On March 18, 2008, Barak Obama gave a speech on "Race". His speech, that day, in Philidelphia, Pa was titled: "A More Perfect Union". He addressed many issues: Reverend Wright, the racial undertone of the Primaries, Resentments/Feelings from different sides, and His Best Hopes for our Nation.
At the end of his speech he talked about a young lady in South Carolina whose name was Ashley. Considering the Madness and Vile of the McCain/Palin Campaign of late; I just wanted us to keep working, keep believing, keep contributing, stay positive, encourage each other, and Remember Ashley.
I hope no one minds that I will also high-light some other favored parts of that speech as well.
Note: I'll be checking back later. It's late.
The Jump ...
"We the people, in order to form a more perfect union."
This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign - to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together - unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction - towards a better future for our children and our grandchildren.
Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity. Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans.
This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either "too black" or "not black enough." We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well.
And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn.
To me, one of the strongest traits in Obama is his ability to 'Represent' and 'Express' concerns from many sides of an argument:
Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze - a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns - this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.
This is where we are right now. It's a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy - particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.
It's refreshing to hear a Politican speak of themselves as Imperfect.
There is a t-r-u-e strength in understanding that we all are humans ... being ... the best we can, Yet with our own limitations. I so respect Obama for making that comment. It gives insight into his true character.
But I have asserted a firm conviction - a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people - that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.
There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina.
She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.
And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer.
And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care.
They had to file for bankruptcy, and that's when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.
She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.
She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents too.
Now, Ashley might have made a different choice.
Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother's problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally.
But she didn't.
She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.
Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they're supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue.
And finally they come to this elderly black man who's been sitting there quietly the entire time.
And Ashley asks him why he's there.
And he does not bring up a specific issue.
He does not say health care or the economy.
He does not say education or the war.
He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama.
He simply says to everyone in the room, "I am here because of Ashley."
The attacks on Obama have really gotten K-r-a-z-y! The landscape is turning vicious but We C-a-n all make a difference. Person by person. Neighbor to neighbor. Friend to friend. Stranger to Stranger. Because whether Far Right Republicans want to face it or not:
We a-r-e all in this Nation ... Together!!! Our National Destiny is linked. We cannot afford (as a Nation) the Division. We have got to work focus on the collective good.
To paraphrase John McCain:
Today ... We are A-l-l Ashleys.