LA Weekly

I agree, Joe. This was incredibly brave and shows how deeply Barck believes in his convictions (more than just words). There will be some who will try to make the ridiculous claim that this was somehow politically savvy. Those unfortunates will have simply missed the point.

Sorry, Joe. Obama's preacher-man is a good old fashioned racist, and racism in any form should be rejected. Obama's bad judgment disqualifies him as a presidential candidate--he should have had the good judgment to distance himself from this church some 15 years ago! Bye-bye Barak.

Okay, neither B. Morris nor I can type Barack correctly apparently. Also apparent is the fact that B. Morris doesn't realize that Mr. Obama already rejected and denounced the the racial views of the pastor. B. Morris might want to look into the mirror or at the pictures of relatives on the mantle to ask with rigorous honesty, "Have I ever said anything racist? Has my favorite aunt, uncle, grandmother, father, mother, sister, brother?" Did B. Morris distance him or herself from such people? The greatest thing about Barack Obama now is that he doesn't care about the presidential candidacy as much as he does about this country. Or else, he wouldn't have had the guts to deliver this speech. I hope my seven year-old son turns into a teenager with Obama as president.

So quickly dismissive was B. Morris of Barack Obama that I can not help but wonder what his own motivations are. Here we have Barack Obama standing before the nation and telling the country, in no uncertain terms, that despite the comments made by his former Postor.. his friend.. his mentor.. that he still accepts him and loves him all the same. Warts, flaws and all.

Who, I wonder, does B. Morris think has had perfect judgement throughout their lives? Who has never erred, has never stumbled, has never had a moment.. an inciden... a piece of their life they could do over? Who hasn't wished they had a rewind button they could use at least once in their lives.

Certainly I would think he would have to be equally dismissive of John McCain who steadfastly refuses to renounce an endorsement from John Hagee. Yes. John Hagee who claims the Catholic Church conspired with the Nazis against the Jews, claims that Hurricane Katrina was God's retribution for homosexual sin, constantly makes divisive remarks about women, and slavery. Certainly there is no room for comments such as these either right?

But since his comments seemed to be aimed only at dismissing Barack Obama with no offer of an alternative, I guess we will never know. In any case, this should not be about B. Morris.

Barack Obama did something in that speech I don't think I have ever heard another candidate do. That is to be open and honest with us. In a move that might possibly be damaging to his political efforts, he chose not to back down, not to hide, not to hope it just blows over. He stood up for what he believed, he was open, frank and sincere. I don't know that I have ever heard a politician do that in my lifetime and its a refreshing change.

In my mind this qualifies Barack Obama as a true leader and further validates him as a presidential candidate. To borrow a lyric from the Beatles...

I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello

I have to say after having grown up in the time with the Reverend....He has a right to be angry. He had to hear
about the poor little black girls blown up in a church, the poor little black boy who made the mistake of being caught saying something to a white woman and eventually being tortured to death as punishment. I can imagine and empathize with this grown man's pain and helplessness and so does Barack.

This speech was the most intensely sincere and forthright speech I have heard since Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, or Robert Kennedy. It goes into the face of every closet racist living today.....those who still walk past a black person and turn up their noses as if they are better.....those who will lie and cheat to hold another down as if they were better. Barack has minimized their importance by sticking to what is truly important. The value of each and every human being in these troubling times. I can only assume that he learned something while listening to the Reverend's rhetoric....and his grandmothers ill placed fear of something of someone different then herself.

Barack, up until this day I thought there was something missing.....now I know that all that is needed is within you....You have my vote.

The first words out of Obama's mouth should have been an apology to all of us who believed in him, and voted for him in the recent primary. Instead, we got some shameless nonsense about his white grandmother's biases toward Blacks, a rather silly comparison of Wright's comments to a loopy relative who doesn't know how to behave, and a lot of backtracking. I don't think Black racism is a more attractive alternative to its white counterpart.
While I share his view that race needs to be discussed openly, and many issues remain unresolved, I believe Obama's bad judgment in selecting a racist for a mentor disqualifies him for serious consideration for the Presidency.

TR why do you capitalize the word black? the media edited a 30 second snippet out of a 2 hour sermon in which (apparently) the pastor was paraphasing a former u.s. government official.

does it give white americans cover to see that non-whites have greviances with the majority population that has systematically marginalized and stigmatized (albeit in different ways) non-whites whether latino, black, or asian? why is it that a country such as germany can collectively accept its responsibility to a group of people whose oppression pre-dates world war 2 yet americans of european heritage want to be left off the hook?

there is a difference between members of a minority population (which is collectively economically powerless) complaining about a majority population than when the majoriy population (which collectively hold all the aces and trump cards--although many individuals do not). socially, it is actually quite dangerous. white americans have never been relegated to the back of the bus or told where they could or could not sit or where they could and could not live because of their skin color or religion or lynched by non-whites.

Now that the closet door has been ripped off its hinges, and we see that Black racism is just as evil as its white counterpart, maybe, just maybe we can make some real headway in resolving the issues regarding race. Obama's speech was helpful in indicating in general terms, which direction we should strive for.

Personally, I find both sides to be contributors to lingering echoes of racism in our society. Whites need to continue to empathize and acknowledge the injustices of the past. Blacks need to stop bearing a grudge, and realize that for some time, it's been a whole new ballgame out there. Both Blacks and Whites need to get past the stage of "my rights" vs "your rights". A level playing field means that all Americans are held to the same standards and responsibilities in all areas of American society, and that these are enforced by a body of law, which is in place.

Let's work for ways to unite our American society--it's worth preserving.

jack, what is this emphasis on 'black.' why the caps?

do you really think the u.s. has a level playing field? compare the children of poor whites in the apalachians to you know, the children of wall street bankers. that sounds like a level playing field to me.

do you really think a country which lets someone like george w. bush into 2 ivy league schools operates on a level playing field --as in people held to the same standards? the u.s. is all about money. that is the language of equality in america.