Obama Talks About Race -- The Right Way.

Through writing, editing, interviewing, talking, hoping and sheer willing, I have tried over and over again to help change the way that people think and feel about race in America. Ever since my (white) fifth grade teacher told me I was very pretty “for a black girl,” I have wanted to understand, both for myself and so that I could help others to process, the legacy of race and racism in this country. Not necessarily in a Martin Luther King, Jr.-Malcolm X (community-activist-leadership) way, or a Henry Louis Gates, Jr.-Cornel West (scholarly) way -- not that I haven’t at times tried one or both, and not because these approaches don’t work, but rather, because they’ve not worked thoroughly enough -- but in the most primal and accessible way. The way that Barack Obama is trying to do it: Through fearless, thoughtful, aggressively meaningful and non-condemning words that people can hear, take in and respond to.

From Obama’s Marcy 18, 2008 speech on race and Reverend Wright:

“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. … It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.”

The very notion that my toddler son, who is of mixed race, might see a black president in his young lifetime is beyond thrilling to me -- that in fact I might live to see a black president is almost unbearably exciting. But that I’ve lived already long enough to see a man with almost everything to lose, in a position that wields such unforgiving power, voice in plain, brave terms that we need to be present and accountable on the issue of race -- every day; not just during Black History Month or when you’re feeling charitable or guilty or extra-liberal -- makes me sleep better at night. It just does.