'A More Perfect Union': An Address for the Ages

For those of you who somehow missed it, yesterday's address (it was more than a speech) by presidential hopeful Barack Obama was - by any objective measure - historic.

Sen. Obama addressed head-on not only his relationship with controversial Pastor Jeremiah Wright, but the Address may also serve as a first step to a more honest public dialogue - the creation of a space where we can honestly address a topic at the heart of our deepest fears as a society: race.

What do I mean? Obama was able to validate and make real the concerns of both whites and blacks with regard to race fears - the fear whites have of displacement and reverse-discrimination; the fears blacks (and other people of color) have of continued oppression and exploitation.

It was his validation of white fear, however, which I believe was the most important element of his Address. Obama stated:

"Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience - as far as they're concerned, no one's handed them anything, they've built it from scratch. 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. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.


"Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren't always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation..."

White's have been loath to articulate themselves on this issue as clearly as this man of African and Kansan descent did yesterday morning, for fear of condemnation. By not merely dismissing these fears, but rather by acknowledging and validating them, he has opened a door of dialogue... a chance for Americans - particularly white ones - to feel empowered to address the issue honestly.

To his critics, Sen. Obama's Address may not have effectively distanced him from Pastor Wright, nor aided his campaign to win the Democratic nomination. Pundits are already lining up to pigeonhole him, to reduce him to the company he keeps. Barack Obama, to many, is just another 'race candidate', effectively dooming him to the Jacksonian margins as the 'candidate who can't'.


Senator Obama's campaign is more than that. It is helping all of us somehow feel better about our imperfect selves. His words remind us that we are all flawed, imperfect human beings, and that we sometimes love people whom others despise, and that our fears - which we may express as racialized anger - are actually misplaced. If we can honestly get past that, then I will count his candidacy a success - no matter the outcome.
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And address for the ages? Pft….No even close! You are right about a few things though.

First of all, Obama did the best job he could have possibly done in addressing the Jeremiah Wright issue. If this had been his explanation from the get go, the fall out would not have been as bad. But because his first response was “I was never at church when he said these things.” And “He never expressed these views to me.” This follow up explanation rang a little hollow to me.

Secondly, he did bring up the very legitimate gripes that many white Americans have with the portrayal of them as an oppressive people who have all benefited directly from slavery and the oppression of black people. My only question is, how many in the black community simply dismissed it as “white rage” and declared that “They are just in denial”.

David,

Maybe he is making you and the rest of the Obamaniacs “feel better about your imperfect selves”. But I am still looking past the spin for some substance.