OBAMA REDEFINES HOPE OF RACIAL RECONCILIATION IN PHILADELPHIA SPEECH

'WE THE PEOPLE, IN ORDER TO FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION' SPEECH TACKLES RACIAL DIVIDE IN U.S., DISTANCES CANDIDATE FROM PASTOR'S REMARKS

Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, by the slimmest of margins the frontrunner for the Democratic party's nomination for president, yesterday delivered a major policy speech on race and tolerance in America. Major mainstream media were describing the speech, delivered at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center as "Lincolnesque" and reminiscent of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech.

The comparisons were in part about eloquence, but mainly because the speech spanned American history, evoked Constitutional ideals, and augured a future in which we grapple ably with the burning sword of past injustices, and live as a nation of citizens and not of races. Obama invoked the foundational promise of working toward "a more perfect union", recognizing the "original sin" of slavery and the serious complexities of a society that still struggles to shake off that burden.

On cable news commentary panels, even Republican strategists said the speech was "towering" and "historic". And what Sen. Obama achieved, as a politician, is enviable: he transcended the moment, the race, his own personal situation, and spoke of timeless American aspirations and values.

Perhaps most importantly, he framed the debate in such a way that it will be hard for either John McCain or Hillary Clinton to say anything on the issue of race other than what Sen. Obama laid out in this speech. He left them little room to innovate on the subject, and he "unequivocally disavowed" the inflammatory comments of his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

But the senator from Illinois refused to "disown" his former pastor. He cited the need to understand human beings as human beings, and compared the act of disowning this man who was a leader in his community and who did good and brought hope to many, to disowning the entire community of African Americans who feel disadvantaged by still prominent tensions about race in society, or to disowning his own "white grandmother", who loves him and whom he loves, but who at times had uttered "racial stereotypes that made me cringe".

Sen. Obama also looked to frame the controversy about Wright's incendiary remarks as an issue of whether or not the American people are able to focus on issues of real political significance and work together to effect change:

The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through — a part of our Union that we have yet to perfect.

And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.

Politicians and commentators alike recognized the surprising significance of the moment, which stems from the fact that he spoke of realities that may seem obvious and commonplace facts, but what was surprising was to hear a politician of national stature, in a global, televised forum, address such sensitive everyday realities so directly.

With unflinching common sense, the senator explored the real possibility that we as a nation could overcome the cruel realities of a racially divided past, but only if we are willing to face those realities, recognize them, and have the consequent discussion. He reiterated what he has said many times in recent weeks, that he is not "naïve" as some critics allege, that he does not expect absolute unity to stem from merely hoping for it, but that he believes people can come together and find common interest, if they accept one another's differences and diverging interests.

The tone of Obama's speech, at once daring, conciliatory, and empathetic, helped him make the case that while the Constitution was "stained" by its not prohibiting slavery, the virtue of the Constitution was clear in that it laid the framework for abolishing such an evil system, establishing if not in words then in principle the equality of all Americans before the law.

He cited his "unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people" as the foundation of his belief that tensions regarding race and political division can be eased and a moderate coalition can be formed in order to dream that "more perfect union", which he reminds his audience is the perennial and necessary project of American democracy.