This Week's Attitude
Obama Speech Could Be Prologue For Racial Dilemma Dialog
By Neil S. Friedman

Barack Obama showed me something when he quickly responded to critics who pointed the finger of guilt at him for his association with long time friend and spiritual advisor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who ignited a stream of condemnation when video segments from his sermons laced with warped, anti-American comments were broadcast worldwide on the Internet.

Whether or not the senator's timely, though risky, reaction will hinder his chances to become America's first black president remains to be seen. The senator plainly denounced the reverend's reckless, unsubstantiated words as a "profoundly distorted view of this country," and, in the process, tackled America's racial problem, a subject politicians generally avoid because they lack the perspective, experience and eloquence of Barack Obama.

Perhaps the nation's racial dilemma is finally being confronted and should spur a dialogue - however belated - that, hopefully, will end existing inequities and bring about a gradual healing.

But it's Barack Obama's charisma, energy and idealism - comparable to the appeal of John and Robert Kennedy nearly half a century ago - that has reaped the endorsement of many younger voters with whom he has struck a chord. Until now many of them may have been indifferent to politics and, perhaps, less concerned about race than previous generations.

Not long after making a big splash at the 2004 Democratic Convention, where he made the keynote speech that catapulted him to national recognition, Barack Obama became Illinois' junior U.S. Senator. About 26 months later Obama hit the campaign trail, strategically using that momentum to enter the packed Democratic presidential race that has left him the only man standing to challenge Sen. Hillary Clinton for the nomination.

Days after he vehemently condemned the pastor's remarks, Obama made what many have lauded as a landmark speech summing up America's ongoing racial dilemma. He may have to continue rejecting the retired pastor's rabble-rousing comments if he faces GOP nominee John McCain late next summer and fall.

Moreover, just as the sins of a father should not be a burden for sons or daughters, Barack Obama cannot be held accountable for the inexcusable sins - or words - of his pastor.

But a presidential candidate cannot simply dismiss a relationship with a man he admires with the flimsy excuse they were made by "an old uncle who says things that I don't agree with."

Rev. Wright has every right to say what's on his mind - regardless of how unpatriotic and unfounded it may be - or refuse to sing "God Bless America" because of the treatment black Americans have endured. Nonetheless, he came off like a raving lunatic in sound bites when he declared the 9/11 terrorist attacks were America's own fault and that the government brought AIDS and drugs to black urban communities.

Aren't men of God supposed to turn the other cheek while they preach forgiveness and compassion, not hatred?

While I get that some black Americans are still bitter that several generations of their ancestors were uprooted, transported and enslaved for hundreds of years, it is unreasonable that some of the same people refuse to acknowledge that America has made slow, but noteworthy strides in the last 50 years. More to the point, many white Americans, whose ancestors came from Europe, had little or absolutely nothing to do with slavery that ended decades before they arrived on these shores.

While the treatment of blacks is one of this nation's greatest shames, in most cases, the immigrant groups that came here over the last 150 years also faced intolerance and second-class treatment from those who preceded them, albeit not nearly as disturbing as the brutality and degradation of slavery.

As a Jew, I have been subjected to a few minor incidents of intolerance and ignorance that exits across our nation and, therefore, can empathize with what some blacks feel they regularly experience.

In the late 1960s, heading to Army basic training in South Carolina, most of the recruits I traveled with were New York City Jews. When there was a brief stop in rural North Carolina, a group, including blacks and non-Jews, got off the train and ambled to a nearby general store, about 50 yards from the tracks, for food and cold drinks. As we neared it, those in front noticed a sign - that I'll never forget - posted on the front door that read in large painted red letters: No Niggers, No Jews and No Dogs.

We stopped in our tracks - angry and speechless - and looked at each other as the rest of the group caught up and saw the sign. Almost in unison we did an unmilitary about face and walked back to the waiting train, grumbling and cursing about how shocked - and perhaps naive - we were to see such flagrant bigotry in the second half of 20th century America.

America will only overcome its racial divide when the white majority understands - and condemns - the disrespect with which black Americans still have to cope. At the same time, and unlike Rev. Wright, instead of black ministers and community leaders imposing negative viewpoints that only prolong the cultural split, they should encourage racial healing by counseling their followers to unburden themselves of the psychological consequence of slavery that may still haunt them.

Considering the fact that our nation is more racially diverse than ever before, Sen. Obama's recent speech is an appropriate prologue to spark a rational discourse on racism in America and, perhaps, lead to a more just society.