Postwar Liberalism, Neoconservatism and Beyond

          "But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America - to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.
The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through - a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American." -- Barack Obama

          Barack Obama gave a major that responds to the controversial comments made by his church’s longtime pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr, but also highlighted the incredible challenge of race relations in this country today. From Obama's perspective, it's much better to have this discussion now. In fact, the debate about race was inevitable at some point. Rather than put race behind him, he put it more at the center of the campaign.He is trying to take an actual position, rather than just distance himself from Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Obama argues that “we the people” need to put the legacy of that era behind us “if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union” promised by the U.S. Constitution. We will address the implications of this in the next installment of this response.