Post-Civil Rights: Barack Obama and the Politics of Change AS/HUMA 1300 October 29, 2008

Lecture Outline 1. An Unfinished Constitution 2. Toward a More Perfect Union 3. The Audacity to Hope

“The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished.” “The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished.” Barack Obama, “Speech on Race.” New York Times. March 18, 2008.

An Unfinished Constitution “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America” (Preamble to the Constitution)

An Unfinished Constitution The Constitution of the United States 1. recognized slaves as three/fifths of one person; 2. prohibited Congress from abolishing the Slave Trade in less than 20 years; 3. agreed to the first Fugitive Slave Clause.

An Unfinished Constitution “On the one hand, there stood slavery, a stern reality, glaring frightfully upon us—its robes already crimsoned with the blood of millions, and even now feasting itself greedily upon our own flesh. On the other hand, away back in the distance, under the flickering light of a north star, behind some craggy hill or snow- covered mountain, stood a doubtful freedom—half frozen—beckoning us to come and share its hospitality” (Frederick Douglass)

Toward a more perfect union “I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together – unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction – towards a better future for our children and our grandchildren” (Obama, “Speech on Race”)

Toward a more perfect union: a multi-layered, racialized audience 1. Historically disenfranchised African Americans 2. Liberal whites who have traditionally formed political coalition with blacks 3. Latinos, Asians, Native Americans and other minorities

Toward a more perfect union: black church as trope of black community “The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.” (Obama, “Speech on Race”)

Toward a more perfect union “the comments that have been made... 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. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.” (Obama, “Speech on Race”)

Toward a more perfect union “For the African-American community, that path means.... binding our particular grievances—for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs—to the larger aspirations of all Americans: the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man who's been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for our own lives—by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.” (Obama, “Speech on Race”)

The audacity to hope “This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. 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 attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election.” (Obama, “Speech on Race”)

The audacity to hope “ I just want to do God’s will. And he’s allowed me to go up the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I am happy, tonight. I am not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.” (King, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”)