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barack obama
May 2009 
The "Golden" Barack Obama Speech
~C4Chaos
(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)
I just finished watching the "golden" Barack Obama speech which many people are now going head over heels with. I must say that it's very impressive. Very inspiring even. Obama is a master of rhetorics. I don't see Hillary Clinton doing a speech on racism and topping Obama's. Obama being black (not just the color of his skin but his upbringing) certainly contributed to the authenticity of his delivery.
My only lament is that, Obama's speech, as excellent as it was, is another case in point that politics and mainstream media are really screwed up. I'm flabbergasted that Obama had to deliver a speech to answer for his Pastor's racially-charged comments. Note that Obama did not make those comments, his Pastor did fer Chrissakes! Yet Obama has to answer for it while fluffing his 37-minute speech with a call for "unity" and the American Dream.
The Obama speech reminds me of Romney's speech on faith and religion, but the two speeches are worlds apart. Romney had to answer for his faith and religious background. Obama had to answer for some comments made by his Pastor. Big difference; not to mention that Obama is a better speaker than Romney.
As for Obama's political rivals who are using race issues to undermine his candidacy, all I can say is that they are too stupid to play the race card on Obama. The guy has a knack for turning lemons into lemonades. I think the Obama speech is the icing on the cake for his nomination. Why? Let's just say that at this point, Obama has the golden tongue that could attract 1.6 million views (in less than a day) on Youtube alone. How can you beat that?
Personally, I'm more interested to hear Obama talk about actual policies -- science, health care, energy, climate change, education, consumerism, economics, Iraq war, religion -- rather than making speeches on why he's not denouncing his Pastor. Then again, people can argue over Obama's speech until the cows come home but the bottom line is that, the speech worked for his popularity and, ultimately, for his candidacy. And that's what matters in this election.
However, when it comes to racism and the American Dream, I find George Carlin to have more depth and balls, because he tells it like it is, sans the rhetorics. See George Carlin on White People and George Carlin on "the American Dream".
Access: Public
“Obama being black (not just the color of his skin but his upbringing) certainly contributed to the authenticity of his delivery.”
What does that mean? Not sure if you caught the part in his speech where he says his White grandmother had a large presence in his upbringing. And, if you read his books, that his White mother raised him… So, I'm wondering, how does his upbringing by White women make him additionally Black? And, just as a point of clarification, he's not JUST Black - you left out 50% of his family.
Wasn't it said that he joined that Church because he was perceived as not Black enough?
He is both and neither Black and/or White - and I speak from experience. But, here in America, there is a throw-back rule from slavery that still applies… the One-drop rule. One drop of “Black blood” makes you Black. If you have ONE great-grandparent that is Black, and all others in the line up to that ancestor are White… You're Black.
Obama is deftly walking the line here… if he's too black then white america will reject him… too white and black america will reject him.
what had more of an impact on who he is now… that his father is Black, or that he grew up in India, Hawaii, the south side of Chicago, raised by women (a single mother).
i would say the complexity of this man can not be known by disecting his racial heritage.
Fenix Rizing, to get the facts correct, after Barack Sr. left her, Barack's mother married an Indonesian man and the family lived in Indonesia for a several years when Barack was in grade school. His mother sent him to live with his grandparents in Hawaii were he went to middle school and highschool. He didn't go to Chicago until he was a young adult.
I recommend both of Obama's books. Dreams from my Father is a good read and The Audacity of Hope gives a very good summary of 20th century politics.
Obama's mother was an anthropologist and a secular humanist. She exposed him to all kinds of religions. I got the impression (and I could be wrong) that he joined the African American church to gain a sense of community. He was doing community organizing with churches in South Chicago after graduating from Columbia University. One of the pastors challenged him about his own personal faith.
To change the subject, I like this idea of the one drop rule. Hey, I just figured that I am black! We all came from Africa in the first place, so we are all black. Yea!
My point on his upbringing is that he wasn't raised by the Black side of his family, so his upbringing shouldn't add any “authenticity” to how Black he is or the sincerity of his speech.
I already have both books, which was why I made the point that, again, his upbringing has very little to do with how “black” he is.
If you want to claim being Black, then check the African-American box on your next legal form… otherwise, you're just “passing.”
Oh, FenixRizing, I guess until now I missed your whole point. I was too zeroed-in on the fact that you said he grew up in India rather than Indonesia. He is certainly very complex and extremely intelligent. He's got my vote whether he be black or white or somewhere in between.
About checking boxes, they don't tell the story about who we are and how a mere 2,000 generations ago all of us homosapiens lived in Africa; so they make me feel uncomfortable.
FenixRizing said: “What does that mean? Not sure if you caught the part in his speech where he says his White grandmother had a large presence in his upbringing. And, if you read his books, that his White mother raised him… So, I'm wondering, how does his upbringing by White women make him additionally Black? And, just as a point of clarification, he's not JUST Black - you left out 50% of his family.”
yes, it's hard to miss that part of the speech because to me that's the emotional highlight of his speech.
i didn't question Obama's sincerity nor try to pigeon-hole him as being exclusively Black. allow me to quote what i originally wrote and put emphasis on my main point.
“Obama being black (not just the color of his skin but his upbringing) certainly contributed to the authenticity of his delivery.”
Hillary Clinton delivering a similar speech on race won't be as powerful due to her cultural background and personal story. it's a projection thing on the part of us – the audience. we perceive Obama as being more authentic when talking about race not just because he's Black but also due to his upbringing which was not exclusively Black.
i didn't mean that Obama's speech was powerful just because he's Black. his being Black contributed to the authenticity of his delivery (i.e. his tone and rhythm which are mostly exhibited by Black evangelical preachers). and of course, there are other factors to consider such as the fact that he's just an excellent and passionate speaker regardless of his color.
my two cents.
~C
ahhhhhhhhhh… makes much more sense now that you have expounded on your intention and added the emphasis.
the comparison to Obama's tone being that of evangelical preachers made me cringe. made me think of Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson… both of whom, regardless of actual intelligience, seem like utter boobs to me. i can't stand to listen to either of them speak.
I am thinking that what is so positive about Obama's speech is that it has sparked us into a discussion about race and made me contemplate what the contemporary meaning of being black is, or white, for that matter.
For me the most memorable part of the speech was the statement that the most segregated hour of American life is on Sunday morning. Organized religion can separate people into groups, sometimes pitting them against each other. It seems that his core message is that we need to go beyond our differences and find common ground.
FenixRizing said: ”the comparison to Obama's tone being that of evangelical preachers made me cringe. made me think of Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson… both of whom, regardless of actual intelligience, seem like utter boobs to me. i can't stand to listen to either of them speak.”
haha. i agree. but the content differs. and the tone makes it more effective. it's like listening to the blues artists. some lyrics are lame and plain, but the rhythm and rhyme make all the difference :)
~C
btw, here's Sam Harris' reaction to the Obama speech.
“Barack Obama delivered a truly brilliant and inspiring speech this week. There were a few things, however, that he did not and could not (and, indeed, should not) say:
“He did not say that the mess he is in has as much to do with religion as with racism–and, indeed, religion is the reason why our political discourse in this country is so scandalously stupid. As Christopher Hitchens observed in Slate months ago, one glance at the website of the Trinity United Church of Christ should have convinced anyone that Obama's connection to Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. would be a problem at some point in this campaign. Why couldn't Obama just cut his ties to his church and move on?” [read more]