Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Barack Seeks to Have it Both Ways

Can you denounce rascism and embrace it in the same speech? Astoundingly, in a speech seeking to promote unity among the races, Barack Obama compared the bias of the grandmother who raised him, to the angry and crazed rantings of Jeremiah Wright:


"I can no more disown [Jeremiah Wright] than I can my white
grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and
again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world,
but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the
street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic
stereotypes that made me cringe."



Obviously, he is unable to distinguish between what is hate speech seeking to shock and cause division and what is not. Jeremiah Wright had an audience of thousands, while the grandmother's only confident was her close relations. Obama has lost a great opportunity to finally unite a majority of whites and blacks to win the presidency. He promised us his campaign would transcend racial issues, but when it comes to the wire, he just can't let go. I was never a supporter, but deep down, even I was hoping there was real sincerity in a black candidate this time.