Reflections on Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” Speech

Grant it, as I point one finger in any direction, left or right, I’ve got three pointing right back at me. The evil known as racism has its grip on me as well. And I didn’t know how tightly until these presidential elections. By my own admission, my choice for president was spurred by the hits and attacks he’s received from his opponent who has yet to be called out for her own racism. Isn’t that something? The woman candidate is racist, but we won’t talk about that. Oh well…

But I will and really want to talk about my own wounds, such as being a child who was spat on by an elderly white man in post-Civil Rights, northern Cleveland, Ohio. I was the adult who was once again spat on and called the N-word by a woman in a southern department store. I am the hybrid daughter who has been called half-breed by her own relatives with the same hostility I was called the N-word. That’s my story in a nutshell and by the looks of things I’m not alone.

Barack Obama said in his speech:
“But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America - to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality. 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…”

I always tell my friend Mary that “what God has joined together, let no man put asunder,” is not merely in reference to people united in marriage; it refers to people God has placed together in general. And He has joined His church together as a union formed under a covenant, the Blood Covenant.

If the church mirrors the non-churched world in every aspect, which is expected given we live in their same world, then I believe that if we stand any chance of affecting change – a change we can believe in – then we must take on a different mindset. And that mindset has to embrace difference of stories and difference in experience; it is a mindset that has to be open to discussing those differences.