THE ISSUE OF RACE IN THE 2008 CAMPAIGN

At the Democratic National Convention in July 2004, Barack said, “In no other country on earth is my story even possible.” On March 18, 2008, Barack said this again when he talked about his candidacy and the issue of race in America. The race for the 2008 presidency was truly historic; for the first time in the nation’s history, a black man and a woman were running for the highest office in the land and to be the leader of the free world. From the moment he entered the race in February 2007, Barack’s campaign was likened to a movement. As he traveled around the country, from center stages and town halls, to diners and rallies at arenas, to high school gymnasiums and county fairs, Barack generated excite- ment in America and around the world. However, race was something that seemed to be seething just beneath the surface.

In the first months of 2008, racial issues rippled through Barack’s smooth, confident campaign. Despite his wins in states like Iowa and Wyoming, where there were few African American voters, racial issues entered conversations and permeated the news cycles. Since announcing his candidacy, Barack had been criticized for not being “black enough” and for being “too black”; he had always tried to transcend these questions by concentrating on the issues, by talking to all voters, by being inclusive. And while these questions and criticisms were discussed and written about during the first year of the campaign, by February 2008, racial tensions bubbled up and the race issue gained momentum. To add to the tensions surrounding this important issue were the videotaped snippets of racial rhetoric made by Barack’s long-time pastor, the Rever- end Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. The video was played over and over on news outlets and on YouTube; it was discussed on talk radio and was written about in newspapers and on political blogs. There were calls for Barack to denounce the pastor and distance himself from him and the church it- self. There were calls that questioned patriotism and questions about why Barack hadn’t left the church a long time ago.

For Barack, he had always carefully and deliberately avoided the stereo- type of being an angry black politician. He had always tried, with much

129 success certainly, as evidenced by his cross-over support in primaries and

EPILOGUE

caucuses, to appeal to all walks of life and all races; he was adamant in his speeches and also in his political career in appealing to all, and he did not want to be stereotyped or pigeonholed. To quell the firestorm caused by his former pastor’s fiery racial rhetoric, Barack tried to discuss the issues and stay on his message; he also tried to quietly distance himself from his long-time pastor, the man he called his spiritual leader and the pastor who performed his marriage ceremony and baptized his two daughters. He then, not quietly, but adamantly, denounced Wright’s charges about white America, assuring America that he did not agree with it, and called it divisive—but this was not enough. Deciding he needed to address the issue of race and the racial rhetoric displayed by Wright head-on, on March 18, 2008, at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, not far from where the Constitution of the United States was written, Barack made what many described as the most important speech on race in America since Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Speaking for nearly 40 minutes, Barack confronted America’s legacy of racial division and white resentment and urged America to overcome “a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years.” Barack said, “We have a choice in this country: we can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. Or, at this moment, we can come together and say: ‘not this time.’ ” 25

In the speech, Barack said once again that in no other country in the world was his story possible, reminding his listeners that he was the son of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Africa. The speech was made more than a year into a campaign that many felt transcended race, by a man who adamantly intended to build a broad coalition of racial and ethnic groups and who never wanted to be pigeonholed as a black politician. Political pundits were quick to pick apart the speech; some thought the speech was as much about who Barack is as it was about his words. Some thought it was more rhetoric and did not answer questions or say anything new. Still others thought Barack should denounce and disown Wright for his racial, fiery rhetoric. Some thought it was the most important speech made in recent history and one that harkened back to Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and John F. Kennedy. Some ap- plauded and others were more than skeptical. The question was whether the speech was enough to satisfy voters, or if it just raised more questions. Whether the speech, as bold as it was, and as risky as it may have been for Barack, would help or hurt the Barack Obama campaign remained to be seen, but it was certainly historic and certainly powerful. In his speech, Barack claimed that the success of his own campaign in winning voters from all ethnic and social groups had proved that “America can change.”

EPILOGUE

He added, “And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation: the young people whose attitude and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election.” 26

THE ISSUE OF RACE IN THE 2008 CAMPAIGN