For those of you who are caught up in the Obama-Wright debacle, I urge you to read the entire text of Obama’s speech on race, delivered today. Don't just rely on the sound bytes provided on the news. Listen to what this man has to say.
It’s really quite an eloquent speech that calls for the unity of all Americans. Where past Democratic candidates have played the class-warfare card, the race card, the “I’m not Bush” card, Obama faces the issue of race in America pretty squarely. He addresses the concerns of those who sit on the other side of the fence, and calls for their involvement in the discussion and in the solution.
Of course, I don’t necessarily see Obama's staple issues - health care, public education and what he calls “ladders of opportunity” as necessarily a cure for racial discord. The devil is in the details of whatever reforms he proposes. But he does seem sincere in his desire not to pit one class of people or one ethnic group against another.
I simply have to take my hat off for that, at the very least.
