Obama's Words at King's Church



Today Barack Obama was at Ebenezer Baptist Church -- Bill Clinton apparently will be there tomorrow, while Hillary was up at New York's Abyssinian Baptist Church getting an endorsement from the church's pastor.


Anyway, from Ben Smith's Politico Column, I was able to find a passage from Obama's remarks that is important. Although, like all politicians he's not immune from a little pandering, but for the most part Obama has been willing to speak truth to important constituencies. So, here it is:



For most of this country’s history, we in the African American community have been at the receiving end of man’s inhumanity to man. And all of us understand intimately the insidious role that race still sometimes plays – on the job, in the schools, in our health care system and in our criminal justice system. And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our hands are entirely clean. If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King’s vision of a beloved community. We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community. For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as competitors for jobs instead of companions in the fight for opportunity.



I think this sounds quite balanced. But then I'm biased.
At another point in the message -- yes a sermon! He spoke of Martin Luther King's legacy and the need to join together -- to seek true unity in the country.
Every day, our politics fuels and exploits this kind of division across all races and regions; across gender and party. It is played out on television. It is sensationalized by the media. And last week, it even crept into the campaign for President, with charges and counter-charges that served to obscure the issues instead of illuminating the critical choices we face as a nation.
So let us say that on this day of all days, each of us carries with us the task of changing our hearts and minds. The division, the stereotypes, the scapegoating, the ease with which we blame our plight on others – all of this distracts us from the common challenges we face – war and poverty;
injustice and inequality. We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing someone else down. We can no longer afford to traffic in lies or fear or hate. It is the poison that we must purge from our politics; the wall that we must tear down before the hour grows too late.
I know that the campaign ahead will be difficult. Obama will have off days, say things he'd just as soon not have. There will be those who will believe the lies and the innuendo -- much of which is being passed along virally via email. He may not win, but his message needs to be heard. In fact, he needs to make it even more strongly, even as he did today in Atlanta. Politics as usual can't be our motto!


Comments

Popular Posts