Whether we always agree with this President or not, one thing is clear. He is the living embodiment of what our early civil rights leaders could scarcely imagine witnessing.
He is our first African American President, and he has done those who sacrificed so much to pave the way for him proud.
However it is important to remember that racism is not only NOT dead, it is back with a vengeance.
Yet I want desperately to believe that the violent convulsions we are seeing today from the racists of yesterday, signify the last death throes of prejudice. A prejudice that will fail to live on in the hearts of the Americans of tomorrow.
Sarah Palin's fans are racists.
ReplyDelete"Obama says there is a lot of unfinished business in the civil rights. What? The only real business that needs taking care of is for all the race hustlers to exit the stage and all the men and women who are enjoying making the babies need to step up and be parents and raise the kids. Obama is such a disgrace!"
No, barracuda 43 is the disgrace.
"all the men and women who are enjoying making the babies need to step up and be parents and raise the kids. Obama is such a disgrace!"
DeleteCorrect me if I'm wrong, but isn't President Obama married to the mother of his two children (first marriages for both) and aren't they raising those children together?
And isn't their favorite Tundra Tart the mother of two children who have produced pregnancies before the wedding? And isn't one of her children still not married, despite having at least one child of her own, and the other divorced (assuming the marriage was real to begin with)?
And aren't Todd and Sarah the epitome of uninvolved parents who let siblings, relatives and babysitters do most of the child rearing?
And they talk about Obama being a disgrace?!?!
Two that Sarah even admits to... who knows how many others besides Trig...
DeleteSame Script, Different Group: Discrimination In America Continues
ReplyDeletehttp://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/08/28/same-script-different-group-discrimination-in-america-continues/
I Have a Revisionist Dream: National Review Tries to Make Dr. King’s Speech an Ode to Conservatism
ReplyDelete...This sleight of logic both centers an illusion of conservatism within the civil rights movement and leaves contemporary conservatives free to pursue any modern form of racist garbage they’d like. See, for instance, Bill O’Reilly on what MLK would make of contemporary black society, or George Will on any Sunday you’d like, each of whom in their own way attempt to read African Americans’ economic conditions not as an obstacle to self-realization but a punishment for lack of personal responsibility, something with which the socialist-heavy civil rights movement probably would not have agreed. By erasing integral portions of his message, conservatives have withered Dr. King into a right wing scold.
http://www.mediaite.com/online/i-have-a-revisionist-dream-national-review-tries-to-make-dr-kings-speech-an-ode-to-conservativism/
On Wednesday, President Barack Obama took to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to mark the solemn occasion of the 50th anniversary of the civil rights movement’s march on Washington D.C. and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Obama’s performance was strong – speechifying is one of his most polished skills – but the substance of his address was also worth examining. It was as important for what concepts it embraced as those notions it rejected.
ReplyDeleteThe president spent most of the opening of his speech reverentially recalling the oppression and struggles overcome by the civil rights movement’s activist leaders and followers alike. He touched on the lives taken by the hands of the hateful in that tumultuous period, and the tirelessness of the civil rights leaders who surmounted that great injustice to change America and the world.
It was a broad speech. It was not overly political or myopically focused on the small issues which dominate political debates on cable news today. It was a historic speech, spanning generations and crossing arbitrary national boarders to appeal to a common humanity. It was very much a speech that King would have appreciated had he lived to see the nation’s first black president pay tribute to his legacy.
Then Obama admonished and repudiated those who say that “little has changed” in the 50 years since MLK spoke on those steps. He said that to declare complete racial equality had been achieved would also dishonor the memories of those who died seeking to achieve it.
“We’ll suffer the occasional setback, but we will win these fights,” Obama said. “This country has changed too much. People of goodwill regardless of party are too plentiful for those with ill-will to change history’s currents.”
Yes, the president spoke to his base. He spoke of the growing wealth gap between blacks and whites, high unemployment among minorities, poor schools, overcrowded prisons, his embattled health care reform law and, of course, his political opponents who stand in the way of civic progress as he defines it. It is forgivable for the president to take such an anticipated opportunity to advance his own political agenda – nearly any competent politician would.
