Obama's More Perfect Union: More Than a "Race Speech"

Commentary on Obama's speech has focused largely on his main theme of racism; yet the more perfect union he envisions is not merely about race relations becoming warm and fuzzy. As we interpret, parse or spin Obama's words, let's not succumb to the very problem that has surfaced in the Presidential contest--that overemphasizing race is a distraction. Here's a list of major issues, with quotes from the speech that call for going beyond racial divisiveness and taking action for the common good.

Ending the Iraq war and taking care of our military:
"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."

Moving toward universal health care:
"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."

Confronting our economic woes:
". . . the real culprits of the middle class squeeze (are) a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many." "(There's a) lack of economic opportunity . . ." " . . . stagnant wages . . ." ". . . the lack of basic services . . . - parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement - all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us." "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." "They've worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor."

Improving the quality of education:
". . . 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."

Embracing spiritual values:
"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." ". . . 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." (Obama cites the example of his church) ". . . that serves the community by doing God's work here on Earth - by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS."

Summary of the issues:
". . . we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems - two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all." To move toward a more perfect union is " . . . to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America."

Comments

[rmhaydensmith]

Great perspective!

[cybersense]

Good Judgement would have meant the Obama would have taken action about Wright long before he allowed him to be an advisor on his campaign.

What? People did not think they werent going to find something on Obama? Of course they would.
Look at what they tried to do to the Clintons and Hillary herself.

Good speech. Not so good judgement.

[mawrm]

cybersense - think about it. It would not have mattered whether Obama had him on his campaign or not. It would not have mattered if Obama had left TUCC 10 years ago. They would've STILL said "how could he have EVER attended a church led by this man". All that mattered is making a connection, tenuous at best, between the words of Rev. Wright and Obama. That's the nature of slime-obsessed politics.