March 18, 2008
Transcript: Barack Obama's Speech On Race
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Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., delivers a speech on race in Philadelphia, March 18, 2008. (CBS)
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Photo Essay Barack Obama A look at the life and meteoric rise of the president-elect.
Ironically, this quintessentially American - and yes, conservative - notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright's sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is that embarking on a program of self-help also requires a belief that society can change.
The profound mistake of Reverend Wright's sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It's that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country - a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old -- is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know -- what we have seen - is that America can change. That is true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope - the audacity to hope - for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds - by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.
In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world's great religions demand - that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother's keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister's keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.
For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle - as we did in the OJ trial - or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright's sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she's playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.
We can do that.
But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we'll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.
That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, "Not this time." This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can't learn; that those kids who don't look like us are somebody else's problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.
This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don't have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.
This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn't look like you might take your job; it's that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.
This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should've been authorized and never should've been waged, and we want to talk about how we'll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned.
I would not be running for President if I didn't believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation - the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election.
There is one story in particularly that I'd like to leave you with today - a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. King's birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta.
There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.
And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that's when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.
She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.
She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents too.
Now Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother's problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. But she didn't. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.
Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they're supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who's been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he's there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, "I am here because of Ashley."
"I'm here because of Ashley." By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.
But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins.
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See all 131 CommentsIt''s people like Mr.Wright that continue the racist movement. Obama did embrace his "former" pastor. Let''s not forget he''s still his current mentor.
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Posted by darnedsocks at 06:14 AM : Mar 20, 2008
+ report abuse
OH PLEASE!! You Nazi''s can''t be this stupid!! FOX News is the Propaganda Arm of the Republican Party, everyone knows that. This is desperation plain and simple. This is their last best shot to stop Obama and from what I see, it hasn''t just failed, it''s failed badly. Sieg Heil Bush
Well, I beg to differ. Only if what you believe in is best for the people you plan to serve and not for your own personal platform to boost your fractured ego.
I don''t know, I could be wrong, but she seems pretty desparately willing to throw anybody under the bus who even remotely pose a threat to her victory. She even threw the whole democratic party under to join forces with McCain.
That, to me, is desparation to win by any means necessary. Not nice, honorable, nor lady-like.
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Posted by cowgirlblue2 at 11:00 PM
I understand you don''t see the sincerity in Senator Obama. Oh, so you know him that well? Can you really judge that man''s heart? Come on now, innocent until proven guilty.
To the pure all things are pure, but to the fearful and unbelieving...maybe you are looking through skewed lenses? I don''t know. I don''t know you either. I did notice you didn''t address him as Senator Obama or Mr. Obama which, to me, is disrespectful of you.
Again, his message is an opportunity for self-evaluation and find common ground and then move forward.
In other words, we all have our own junk to deal with we don''t have time to condemn anyone. Innocent until proven guilty -- not guilt by association.
Oh yeah, the ''Our world'' comment... again, read it in context. To be politically correct, our experience in America as a black person.
Posted by cowgirlblue2 at 11:15 PM : Mar 19, 2008
-Well he did it in front of the Nation. What better? Only deaf people like you, may well hear, but don''t want to listen and consider. Too bad!
Posted by blessedsam at 10:52 PM
Your post is another excellent informative example. Most people here want to just wear their emotions and express shock. Yet they forget, and rather conveniently, how their own preachers and political leaders have made very similar statements, and all too often they don''t have a problem with them.
The president degraded the constitution, but that''s okay many have said here. Even saying that the supreme law of the land is just a g-d- piece of paper. The hypocrisy is very scary. It means that people don''t think at all, they only react.
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, the generous, the justice-seeking, the ones who are looking for equality and justice for all, the ONES WHO HAVE PUT RACISM BEHIND THEIR BACK, FORGOT IT AND DENIED IT ACCESS TO GOVERNING FUNCTIONS. The people who has adopted the civil rights legislations, and kept them as a new wealth and way of values is capable of discerning the true from the fake.
-OBAMA IS A GREAT LEADER BY HIS EDUCATION, AND HIS RICH BLACK AND WHITE HERITAGE. HE CAME FORWARD TO THE PEOPLE AND TOLD THEM WHAT HE THINKS, HOW HE THINKS AND WHAT HE PLANS FOR THE FUTURE OF AMERICA. HE PUT ALL ON THE TABLE, CLEAR AND PLAIN. WHILE ''DUSTY'' CLINTON IS CURIOUSLY WATCHING THE ATTACKS ON HER COLLEAGUE, LIKE A SHEEP BEING ATTACKED BY WOLVES...
- OBAMA IS SHOWING SUCH COURAGE IT''S AMAZING. HE''S STANDING STEADFAST, REGARDLESS. OBAMA IS THE RIGHT PERSON TO BEAT THE REPUBLIKONS IN THE COMING DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS. HE BE BLESSED FOR AMERICA AND THE WORLD.
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, the generous, the justice-seeking, the ones who are looking for equality and justice for all, the ONES WHO HAVE PUT RACISM BEHIND THEIR BACK, FORGOT IT AND DENIED IT ACCESS TO GOVERNING FUNCTIONS. The people who has adopted the civil rights legislations, and kept them as a new wealth and way of values is capable of discerning the true from the fake.
-OBAMA IS A GREAT LEADER BY HIS EDUCATION, AND HIS RICH BLACK AND WHITE HERITAGE. HE CAME FORWARD TO THE PEOPLE AND TOLD THEM WHAT HE THINKS, HOW HE THINKS AND WHAT HE PLANS FOR THE FUTURE OF AMERICA. HE PUT ALL ON THE TABLE, CLEAR AND PLAIN. WHILE ''DUSTY'' CLINTON IS CURIOUSLY WATCHING THE ATTACKS ON HER COLLEAGUE, LIKE A SHEEP BEING ATTACKED BY WOLVES...
- OBAMA IS SHOWING SUCH COURAGE IT''S AMAZING. HE''S STANDING STEADFAST, REGARDLESS. OBAMA IS THE RIGHT PERSON TO BEAT THE REPUBLIKONS IN THE COMING DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS. HE BE BLESSED FOR AMERICA AND THE WORLD.
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