Home About Chat Users Issues Party Candidates Polling Firms Media News Polls Calendar Key Races United States President Senate House Governors International

New User Account
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource." 
Email: Password:

  Moment of Truth
NEWS DETAILS
Parent(s) Candidate 
ContributorArmyDem 
Last EditedArmyDem  Mar 19, 2008 08:20am
Logged 0
CategoryEditorial
MediaNewspaper - Washington Post
News DateWednesday, March 19, 2008 02:20:00 PM UTC0:0
DescriptionPrompted by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama squarely addresses the issue of race.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008; Page A14

SEN. BARACK Obama's mission in Philadelphia yesterday was to put the controversy over inflammatory statements made by the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., his spiritual mentor and pastor for 20 years, behind him. But Mr. Obama (D-Ill.) went deeper than that. He used his address as a teachable moment, one in which he addressed the pain, anger and frustration of generations of blacks and whites head-on -- and offered a vision of how those experiences could be surmounted, if not forgotten. It was a compelling answer both to the challenge presented by his pastor's comments and to the growing role of race in the presidential campaign.

Mr. Obama discussed what he knew about the Rev. Wright's views more frankly than before. "Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course," the senator said. "Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely. . . . " He went on to say that the comments weren't just controversial, "they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country -- a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with American above all that we know is right with America."
Share
ArticleRead Full Article

NEWS
Date Category Headline Article Contributor

DISCUSSION