Democratic Sen. Barack Obama gave a heartfelt and politically correct speech about race today. For many this speech uplifted and talked to many who believe that the country can move beyond race to create “a more perfect union.”
But to the trained eye Obama’s speech did more than talk about race, uphold his friendship with the Rev. Wright but took targeted pot shots at those who questioned his ability to be friends with a racist pastor.
Throughout his speech Obama targeted political pundits, the media and implied that white men voting for Sen. John McCain would do so because they a trapped in old resentments.
Bull Hockey!!!!
Another commentator noted that Obama did more to widen the racial divide than close it. Using the speech’s statement “…..to wish away the resentments of white America, to label them as misguided or even racists, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns, this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.”
Really!.
Obama’s speech was well written, historical, moving and evoked emotion at given times, but who was he talking to. Who was listening? What message was he really trying to give or sell?
He turned the Wright controversy on a dime, by acknowledging the problem, and then making the problem a greater one by focusing on the needs of white middle-class Americans who might be angry regarding their circumstances and can easily blame affirmative-action, busing, and other sources of racial friction as the cause of their problems.
With this speech do we now denounce race as a campaign issue or do we take it on for more political rhetoric.