If you haven't surfed other blogs to read the posts and comments there on Senator Obama's speech, I urge you to do so. I was on Masson's Blog earlier today and posted a response to a comment there. Thought I'd post that interchange here as well.

The commenter wrote:

Things I didn’t like: 1) threw his granny under the bus. What’s up with that? 2) gave legitimicy to white resentment of AA and busing, but not to those politicians who “exploit” those fears. Sorry, but if the fears are legitimate, there is nothing wrong with politicians trying to address those issues. 3) In the end, he didn’t really distance himself from Wright and others who think like that. He in fact said that he understood where Wright was coming from. I think that he can’t really distance himself from Wright, because Wrights views on race and American are mainstream African American views, and his base is with African Americans.

My response:

Interesting comments....Here are some other ways of looking at the same thing.

1. I know several Black pastors (and have several in my family). Routinely, I have heard anti-white, anti-gay, anti-woman, anti-immigrant rhetoric. I let them know that while their comments aren’t welcome in my home, they will ALWAYS be. Love doesn’t disown. That was Obama's message. Hmm, I think Jesus said something about this as well.

I'm Obama's age and am from Lafayette. I remember the police appearing at the back of our church on Sundays to ensure that the pastor wasn’t inciting “our good negroes.” Communication at that church, Second Baptist on 18th, was tightly controlled with the spector of fear (like so many of the thousands of Black churches scattered across the South and North). That a Black pastor is still pissed? Take a look at the reality of the churches in your midst.

I hate messages of division, but as Obama states, one can't take those messages out of context or demand that people "just get over it." We've been trying that in this country for decades. Doesn't work. As a former AA officer (I was a Black woman in HR. Where else were they going to stick me), I can attest to white anger. Black achievement in this company of over 4,000 was consistently met with cries of “foul!” and I was constantly challenged to explain why a Black person got some position or another. Angry, one day, I offered to set up a promotion-evaluation committee and put all of the white complainers on it. I told the several who gathered in my office that, while completely illegal, they could review the promotional packages that included Blacks and decide for themselves whether they deserved their promotions. Only one got the sarcasm. The rest wanted the committee.

I think our problem in terms of race relations is that we don’t tell our particular truth about it. Mine? I heard my good family members say somethings heartbreaking things about people. It’s an unfortunate part of the human condition. Having lead AA/EEO/diversity/inclusion workshops for a number of years in major companies, I can tell you this: when people stop and say what they really feel, as searing as it may be, magic happens. God can steer a parked car and can’t change a heart that’s pretending.

I, like Obama, have a diverse family with whites and native peoples in it. We all love each other, and at the same time, the seams that hold us together show wear. However, with only a few exceptions, we talk about it. A lot.

2. As I said before, there are many in the white community who believe that Black achievement is a myth–demanding proof that a Black person “deserved” the promotions or admissions they received. Because of my role, I’ve been privileged to hear about it–sometimes from some of the most conflicted people I’ve ever met…people who angrily espoused these points of view while asking “Lalita, does this make me a bad person?” My answer: No.

Any misapplication of AA/EEO law can be laid at the feet of those responsible for the enforcement of these policies and laws: the mostly white management and HR staffers in companies (speaking demographically, here and not for effect). I was stunned and continue to be so at how very little leadership understands how these laws work: quotas have been illegal for decades, hiring the underqualified on the basis of race (any race), is illegal, automatically assuming that minorities or women are underqualified for no other reason than group membership is evidence of discriminatory points of view.

For me, I was among the very first minority students in a honors program in the entire state, graduated in the top 10% at Jeff, was a National Merit scholar and graduated from Purdue cum laude. Still, even in my position in HR, OTHER HR STAFFERS assumed that I was hired simply because of my pigment and plumbing.

Sad and disgusting, but I had to deal with them where they were–not where I wanted (desperately) for them to be. My every move was challenged until they got how qualified I was. Some in the company never trusted that I was deserving. Never.

I think, here, we’ve got a kind of race relations Pareto Principle where a fraction of the people are creating the majority of the problem. However, here, the silent majority is fearful that “where there’s smoke there’s fire.” From my formerly Southern family’s point of view: “Where there’s smoke, there may be a burning cross.”

Point of view.

3. Distancing himself from his friend and former paster vs distancing himself from his friend’s comments. This is Christian Holy Week, a time for us to reflect on the fact that Jesus didn’t throw US under the bus–and his contemporaries weren’t just saying mean things to each other…they were killing people (um, like Him). With Jessee Jackson and Bill Clinton, Billy Graham and Richard Nixon, Rev. Haggee and McCain, Mitt Romney and his religion with an admittedly racist recent past (check out the Mark of Cain doctrine), Bob Johnson / Geralding Ferraro / Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, I’d think so much less of them if they disowned those people and churches that had been important to them.

You can’t fix a flat tire if you’ve sold the car.

I’m very excited that we have this opportunity to talk. You can’t imagine. Last night, my friends and family shared stories about their lives and hopes, looking for even more common ground. Regardless of how this turns out for the Democratic party, if we “keep it real” rather than “keep it correct” we can propel this country forward at ever greater speed.

I post this here, because while for me, Senator Obama's discussion of his grandmother was the defining moment, for many conservatives, it left them cold. Curious. I wonder if they had a similar story and were moved to feelings of protection. For the rest of you, where did you think Senator Obama "whiffed" and where do you think he connected?

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