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18 Mar 2008 04:32 pm
John McWhorter On The Speech
A smart take:
This time, Obama did not rest with incendiary and divisive--words which harbor potential
toleration (i.e. maybe a little divisiveness is
healthy?).
He pegged Wright's recreational alienation
as wrong, as stereotyping, as a "profound mistake," as founded upon a canard
that America has made no progress on
race.
It must be understood what a maverick
statement this is from a 40-something black politician. In the black community
one does not sass one's elders. One is expected to show a particular deference,
understandably, to the generation who fought on the barricades of the Civil
Rights movement. That is, to people of Jeremiah Wright's
vintage.
For a light-skinned half-white Ivy
League-educated black man to repudiate, in clear language and repeatedly, the
take on race of people like Julian Bond and Nikki Giovanni is not only honest
but truly bold.
I think Obama just passed a critical test in leadership.
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