Obama Takes on Homophobia, Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia at MLK's Church
It was a pointed statement to black parishioners in the pews. He did not hold back.
For most of this country's history, we in the African-American community have been at the receiving end of man's inhumanity to man. And all of us understand intimately the insidious role that race still sometimes plays - on the job, in the schools, in our health care system, and in our criminal justice system.
And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our hands are entirely clean. If we're honest with ourselves, we'll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's vision of a beloved community.
We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community. For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as competitors for jobs instead of companions in the fight for opportunity.
Every day, our politics fuels and exploits this kind of division across all races and regions; across gender and party. It is played out on television. It is sensationalized by the media. And last week, it even crept into the campaign for President, with charges and counter-charges that served to obscure the issues instead of illuminating the critical choices we face as a nation.
This was a courageous statement on the part of Senator Obama. It would be a foolish person who would contend that his words are not necessary or that it took great political courage to make this statement. It's long since past time that a politician of national stature would stand up and say this in the black community. What's more, this should go some distance from Obama's earlier gaffe of appearing with an ex-gay minister.
I wonder, though, if Obama just cost himself no small portion of the black vote with this speech. Not that the national media will take much note of this since it doesn't play into the dominant narrative du jour.
Cheers
Jacqui
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