Goodbye To All That

A reader makes a point about the impact of last week that seems to me as powerful as it is relevant, and it resonates with Chris Caldwell's point:

I worked four years as a teacher in the Black community in Oakland in the early 90's and these ideas from Wright's sermons were endemic. To me the remarkable thing about Obama is that he has positioned himself, and set as a goal for himself, to lead Black culture towards one of participation and non-victimization. You can't do that if you're not participating as a member of the Black community, whatever state you find it in.

How do we go forward? 3 percent of all Black men are in prison, and it's 11 percent of black men aged 25-29. Mostly on drug charges. The community has been in crisis for decades. And here come many conservatives with a message to marginalize the Black community further. 

What is more helpful here? That, or putting into a position of leadership someone who has really heard and understood all these arguments in the Black community, disagrees with them and says so and yet is still respected there, and asks young Black men to take responsibility and shows how it's possible to live a decent life in America?  It seems pretty obvious.