In general, though, when the president took on the issue of race he was responsible, dignified, and optimistic. Obama advocated for overcoming bigotry and rejecting excuse for allowing families to fragment and children to go uneducated and unsupervised. He was a role model for the next generation in that moment on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/obamas-inspiring-speech-on-mlk-anniversary-repudiates-msnbcs-crass-racial-agitation/
Well said.
ReplyDeleteNow, I am getting ready to watch the original speech in full on MSNBC.
I had Chris Matthews show on by accident...and I'm so glad. He's on fire! He opened the show with palpable anger of the GOP's treatment of Pres. Obama in spite of him being a man whose life is the epitome of conservative values. He made a great point:
ReplyDeleteThe GOP refuses to judge Pres. Obama 'by the content of his character.
So, while much progress was made in voting rights, education, etc., racism is thriving. The rest of the show up to now is focusing on racism.
I could not agree more....I usually turn off the sound when Chris is yelling, but damn if he didn't nail it. The very night Obama took the oath of office, those bastards were meeting about his destruction. The country's wellness meant nothing to them, going thru that financial crisis meant nothing. May Mitch McConnell rot in hell for that speech, and hopefully in 2014 we will be rid of him and Bohner.
DeletePresident Obama Gives the Civil Rights Speech of the Decade
ReplyDeletePresident Obama demonstrated the powerful politics of optimism today at the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. This is also the first time I’ve ever caught him in a big fib.
The President gave an interview to CBS in which he warned, “It won’t be as good as the speech 50 years ago… I just want to get that out there early.” All politicians do their best to lower expectations and Obama had huge expectations riding on today, but that doesn’t change the fact that his speech was, for civil rights, the speech of the decade.
It wasn’t that the President’s speech was moving, though it was. It wasn’t that he has incredible oratory skills, though he has. It was that he chose this moment, in his second term, to go out on a limb to refocus the civil rights movement at a time when it’s easy to be discouraged and demoralized.
It was a speech of searing optimism combined with the politics of pragmatic, sequential change. He explained, “What King described was the dream of every American.” He focused our efforts on positive thoughts and actions, saying “Change does not come from Washington, but to Washington.”
People mock Obama’s “hope”, but without hope, there is no change. That’s why they mock it. Obama reminded us that King gave hope to millions:
'We rightly and best remember Dr. King’s soaring oratory that day, how he gave mighty voice to the quiet hopes of millions, how he offered a salvation path for oppressed and oppressors alike. His words belong to the ages, possessing a power and prophecy unmatched in our time.'
He reminded us of the power of optimism and brotherhood (full transcript here):
'They had every reason to lash out in anger or resign themselves to a bitter fate.
And yet they chose a different path. In the face of hatred, they prayed for their tormentors. In the face of violence, they stood up and sat in with the moral force of nonviolence. Willingly, they went to jail to protest unjust laws, their cells swelling with the sound of freedom songs. A lifetime of indignities had taught them that no man can take away the dignity and grace that God grants us. They had learned through hard experience what Frederick Douglas once taught: that freedom is not given; it must be won through struggle and discipline, persistence and faith.
That was the spirit young people like John Lewis brought that day.'
He reminded us that freedom and liberty are not abstract achievements, but quantifiable in equal opportunity, economic justice, legal justice, and more. And he reminded us that our work is not done yet, “To secure the gains this country has made requires constant vigilance, not complacency.”
“The young are unconstrained by habits of fear … They dared to dream different.”
The President urged us to validate the faith of those who came before us, who sacrificed so much for the changes they wrought.
ReplyDelete'To dismiss the magnitude of this progress, to suggest, as some sometimes do, that little has changed — that dishonors the courage and the sacrifice of those who paid the price to march in those years. Medgar Evers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, Martin Luther King Jr., they did not die in vain. Their victory was great.'
