A Brave New America

Today, I watched what some commentators are already calling the most significant speech on race in America since Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. I agree.

As I sat and watched every twitch, every inflection in his voice, every eye movement of Barack Obama giving his speech, there was nothing to lead me on a gut level to believe that he was doing anything other than what I have suggested he do: deal head on with his pastor and get past yesterday's old mindset of "us vs. them."

He took the time to explain why it was that he was at that church, the one that so many reactionaries (including, initially, me) insisted that he leave immediately if not yesterday or a year ago. One can always look for bad. Obama looked for the good in Pastor Wright, and put Pastor Wright into his historical context. That man had a right to be angry: serving as a black Marine in a segregated unit in WWII, suffering through Jim Crow and the rest. And, in the last analysis, you don't walk out on family if they fall down. And let there be no doubt that Obama is an intensely spiritual guy. His church, his faith is very important to him. Otherwise, perhaps he would have left that church when certain remarks were made. That would have been the easy and politically corrrect way out.

He took the time to tell people what he was really about and in doing so was being absolutely faithful to what he believes not only about himself, but about this country and its divisions which I need not tell anyone are still very real. He took care to mention the ideals of the revolutionary founders of this country who set out classic Enlightenment-period principles in the Declaration of Independence and reflected them in the Constitution. But he also mentioned that the founders left the issues of race and sex to future generations - us. And pointed out that we have a choice: we can hold fast to old prejudices and bigotry, or we can move forward.

The fact is that, regardless of color, religion and all the things that politicians have tried to exploit in the past for their own power-mongering should be, at long last, talked about openly and, eventually, put to bed. He was rightly aware that this would take time. But the important part is that we must start. There is no other candidate that has this vision and truthfulness available. I predict that this speech will serve as a clarion call (blowing the Shofar) to unite this country - a message that, after years of divisiveness, is one that this country needs desperately to hear and to at least start to implement in order to continue to "form a more perfect union", to borrow a phrase.

Every dinner table tonight should be discussing this speech. All over America, and indeed the world. I will insist that my 16 year old son read the full text of the speech to see what is possible in this country and, I suppose as well, to show him that I am not only thinking about myself in this election, but about him, too.

Personally, I think that, knowingly or unknowingly, Obama revealed his inner Yiddische Kopf (Yiddish head) yesterday when he was giving an interview to Gwen Ifill during the Jim Lehrer news hour. As they were talking, he had occasion to mention the word, "chutzpah". And he did it so without thinking, pronounced it so correctly (even with the "ch" in the back of his throat) that I firmly believe that, deep down, he was indeed channeling his inner Jew. Today's speech put him firmly in the mensch category, if he wasn't already.

Obama was simply brilliant. And he stayed true to himself and true to this country, with all its history, good and bad, put into perspective and how that history has shaped where we are today and what the possibilities are for tomorrow. It's all we can ask of a President.