Barack Obama recently personally wrote a speech on race for a lecture in Philedelphia that is being hailed as one of the greatest in 35 years. Jon Stewart says, “A prominent American politician talked to Americans about race as though they were adults”. The first video below is Jon Stewart’s discussion on Barack Obama’s race speech and the videos below that are the whole race speech itself.
Barack Obama’s race speech in Philedelphia is below in four parts:
Barack Obama Philedelphia Race Speech 1/4
“My wife carries in her the blood of slaves and of slave owners” Wow
“In the last couple of weeks the discussion of race has taken a divisive turn. On one side we hear that my candidacy is solely the affirmative action promotion of wide-eyed liberals trying to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other hand, we’ve heard my former pastor Jeremiah Wright who used incendiary language to rightly offend both left and right. I have already condemned unequivocally his statements” Barack Obama goes on to discuss the deeper moral problems and issues of race in America and the misperceptions of both sides.
Barack Obama Philedelphia Race Speech 2/4
“I can no more disown him (Reverend Wright) than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can disown my white grandmother. The same grandmother who uttered cringing ethnic stereotypes. These people are a part of America. The politically safe thing to do would be to move on from this episode, but race is an issue this nation cannot afford to ignore.” I am impressed that Barack Obama is willing to take such a ballsy stand and back it up with a deeply intelligent discussion.
Barack Obama is able to distance himself from a father figure (Reverend Wright) with a Shakespearean dignity and honor. I am impressed. He does not dumb down the issue or twist things around, he speaks directly and honestly to the American populace.
Barack Obama Philedelphia Race Speech 3/4
“Lack of opportunity for black men has contributed to the erosion of families.”
“The most segregated hour of American life occurs on Sunday morning.” Wow, Barack Obama actually calls out the massive segregation in religion in America. Barack is right on here, but he won’t go far enough in digging out the true reasons Sunday mornings are segregated- that superstition and ignorance and avoiding science and logic are the same factors that power both religion and racism.
“When they (white people) hear that an African American is getting a job over them because they are black it contributes to anger and resentment” Affirmative action is a very flawed system and has contributed to maintaining racism in this country more than any other policy- it tells white people that blacks can’t compete with them on a fair field and it tells black people that without white help they cannot achieve success.
Barack Obama Philedelphia Race Speech 4/4
My thoughts on the race speech by Barack Obama from Philedelphia: I am very impressed by Barack Obama’s charisma and eloquence and honesty to the American people. I disagree with Barack Obama’s fiscal policies, but I think he would make a better president than John McCain. If I was a voting man (which I am not for reasons stated in my King of America post), I would strongly consider Barack Obama. President George Bush was supposed to have been a vanguard of conservative economic principles but has raised taxes more than almost any president in history and has engaged militarily in no-win situations. Yes, the war on terror is a no-win situation; you can’t defeat a tactic. Guerrilla warfare has been around as long as their has been warfare and we aren’t going to get rid of it. President Bush was just to afraid to call it by it’s name; the War on Islam. All Bush has done is propagate his own religious beliefs and push them into law. He has urinated on the Constitution. My hope is that Barack Obama will become President and restore America’s reputation and prestige. I don’t think he will be able to save the economy though- it’s like trying to plug the hole in the Titanic after it hit an iceberg.