He reminded us that the spirit of brotherhood is the only way to get there. He told us what those people 50 years ago changed, so that we could imagine what we can change today:
'And because they kept marching, America changed. Because they marched, the civil rights law was passed. Because they marched, the voting rights law was signed. Because they marched, doors of opportunity and education swung open so their daughters and sons could finally imagine a life for themselves beyond washing somebody else’s laundry or shining somebody else’s shoes. Because they marched, city councils changed and state legislatures changed and Congress changed and, yes, eventually the White House changed.'
'Because they marched, America became more free and more fair, not just for African-Americans but for women and Latinos, Asians and Native Americans, for Catholics, Jews and Muslims, for gays, for Americans with disabilities.
America changed for you and for me.'
These are the thoughts of a brilliant leader, who understands as Martin Luther King Jr did, the power of unified positive action.
These are people, King, Obama, Lewis, and more, who frighten those who don’t really want equal rights for everyone — just as positive, pragmatic and determined spirits usually frighten the dark side of human nature.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/08/28/politics-optimism-soaring-obama-speech-refocuses-civil-rights-movement.html
MLK's words about judging people on the content of their character stuck with me since I was a young girl. That is how I raised my children.
ReplyDeleteI love President Obama - he ALWAYS comes across w/class and great skill. He never gets rattled even though the racists have been out there against him since he took office.
ReplyDeleteRacists such as Trump, McConnell, Limbaugh, Palin, Hannity, FOX, etc. The Republicans are going to find themselves in deep trouble in the upcoming elections in spite of their obstructing the black and brown vote across the nation.
WE WILL OVERCOME!!!
At one point during the events — amid Leann Rimes' rendition of "Amazing Grace" — a rainbow appeared over the sky.
ReplyDeletehttp://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/28/20215857-obama-on-50th-anniversary-of-dream-speech-kings-words-belong-to-the-ages?lite
suck on that skank!! rainbows for dc and president obama and mlk!!!
What about the double His & Hers Grifting Rainbows for Todd &Sarah--- One of which ended at Mat-Maid for Sarah and the other at Shailey's former massage studio, both of which enriched the co-Half-Term Quitter Guv and The Co-Guv/Pimp illegally.
Delete50 Years After The 'March On Washington,' Its Only Living Speaker Gave The Most Passionate And Fiery Speech Of The Day
ReplyDeleteRep. John Lewis was 23 years old on Aug. 28, 1963, when he was the youngest speaker to deliver remarks at the original "March on Washington."
Fifty years later, he is the only living speaker from that day. And he gave an impassioned, fiery speech today at the "Let Freedom Ring" event in Washington.
To those who doubt the progress of the last 50 years, Lewis had a message.
"Come and walk in my shoes. Come walk in the shoes of those attacked by police dogs, fire hoses and night sticks, arrested and thrown in jail," he said.
His whole speech, embedded below via PBS NewsHour, is worth watching today:
http://www.businessinsider.com/john-lewis-speech-march-on-washington-50th-anniversary-martin-luther-king-i-have-a-dream-2013-8
Let Freedom Ring: The Day in Images
ReplyDeletehttp://theobamadiary.com/2013/08/28/let-freedom-ring-the-day-in-images/
What are the odds of living to see two men of honor, grace and eloquence delivering speeches that will stand the test of time? The President reached back and built upon the foundation MLK JR.'s speech and made it just as relevant today as it was then and since.
ReplyDeleteIt's not how many times we get knocked down that count, it's how many times we get up and keep marching.
https://twitter.com/petesouza/status/372824058616090624/photo/1/large
ReplyDeleteU.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, gave a fiery speech at the "Let Freedom Ring Commemoration and Call to Action," speaking of the challenges he faced as a pioneer for civil rights in the 1960s. Lewis -- the only living speaker from the original March on Washington -- spoke from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., telling the crowd that America has come a long way, but still has work to do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGEmDXM1sYc
Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDelete