Some thoughts spurred by Obama's Speech

Yesterday Barack Obama gave what many are calling a historic speech on the state and role of race in America. While it struck many chords with me, one seems to stand out.

Obama said in his speech:

"The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright's sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.

In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience - as far as they're concerned, no one's handed them anything, they've built it from scratch. They've worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time." (text)

In the weeks following the attacks of September 11, 2001, President Bush said on one occasion:

Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated. (Applause.) Americans are asking, why do they hate us? They hate what we see right here in this chamber -- a democratically elected government. Their leaders are self-appointed. They hate our freedoms -- our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other. (Sept 2001 text)

And on another occasion:

"...how do I respond when I see that in some Islamic countries there is vitriolic hatred for America? I'll tell you how I respond: I'm amazed. I'm amazed that there is such misunderstanding of what our country is about, that people would hate us. I am, I am -- like most Americans, I just can't believe it. Because I know how good we are, and we've go to do a better job of making our case. We've got to do a better job of explaining to the people in the Middle East, for example, that we don't fight a war against Islam or Muslims. We don't hold any religion accountable. We're fighting evil. And these murderers have hijacked a great religion in order to justify their evil deeds. And we cannot let it stand." (Oct 2001 text)

The way I see it, there are two responses to hatred. As a white, middle-class male I can look at the black American critique of white America and declare "they are wrong about me." I never sent their children to poor schools. I never owned a slave. I never prevented them from getting loans or providing for their family. Their anger toward me is irrational and unfounded. They are fanatics.

I can look toward the East and declare, "they are wrong about me." President Bush and I could stand up and emphasize how unfounded their hatred is toward us. We know how good America is. We know how much good we do in the world and how much we care about freedom and democracy and human rights. They are fanatics. I just can't believe that they are so misinformed about us.

This dangerous path is traveled far too often, and it is dangerous. A husband would never say to his angry wife "you are wrong about me. I know how good a husband I am." Nor would he turn his back, go to his buddy's house and explain, "oh, well this is why she is angry." Not if he valued peace in his home. So what would he say? He would drop his defenses and ask, "Why?" he would seek to understand why the anger exists and then retrospectively consider the sources of her anger. Hopefully, if he loves her, he will lend legitimacy to her concerns and validity to her frustration. When she calms down and understands that he is willing to work through the conflict, she will follow.

This leads to the second option for responding to hatred and anger. I can admit that their concerns may be founded on legitimate concerns. Do radical Islamists really hate America and her Ideals? do they hate democracy and freedom and technology? or is their frustration the result of disappointment that American foreign policy has progressively paralleled the European imperialism that has plagued the region for centuries? Do they hate me, an American student struggling to pay for my education and situate myself into my community, or do they resent American foreign policy that continually inserts itself into the equally sovereign governments and politics in order to secure its own material wealth and military might?

Are black Americans mad at me for holding them down or are they frustrated that for hundreds of years the issue of race in America has not been resolved, but rather pushed under the rug or delegitimized by activists "unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism."

Obama is right. "The anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races." He is right not only on our home front, but on the international. He has consistently proposed policy that takes into consideration the possibility that we do no understand why people are angry. He has opposed actions that oversimplify the complexity of foreign policy and anti- American and anti- Israeli sentiment.

I don't think there is an easy way to improve our Middle East adventure, and I don't believe that the issue of race can be solved by one person. But as I look toward the elections in November, I am continually impressed with the manner Obama presents the issues and his stances. I am simultaneously distraught by McCain repeating Bush's policy of shoot now and keep shooting until they stop hating America.