Today, Obama gave a remarkable speech on race in America. Remarkable not only for its rhetoric, but also because candidates just don’t give long, nuanced, thoughtful speeches like this anymore. We’re reminded a little of Bobby Kennedy’s speech the night Martin Luther King died, which you should read if you’re not familiar with (here’s the audio). Obama’s speech, which may not put to rest the focus on his incendiary pastor, at least should go down as a key moment in the racial debate in America and a new entry in the history of American speeches.
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