I’ve now had a few days to reflect on Obama’s recent address on race, and, frankly, I’m convinced that it was one of the finest public speeches made by any public figure in recent memory.
Many commentators have focused on the more distinctly political aspects of his speech – the nuanced approach to Rev. Wright’s commentary, the contextualizing of his offensive commentary, his measured, adult tone, and so forth. And all of that is, of course, extremely important, given that this speech was, in its essence, a political speech delivered in the heat of a sharply contested primary campaign.
But upon reflection, I’m coming to the conclusion that this address was, in fact, much more than a well-toned, pitch-perfect political speech. Rather, this address was a way of providing the beginnings of the equipment that Americans or various racial and ethnic backgrounds will need to both affirm our differences while attempting to transcend them together as a nation. In this sense it was a profound moment for our country, regardless of the political impact that the speech may (or may not) have on the 2008 election cycle.
Obama spoke eloquently about the very different "American histories" that we carry around with ourselves based on our own racial, community and life experiences. This was not simply repeating the platitude that "perspective is everything" – it was pointing out both the legitimacy of our own perspectives as well as the limitations of them in a multicultural, mutli-ethnic society with the particular history of the United States. In his call for people of all races to come to a greater understanding of the perspectives of those of other races, Obama refused to pick sides, to demonize, to pander – describing both black and white resentments in a balanced way, putting them in their proper contexts, and stressing the need to both affirm the understandable aspects of these divergent perspectives and experiences while at the same time striving diligently to overcome them, to transcend them, to forge a common civic purpose in our nation as citizens, one and all.
This was neither a call for greater "assimilation" (indeed, it was anything but that) nor for "multiculturalism" as an end in itself. Instead it was a reminder of the benefits of diversity as well as its dangers when taken to separatist extremes in any direction. Obama’s call for Americans of every stripe to begin to think outside their own ethnic boxes, if you will, and empathize with the very different experiences of others – without for a moment abandoning the legitimacy of their own life experiences, or trying to melt experience together into an unidentifiable, collective mush – is, frankly, as profound and important a message in the context of American race relations as has been made publically in decades.
To me, only someone of Obama’s particular life history is really equipped to send this message credibly. He is someone who can speak credibly of both the white, black and immigrant experiences in America – as an insider and without projection. Regardless of what happens to Obama in this election cycle, he has clearly pointed the beginnings of the way forward for a reinvigorated national conversation on race relations, and in this very important sense, he has already become one of our most significant living American leaders.