A Speech for Our Time

Barack Obama today gave a historically thoughtful and comprehensive characterization of race relations in America. Driven by the need to answer questions about his former pastor’s inflammatory remarks, Obama’s response was better than the simple denunciation many expected. Instead of the usual rebuttals we expect these days, the speech used the recent controversy as a stepping-stone for a larger, more relevant, and more important conversation.

Take the time to watch the whole speech.

Or read the full text online.

It is worth noting at the outset that the speech is entitled, “A More Perfect Union.” It begins and ends with our national dedication to self-improvement and our promise of prosperity. Race, in this context, is cast as only one factor in these larger goals. Many detractors would like to say that Obama’s candidacy is only about race, but this speech looks far beyond that.

It offers, instead, a nuanced and historically considered exposition the likes of which one rarely hears from today’s politicians. It acknowledges and explores multiple perspectives. It takes in our nation’s history—as far back as the conflicts about race our forefathers faced when writing the Constitution—and illuminates the tensions of our most recent generations in that light.

The result is something very complex. Obama connects race to history to our founding documents to families to generations and more. This acknowledges not only the complexity of our nation, but also the complexity of people. And further, it shows that he, on the fly, has a discerning and reflective character that no other candidate has shown. He wrote the speech, one article reported, over the past several days.

But in an era of sound bytes and evening news summaries, this presents other challenges. The discussions this inspires, unless they are lengthy and have a copy of the full speech at hand, will likely deal only with issues in isolation—and this is a tragedy.

Nearly all of us, myself included, will struggle terribly with holding the interrelated elements of this conversation together in our minds at the same time. This, unfortunately, does disservice to the comprehensiveness of the speech (and speechmaker), to the complexity of our human nature, and to the level of dialog in our country. Perhaps most unfortunate, though, is that most of us will also never recognize or admit that our grasp is so incomplete.

But if we remember that something smart and true was spoken, and if we remember the closing anecdote, then we will have an idea of how to put ourselves back on the path to a more perfect union.

In the meantime, that we may yet wrap our minds around today, I’ve done my best to outline his speech. It is thoughtfully structured, and the full text supports the claims that I only summarize, but condensing it helps bring together the various points.

1. He starts with an introduction about how America has a historical mission to achieve “a more perfect union” – and he explains how race has been an obstacle since the very beginning.
2. He states that moving towards eliminating this obstacle has been one of his campaign’s cornerstones so that America can be more prosperous. He describes his campaign’s trajectory and success over the past year.
3. He reaches the present: the Wright controversy. He responds. A paraphrasal:
1. He condemns Wright’s statements…
2. …but Wright was worse than wrong, he was divisive…
3. …so why, Obama imagines people asking, should he have associated with Wright at all?...
4. …because, Obama says, Wright is more than his mistakes; he also inspires hope…
5. …and, his church represents all of the black experience, good and bad…
6. …and that is something that Obama cannot ignore…
7. …and he shouldn’t, because:
4. He suggests that an honest dialog about race is necessary for America to move forward.
1. There is anger in the black community because of America’s history.
2. There is anger in the white community because of present economic decisions.
3. And so there is conflict, which sometimes provokes counterproductive anger.
5. He suggests ways that both the black and white communities can take steps to resolve that conflict.
1. The black community must embrace the burden of America’s past without becoming victims of it.
2. The white community must acknowledge the disparity that exists between the races—and respond with deeds and not just words.
3. Essentially, we must do unto others as we would have them do to ourselves.
6. He also says, however, that we must change the way we engage politics, by actually talking about the issues and not distractions. This addresses the media as well as citizens.
   
7. He closes by telling a story to show how we can get back to reaching for perfection—where he started the speech—by crossing divides.