LukeL

You write, "I guess to understand black anger I would have to be black." Not necessarily...
Your list of wrongful acts and conduct toward blacks following this statement is a good starting point. I think anyone who sincerely reads your list and projects their own life into a world of struggle, injustice, hatred and a lack of acceptance from the majority populace, then understanding the anger is very possible--and likely to occur. But it requires a willingness to empathize--not sympathize. Sympathy does little to bring about change.
Obama is not asking for sympathy. He does not claim victimization. He is the only candidate who can speak to the subject of race from experience. But he is much more, in my opinion than an affirmative action candidate. He is more than the guilt offering for all of the wrongs to a race of people who were subjected to slavery for three-quarters of US history. Obama is a politician--a very good one--and a person who speaks to many concerns of Americans of all colors, genders and religious influences.
I do not believe the problem is racism as much as the power the one percent of the population utilizes to benefit the few at the expense of the many. That is at the heart of Obama's message, a message that speaks to the many, not the few. posted 03/29/2008 at 11:40:29