Obama's new speech on race

Barak Obama gave a new speech today in Philadelphia. Just got through reading this long speech, and it is amazing.

For the last couple of weeks, Obama had been struggling with the controversy causes by some very hurting, racially-charged, angry statements made by his former pastor some time ago. These kinds of things, of course, do not just go unnoticed the attention of US media - and hence, the public - if you are on the spotlight. (Just like, incidentally, the facts of former extramarital relations one might have had, as it is happening with the freshly sworn-in Governor Paterson.) So, Obama could not get away from all the wave of anger and criticism with "I denounce and reject". He had to come up with something stronger.

So he did. What a speech! I read this rather long speech in amazement. Obama invites the Americans in his speech to 'live within truth' concerning the issue of race and racial inequality and prejudices in the country. While he strongly rejects and criticizes the statements by his pastor (which has made the headlines in major media), the speech is really much wider and way beyond those statements. It is about the problem of racism in America.

The speech spans very widely along horizons of this issue, from past to future, from prejudices to truths, from feelings to facts of life. It is a fine balance between stating honestly the continuing existence of the problem and also underscoring the long distance that has been covered in overcoming it. It is both about the discrimination against Blacks, and discriminated whites. It puts on the table all the strong prejudices that exist, and tries to unwrap them to get to their root causes - social and economic inequalities, bad policies, and etc.

It is of course imaginable (only hardly) that even this speech will be taken apart by media and commentators, will be mutilated into discrete bits of facts and statements contained in it, and perhaps put on weighing scales to see how many votes each word can cost and bring. It may so happen, because in American public discourse, led as it is by all those called "pundits", scarcely anything remains outside of minute 'analysis'. However, this speech in its entirety and force, I think, is one that will enter some books and lecture-halls with full deserve. It is a very strong, highly eloquent, sharply sensitive, and forcefully said speech.

For me, a foreign audience, this is no less an inspiring, deep-reaching speech than an American. Speeches such as this, honest and earnest about deep-seated problems, are needed in so many cases around the world, not least - in Kyrgyzstan. Earlier, I read a different speech, from my own compatriot in a newspaper (and reacted to it below, perhaps a little emotionally, but still true to the fact of the matter), and that speech is a way-too-typical, common kind of speech you get to hear, in Kyrgyzstan or elsewhere. A speech that is in no way aimed at mending, at bringing together, at overcoming. And it is a typical speech, alas.

Anyway, I do recommend to read Obama's speech. I didn't hear it, though; I hope he delivered it as strongly as he wrote.