Maybe he was more or less forced to deal with it, but I refuse to believe he didn't know it would be coming.
He handled the issue well - delicately but emphatically. Diplomatically but still acknowledging the continuing gap of misunderstanding and inequities. Realistically but hopefully. One might even say presidentially. He didn't convert me by any means, but he definitely got a hell of a lot more respect in my book (and he had quite a bit to start with).
One of the most important things he did in this speech was to acknowledge both sides of the issue. It's clear that things aren't on a level playing field from an African American perspective, but he also acknowledged the white American perspective - Affirmative Action at this point has become a mechanism of reverse discrimination (go ahead - ask me why I was only "conditionally" accepted at the University of Michigan with good grades and a near perfect SAT score... then duck and cover).
Discrimination is alive and well. Segregation is alive and well. The difference is that now the pendulum has largely swung to the other side. No segregation, no discrimination is ever acceptable. If I'm a better candidate than you, I should get the job. If you're a better candidate than me, you should get the job. WhatTF does the color of either of our skin have to do with it? Should I play the "American Indian" heritage card to get the job? Should I get the job because some of my Ancestors were more disadvantaged than some of yours?
In reality, I grew up in a relatively poor white neighborhood with bad schools. I wish I could say they were better - certainly the teachers tried hard and some were very good and committed to their profession, but a school system has as much to do with the parents of the community as the teachers. My community was mostly blue-collar workers and education was not a high priority to most. My parents cared and did a great job raising me, warts and all. They certainly didn't put a silver spoon in my mouth - there were some really tough times and some really good times. My parents gave me something much more important - the ability to develop enough character to survive and even thrive regardless of the circumstances around me. I grew up relatively successful in spite of my circumstances, not because of them.
That opportunity is available to anyone - in a poor white district or a poor black district or a poor hispanic district or any other district. Poverty is not peculiar to any particular race, nor is opportunity. What defines each and every one of us is what we do with the opportunities we're given. A spoiled rich white kid who exerts his privilege is far more disgusting - a poor kid who made something of himself is something to be honored.
Inequities still exist though. That spoiled rich white kid is still much more likely to end up in college, much more likely to have a higher paying job available for him when he leaves college, much more likely to waltz through college in 4 years because he doesn't have to worry about paying for it himself or the economic situation at home, compared to those of us who had to struggle through what we could because we did.
To the poor white kid or the poor black kid, though, the battle is uphill for both. The battle is in spite of the environment, not because of it. The battle is to earn your place, not have it given to you on a platter. Race is not a factor in that battle - and that is why Affirmative Action as it stands today does not work. That is why it is a mechanism to continue discrimination and racial segregation - because it judges people by the color of their skin, not by the content of their character.
Barack acknowledged that side as much as the African American stance that focuses on the continuing inequities, and challenged us all to stop avoiding the huge pink elephant in the room and deal with it.
He also villified the words (but not the person) of Reverend Wright as divisive - again implicitly invoking King:
"Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred."
For that, he earned my respect.
I still continue to hope for a "Dream Team" ticket. He has the words, the eloquence, the heart. She has the brain, the experience, and the action. And neither is lacking in what the other's strengths are.
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