In my initial assessment of the text of Barack Obama’s discussion of Pastor Wright and race in America, I argued that the speech was courageous by conventional political standards, but also contained evasions. Let me now identify what I think is the main evasion.
Obama attempts to put Wright’s controversial and divisive remarks into context by considering the man’s life. He explains:
Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation. . .came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted. . . .For the men and women of Reverend Wright
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