Day Two, March 26

In case anybody missed it (I was actually teaching when it was broadcast last Tuesday), last week Obama delivered what is already being heralded as a landmark speech on racial tension in America. I think that this speech, while not approaching the importance of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, as some have equated it with, is vital to hear in order to get a grasp of where Obama really stands on the issues surrounding race. It is a subject that has the candidate trapped in an ongoing media tug-of-war, sometimes raising his popularity, sometimes forcing him out of popular favor, but no matter its effect on him, the matter of race is constantly hovering over him. In this moving oratory, Barack speaks from the heart to address Americans of all races, asking his audience to reconcile not only their racial presumptions about him, but about their fellow citizens as well.

Here is a Youtube capture of the speech, from CNN's feed:



Or you can click here to read NPR'S transcript of the Obama speech.

A testament to Obama's ability as both a writer and a speaker is the fact that the speech is just as moving to read as it is to listen to. Much like the manuscripts of his books, simply reading the words on a page (or computer screen) has the power to make the reader feel like you're right there in the live audience. Either way, make sure you hear it for yourself.