|
|
NATIONAL
|
EXCLUSIVE: Rev. Wright Episode was 'Opportunity' to Lead, Says Michelle Obama
by Cash Michaels
Special to the NNPA from the Carolinian
GREENSBORO (NNPA) - For political pundits, the explosive controversy spawned by the fiery videotaped comments of Rev. Jeremiah Wright was a near-fatal blow to the historic presidential aspirations of Sen. Barack Obama [D-Ill].
But to the Democratic hopeful’s wife, Michelle, it was an important “opportunity,” long ignored by others, to lead the nation towards a critical dialogue on race, and bridging the entrenched gaps that divide the American people.
An opportunity her husband gallantly seized, Ms. Obama adds, to bring about the hope and change she says America “desperately” needs.
In an exclusive interview with The Carolinian upon her momentous first visit to North Carolina April 8 to campaign for her husband, Michelle Obama, 44, spoke candidly about how she encouraged him to leverage the national outrage over their former pastor’s incendiary remarks about race and American foreign policy – remarks Sen. Obama has repeatedly denounced - to reopen the important dialogue on racial divisions in the country.
“The conversation that Barack and I had was, ‘This is the opportunity; this is the reason why you’re here; this is why you’re in this race, because there is a perspective, a voice that you can bring to this conversation that is needed, and that no one else, can do or say,’” Ms. Obama said prior to her appearance before over 5,700 enthusiastic supporters at N.C. State University’s Reynolds Coliseum Tuesday night.
“What I said to Barack was, ‘I know you have it in your head, I know exactly what you want to say to the American people about this, and how complex it is.’ And this is what leadership is all about. This is the opportunity, and this is just one example of how Barack will have to lead.”
The much-heralded speech, “A More Perfect Union,” was delivered March 18 from Philadelphia in response to the media firestorm over selective portions of Pastor Wright’s past sermons at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago that were played repeatedly on television and conservative talk radio.
In them, Wright was heard chastising the United States for its foreign policy in the Middle East just days after the 9-11 attacks; accusing the US government to devising the HIV/AIDS virus to target the Black community; and accusing “rich White people” of running the country at the expense of communities of color.At one point, fiery preacher was seen saying, “God damn America.”
Critics from all quarters blasted Rev. Wright (who has since retired from pastoring), calling him unpatriotic and a man who preached hate, ignoring what many countered was Wright’s “prophetic voice” and duty to condemn injustice and oppression.
They also blasted Wright’s friendship with Nation of Islam leader Min. Louis Farrakhan, who many Whites accuse of being anti-Semitic.
Seething critics adamantly maintained that Sen. Obama – a 20-year member of Trinity United – had to have heard some of those “hateful” remarks before, and should have left the church years ago.
Obama pointedly denied hearing or having knowledge of the publicized remarks, though he did admit to hearing others.
Because Rev. Wright was considered Obama’s pastor and “spiritual adviser,” had married he and Michelle, and baptized both of their daughters, pundits surmised that the presidential candidate must harbor some of the same harsh feelings about the nation, and thus, was unfit to be Commander-in-chief.
Obama countered that he loved America, especially because of the opportunity it gave to him, the bi-racial child of a mixed marriage, and multicultural family.
On March 18, the Illinois Democrat addressed a waiting nation from Philadelphia, condemning Wright’s remarks, though understanding their origin, refusing to disown the man or his church because of their decades of nationally recognized work in the community addressing AIDS, homelessness and poverty.
Obama, 46, the son of a White mother and Black African father, facing a tight protracted primary battle with Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Clinton, then went further, chronicling the nation’s tortured history with race and racism, exposing the pent-up anger in both the working class Black and White communities, and challenging the nation to find productive ways to not only address those differences, but also their impact on education, economic opportunity and America’s future.
“I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together,” Obama said, “unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction – towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.”
“I was incredibly proud of what he said,” Ms. Obama told The Carolinian about her husband of 16 years.
“Everything he said spoke to me in so many ways. Every word that he uttered was clarifying and wise, and kind, and unifying...And it’s just the beginning...Barack is not naive,” the Chicago, Illinois native and Harvard Law School graduate continued. “He knows that this conversation doesn’t begin and end with a wonderful speech. This is the beginning of a long dialogue that we have to have. And Barack is the leader that will have it, unlike many before who have just shied away from it because it’s hard. I’m not afraid of the conversation,” she added. “I’m desperate for us to have it so that we can move beyond it. So I was grateful that he did it, and proud of how he did it.”
That pride was evident during Michelle Obama’s remarks during campaign stops in Harrisburg, Winston-Salem and Raleigh, where she consistently talked about the need for poor and working families, beleaguered by a crumbling economy and failure of leadership at the top, to demand a change for a government that speaks to their needs.
“When I’m out there on the stump, I’m not out there as his wife,” Ms. Obama, who took leave during the campaign from her administrative position at the University of Chicago Medical Center, told The Carolinian.
“I’m out there as a woman and a citizen, and I’m looking for change. I’m looking for someone who is not going to come in and play ‘the game’ better than those who have played it before, because from my vantage point, the game is broken, and it’s broken for all of us, regardless of our gender, our race, socioeconomic background. This isn’t working for the vast majority of people.”
Apparently a lot of people in North Carolina agree with Michelle Obama.
Sen. Obama substantially leads Sen. Clinton in every recent poll in the state by an average of 15 points, with one respected survey, Rasmussen, giving him a 23-point spread.
While the Clinton campaign has taken to the airwaves and has her husband, former President Bill Clinton back campaigning in North Carolina this weekend for the fourth week in a row, the Obama campaign is also blitzing the state with a massive voter registration drive, celebrity appearances, and coordinated TV and radio strategy, as well.
The prize – the lion’s share of North Carolina’s 134 delegates and 19 superdelegates, most of whom are expected to publicly endorse right before the May 6 primary.
Obama’s pull in North Carolina is so strong, even the two leading Democratic candidates for governor, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and State Treasurer Richard Moore, have both endorsed the Illinois senator, and are even pictured with him on their campaign literature in hopes that the tremendous Black vote Obama will attract will also flow their way.
With Sen. Obama tightening the race in Pennsylvania against Sen. Clinton for the April 22 primary (both he and Clinton are scheduled to debate there April 16), supporters are hopeful he can significantly build on his 135-delegate lead on his way to the Democratic nomination in August, and is eventual face-off against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain in November.
There’s no question Michelle Obama is doing her part.
At Reynolds Coliseum, Ms. Obama drew an estimated 5,700 excited supporters, the most she’s drawn anywhere without a big celebrity like Oprah Winfrey or Stevie Wonder sharing the stage with her.
Her message to the faithful was simple – her husband was ready to lead.
“We don’t need somebody who can just do the same thing better,” Ms. Obama told The Carolinian. “We need somebody who is going to fundamentally shake up the way politics works in this country, and what we’ve seen in this campaign this whole year is that Barack Obama is the only candidate doing it, right now, and starts the way he’s raised his money, how he’s engaged a whole grassroots movement…that is something his opponent [Sen. Clinton] hasn’t done – brought in new money, new people buying into this process, not with $2300, but with $23, $50, $10...He’s done it with the grassroots movement he’s built up all over the state. So he’s harnessing this energy like the community organizer that he is – someone who understands the power of engaging people, showing them their self-interest, and getting them working on the ground...Those are just a couple of the ways he’s reshaped the political paradigm,” Ms. Obama continued, “and I don’t think that there is any other candidate in this race – at all – who could, or would have done it because many of them have been here for a long time and haven’t done it before. They had a chance to do it, but they haven’t done it...And he’s doing it.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
