Barack Obama's Speech on Race In America

You have probably heard something or other regarding Barack Obama's speech yesterday. I listened to it and was very surprised and pleased.

I forward this to you because I am very impressed by what I heard in this speech and want you to hear it for yourself without Anderson Cooper or Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity or some other soundbyte radio or tv talking head processing or digesting it for you.

I believe strongly in racial issues and am impressed by what I heard from Barack yesterday. I don't agree with everything I heard and disagree strongly with some of it but that does not disqualify or excuse such a refreshing and direct discussion of America's greatest corporate sin: slavery and its legacy of discrimination and Jim Crow marginalization.

Make no mistake, I am not endorsing Barack Obama for president. I ask you to listen not to a candidate for president but to a different sort of man with a very courageous discussion of the current state of race in this country without the typical, rubber-stamp talking point responses from purveyors of black victimization as well as 'gimmie-a-break' conservatives. This is a chance to begin a discussion about race and justice and virtue from a new starting point without the ugly partisianship and resulting ambivelence that usually follows from it.

I send this to you because I am encouraged by the straight talk and honest desire for a thoughtful reevaluation of the racial status quo in this country. Some of you will think I must be drunk to send this out or under the spell of some foreign influence. While I would never disparage the efficacious elfin magic from a bottle of Guiness, especially one bestowed so thoughtfully as it was on Monday, I declare myself free from any impairment. Any spell it cast is not at work in this plea.

You all know, and surely have many examples to offer, I can be an daft prick and may think I have questionable grounds, at best, to suggest such a strange request upon your time. No arguments there. However, I think these issues are important enough to disregard my less than stellar credability and take the time to consider these issues anew.

I am posting this same message on my blog and invite you to submit your thoughts after listening to the speech. We can begin a small dialog of our own and begin the discussion. The blog address is http://blog.mccannta.com and feel free to forward this on to as many folks as you wish. We're all friends and all care for one another so feel free to speak freely.

Here is the link to the speech:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/hisownwords 

Comments

[Tim O'Nan]

Thanks for sending this. It was a great speech.

I am curious, though, why the sudden interest in Barack? Hmmm...

[Jo]

Yeah-great minds! So, I'm honored to be your first post.
Here's something I'm thinking about today: RACE and RELIGION are not okay things to attack a candidate for. Like it was uncool for McCain military service record to be attacked in the last election. You don't try to discredit a man who had his arms broken every two weeks while serving his country under torture. There are some things that should be outside of the discussion.

I decided that I don't really care what religion (or non-religion) is in the White House. It's a president I'm voting for, not a minister. As long as they aren't a FUNDAMENTALIST of any kind, I'm pretty cool with a "do unto others" message from the West Wing. I'll let my pastor make the tougher "come to Jesus" talks, you know?