Obama Shows Real Leadership with Speech on Race
Posted by Ted Hopton on March 18, 2008
I told a friend recently that Barack Obama needs to step up. He needs to grow as a candidate and rise to the challenges being put to him. If he can’t, then he’s not what his supporters believe him to be. And if he is, then he needs to prove it. For several weeks, he has not been doing enough to show it.
So I was excited to hear that he would be making a major speech on race today. This is the kind of step he needs to take, to show that he is, indeed, different, unique and worthy of the passionate following he has assembled.
I’ve just read the text of his speech, and I am listening now to the video of it. The written words alone spoke to me and pleased me: he’s doing exactly what he must. He’s not waffling or dissembling, he’s not dismissing the controversy about Reverend Wright’s inflammatory sermon, and he’s not throwing Wright under the bus, either, to save his candidacy.
Instead, he’s taking on one of the most emotional, divisive and politically dangerous subjects in American society: race. That’s courage. No, that’s leadership. And he got it right, in my opinion. His words explain, teach and offer hope — they show us where we have been, how we got to where we are, and how we can get to where we want to be.
Well, done, Barack. Whether you win or lose, you’ve proved you’re the true class act in this campaign and worthy of the hopes that so many have invested in you.
You can read the full text of the speech and watch the video on the Obama website (and it’s a really cool website, too).
obama race speech
