments so I'm putting them here. I'll be happy to transfer them over when you allow Name/URL comments. Thanks, Francis
Honestly, I cannot think of a politician's speech in *my* lifetime as eloquent, as meaningful, and as sharp in its observation and argument as this one. And I cannot think of any politician--or anyone with access to big media--who has been able to so accurately describe the issue of race in contemporary America.
Identifying resentment is one thing, but identifying the causes of the resentment, how the resentment persists, and what needs to be done about the resentment is quite another thing. So many politicians avoid race, except possibly in lip-service terms. And to be honest with you, until this speech I wondered if Obama would address the issue of race in any meaningful way. And yet, at the same time, I want to emphasize that I wondered if *any* politician would do so--it was not a new thought based on expectations that the "Black" candidate should talk about race.
Obama spoke a lot of truths that white America has a problem understanding--especially with regard to the accumulation of wealth and property. What I find especially meaningful in his speech is the reminder that the U.S. is still not beyond the legacy of Jim Crow and legal discrimination, and that the U.S. still contends with discrimination in practice in all sorts of arenas (housing and small business loans, insurance rates, distribution of tax dollars, to name a few categories). The research I've done in urban/suburban history is full of examples of exclusionary or extraordinary policies that have contributed to a racialized wealth gap.
I don't want to extend this first comment too much longer, but I'd be happy to go into some details or provide you a short reading list.
And I don't want to veer too far from the topic... so here's a set of questions for discussion: What do we do now? What will the media do with these claims of racial resentment explained? Will Obama's speech start a new, more meaningful discussion of race? Or are they on to new news?
Francis:
Comments enabled.
Please provide a reading list.
"What do we do now?" Lord have mercy Jesus, if I knew what to do (beyond starting a discussion within Obama's framework) I could be preznit. I hope he has some ideas.
Thanks, Scott. I put my comments over there and will add more soon.
Post a Comment