Barack and Race in America

Barack Obama won my vote last night. In what might become one of the new century’s defining orations, he directly confronted the issue of race in America. Here’s part of what the Washington Post said about his speech:

“Mr. Obama's speech was an extraordinary moment of truth-telling. He coupled it with an appeal that this year's campaign not be dominated by distorted and polarizing debates about whether he or his opponents agree with extreme statements by supporters -- or other attempts to divide the electorate along racial lines. Far better, he argued, that Americans of all races recognize they face common economic, social and security problems. "”

I’ve heard often about his ability to inspire with rhetoric, but as yet I hadn’t seen evidence of it. Yesterday, he chose to rise above merely distancing himself from his pastor’s remarks, he dared to directly challenge the issue of race in America. The speech was all the more impressive because he wrote it himself, staying up until two in the morning the night before to finish it. It was a masterpiece of content and delivery that will reverberate for years, possibly generations. It might well rank with John Kennedy’s “ask not what your country can do for you” and Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream.”

Will it work to quiet the criticism of guilt by association? Absolutely not. It’s clear that this will be the Obama swiftboat. On the other hand, McCain’s comment that we might be in Iraq for a hundred years, a thousand years, a million years, will become a sound bite we’ll be seeing often in the campaign. In the end, it might all still be about the economy, stupid.

But taken as a eloquent statement of hope for a country that could take a giant leap forward in the seemingly intractable problems of race, Obama’s speech will last long beyond the current presidential campaign. It brought tears to my eyes as it raised the possibility of a new politics of reconciliation.