History Made, History Promised
Obama rocks the NAACP in Cincinnati; repeats his message of parental responsibility.
July 15, 2008--Poor John McCain. He must be asking himself, "How am I supposed to follow that?"
That, of course, is Barack Obama's rousing appearance at the NAACP convention in Cincinnati Monday night. When McCain delivers his own speech to the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization on Wednesday morning, the ovation Obama triggered may still be resounding in the hall.
McCain's speech will be politics.
Obama's was history.
It was history, not so much for what he said, but for who he is and the audience he was addressing.
It was history because he is the first black presidential nominee of a major political party to address the country's most significant black organization.
It was history because he acknowledged his debt to " those who marched for us and fought for us and stood up on our behalf," including the NAACP.
And because he vowed, that, if all goes well, "I will come back here next year on the 100th anniversary of the NAACP, and I will stand before you as the President of the United States of America."
If those had been the only words Obama uttered last night, they would have been enough.
The audience was there to savor history and they got what they came for.
It did not seem to matter that most of Obama's text was thoroughly familiar or that he delivered it in a distracted style that suggested that his mind was somewhere else. He may have been caught up in the moment.
Or he might have been pre-occupied with his upcoming trip to Europe and the Middle East, and the major address he will give in Washington on Tuesday about how he plans to extricate U.S. forces from Iraq.
For the most gifted political orator of our day, even an off-night is a good night.
On the heels of Jesse Jackson's crudely worded threat to emasculate him for "talking down to black people," Obama seemed to rebuke the old civil rights leader by reiterating his tough message about the need for blacks to take more personal responsibility for their children.
"I know some say I've been too tough on folks about this responsibility stuff. But I'm not going to stop talking about it, " Obama thundered, "because I know that Thurgood Marshall did not argue Brown v. Board of Education so that some of us could stop doing our jobs as parents."
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History Made, History Promised
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View All Comments »leftspeak at 07/20/2008 11:47:45 PM
Comment:
Bamboozled by Barack 101
Did Barack really need to give THAT speech to the NAACP. He was preaching to the choir. Maybe the speech was really for the edification of white voters. See Mr White Voter I'm going to be hard on these Neegroes. The NAACP has a long history battling discrimination. Wouldn't a speech honoring that tradition have been more appropriate?
Would McCain speak to a Republican conference to scold them for their [history of] racism..of course not..We on the other hand. Oh Barack take us to the woodshed..
I think Black folks need to wake up to our growing uncompetiveness in the world. We need Black leaders who will speak the truth. But we don't need Barack using it to get White votes.
wantok at 07/20/2008 2:27:53 AM
Comment:
Well written, well said. More then Obama or McCain the NAACP needed the presence of both candidates to give it a rebirth. I am a 48-year-old black American male, just old enough to remember, but to young to participate in perilous days of the 1960s, the heyday of the NAACP.
People my age and younger one could argue the NAACP has become irrelevant, a name that comes across the news channels one or twice a year. What does it now do for folks?
Obama rightfully is talking straight to white, black and all other Americans when he talks about responsibility. Take care of one's own life and the neighborhood takes care of itself. He's speaking from the adage believed and acted upon by our black ancestor's who endured the racist regimes of the past. His and hopefully our campaign to the White House is one of the most refreshing events to happen in our lifetime for all people!
whead at 07/18/2008 9:42:04 AM
Comment:
Mr. Obama's call to responsibility for people (of color and all others) is a clear cut notification of his support for the educational system of our country and therefore a statement of support to those who attempt to educate our children. The public school system is a symptom of the greatest ill of our nation the lack overall--all of us--responsibility for the direction we find ourselves going. The people we elect are busy greasing the skids of their post employment lives and making sure that they provide a level of prosperity for their children and their decendents. This accomplished responsibility for anyone else is at best something of a concern on a minimal level and actually "its not my responsibility". A "Change" in the family dynamic in this country which holds the parents (2) responsible for the actions of their children under the age of 18 may seem drastic but if not the parents then who? When a child will not go to school and the parent says "I can't do a thing with him", make them responsible for his care and feeding where ever it has to take place--a child in custody here in the state of Tennessee is supported by his parents while in custody. There is a father on the birth certificate of every child he must be held accountable for his child even over the objection of the child's mother. Mr. Obama's call for accountability is long over due.