Barack Obama simultaneously denounced and defended his controversial ex-pastor Tuesday in a speech confronting the racial questions that have tripped up his presidential campaign.
In the process, the Democrat explicitly made racial progress a major policy goal, dropping the “post-racial” persona that had characterized his candidacy.
“Race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now,” he said. “The issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through – a part of our union that we have yet to perfect.”
Journalist Juan Williams, who has written several books on civil rights, called Obama’s new tack “unfortunate.”
“All of [Hillary] Clinton’s efforts to make him the black candidate failed,” Williams said. “But now, by his own doing, Obama has made himself the black candidate. And that’s just not helpful if you’re trying to win a general election in the United States.”
Obama’s speech was aimed at extinguishing a political firestorm that has raged for days over the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose inflammatory rhetoric from the pulpit included the exhortation, “God damn America!”
“Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course,” said Obama, flanked by eight American flags at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. “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.”
Obama mentioned Wright no fewer than 14 times.
“As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me,” the candidate said. “I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community.”
Marc Lamont Hill, a black professor at Temple University, said Obama struck the proper rhetorical balance.
“You know, if you go out and just throw Jeremiah Wright under the bus, you alienate your black base,” Hill said. “And he was very careful not to do that.”
Obama sought to use the Wright controversy as a pivot point to a broader discussion of racial angst. “A similar anger exists within segments of the white community,” he said. “Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan coalition.”
Melissa Harris Lacewell, who teaches politics and African-American studies at Princeton, had mixed feelings about Obama’s performance.
“I am not sure whether that speech was good for Obama’s candidacy; I am sure that that speech was good for America,” she said. “I know that it worked for African-Americans and white liberals, because dozens of friends have e-mailed me. I don’t know what it did for white skeptics, who were considering becoming part of the coalition, but who still might be nervous by the amount of race talk that that speech contained.”
