<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>but some individuals haven't ....<br><br>their mindset is still in the 1700-1800's America ...<br><br>and they won't change til they die.<p><hr></blockquote><p>And why Barack Obama would choose to embrace someone like that, for 20 years, is a legitimate question.<br><br>***********************<br>I got nothin'

I am not denying that there's been progress. I am asserting that the past lives on into the present, hard as that may be for an American, for whom history is history, to accept. That first picture is from 1976. The picture of the noose on the office of the African American woman is from last year. The "anthropological" image is, as the heading says, from the 19th century. Do you really and truly think that all that history will simply disappear because you want it to? Shove it all under the rug and pretend that it doesn't still affect people's lives? Go ahead and pretend.<br><br>[color:red]&#63743;</font color=red> [color:orange]&#63743;</font color=orange> [color:yellow]&#63743;</font color=yellow> [color:green]&#63743;</font color=green> [color:blue]&#63743;</font color=blue> [color:purple]&#63743;</font color=purple>

Listening to the speech, it didn't sound like he embraced what the preacher had said. In fact he denounced it.<br><br>My grandmother used to use the N word some times and I just shook my head because I knew it was pointless to try to "set her straight". But I still loved her even with all of her faults.<br><br><br><br>my photos

Exactly right, John. And he also indicated that he can understand why his grandmother or his preacher might have the responses that they do because he understands why the past doesn't simply disappear with the wave of a presidential pen on an equal rights bill of some sort. To understand that is not to excuse, although it seems that some people are unwilling to make a distinction between understanding and excusing.<br><br>[color:red]&#63743;</font color=red> [color:orange]&#63743;</font color=orange> [color:yellow]&#63743;</font color=yellow> [color:green]&#63743;</font color=green> [color:blue]&#63743;</font color=blue> [color:purple]&#63743;</font color=purple>

Not to defend him...and not saying shoving it under the rug is good...but perhaps if we could move on from the events of the past?<br><br>We can't change history. Ever. But, we can learn from it and try to improve ourselves. Will man ever do that? I highly doubt it.<br><br>my photos

Welcome. I couldn't obsess over it because I have too many other things I would rather do.<br><br>my photos

that's just it . . . Barack provided evidence yesterday that he understands the underlying issues that are causing a person to have the biases they have; however, he also recognizes that these individuals are not bad people and can have much to offer beyond this carefully selected sound-byte or that one removed from their context. <br><br>

Exactly, it's an argument all about context and nuance on an issue that demands it, in a political world that has never heard of it.<br><br>I've read a few columns and it appears as though someone sent out the note to every opposite partisan columnist at every daily paper: "You need to show some respect for the rhetoric of the speech, but make sure that you act as though you don't understand parts of it or that you are personally unsatisfied with it. Say 'fell short' or begin a sentence with 'what he needed to accomplish.'"<br><br>The columns are all different, with different little angles, but there is one particular fact that unites all of them. They all completely ignore the nuance and most importantly the forgiveness and reconciliation that Sen. Obama argued for. And it makes sense. For most partisans approaching any speech by Sen. Obama with a preconceived notion, those people coming to it who already decided about Sen. Obama before they ever knew the name Wright, and most importantly those newspaper columnists, talk show hosts, and bloggers whose audiences expect them to dislike Sen. Obama, there is no such thing as nuance. There is no such thing as context.<br><br>Some of these people have made whole careers out of ignoring nuance and acting obtuse. This speech did not only address the specifics of Sen. Obama's vision of race, it talked about how people should address it... together. Amongst the most bile-filled corners of the political world, together is impossible.<br><br>-- Cee Bee Double-U

<br>yes I did listen to the whole thing. <br>No doubt, a great speech.<br>Yes, he does deal with race better than anyone else in politics before ..... so why do I still get that cringe feeling when he says something like "... even a candidacy as (forget the term) as mine."?<br><br><br>Well, let's hope this guy is for real.<br><br><br><br><br><br>

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>This is where we are right now. It's a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy - particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.<p><hr></blockquote><p>What's wrong with pointing out that he does not want to be the great black hope, that he is not perfect?<br><br>He is trying to answer your concerns you raised a week ago. That his zombie like followers are going to be crushed when he doesn't fix everything right away.<br><br><blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>"I'm here because of Ashley." By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.<br><br>But it is where we start. <p><hr></blockquote><p>And I think it is a great place to start. The best place to start. Not a place to start because everyone else is not as good and he is a little bit better. It is a great place to start because on so many levels he is head and shoulders above McCain. He is head and shoulders above all our politicians.<br><br>