Obama's speech

I'd be remiss not to say something about Barack Obama's speech on race in Philadelphia last week. Most of the criticism I've seen has come from people who either obviously did not watch the speech or are only interested in harping on whatever garden-variety demagoguery comes down the pike (whether from conservative political operatives or inner-city preachers), so long as it buttresses their point of view.

What the Rev. Wright controversy reveals about Obama as a public figure is that he, unlike John Kerry, has the ability to deal directly and forcefully with political nastiness and, even more importantly, redefine it on his terms. This was one case where the medium was indeed the message: the speech was transformative because Obama himself transformed a focus on a few select statements from his pastor, and base insinuation about his own views, into something honest, direct and inspiring. The speech was its own example; it demonstrated how political rhetoric can deal forthrightly with actual issues, rather than myth, bigotry and resentment. 

I watched the speech in North Carolina, where a Republican candidate for governor is currently campaigning on a platform of "crime, gangs and illegal immigrants": rural southern code for "blacks, blacks and Mexicans." Held up against Obama, this guy looks no better than George Wallace (because, in fact he isn't -- the formula his ilk uses never changes, even if the language does). 

Unlike the Wallaces of the world, Obama challenged his audience to manifest what they profess to believe this country to be. His words about our society not being static echo what I once told my kids on a trip to Williamsburg, Va.: American democracy is a process, one that began, but does not end, with white males whose genius was to envision a system that could accommodate the evolving claims of all citizens.