Wright About One Thing
The recent speech by Barack Obama which provided some defense of his relationship with The Reverend Jeremiah Wright and association with his church has been dissected down to near-microscopic levels by now. And before tonight, I didn't think there could be anything more to add to the conversation until I read something from almost 20 years ago that really brought the entire controversy into sharp focus for me, and its only indirectly about the race issue.
What sparked my thoughts last evening on this subject were the words of Stephen R. Covey, from his 1989 book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:
"(Proactivity) means more than merely taking initiative. It means that as human beings, we are responsible for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions. We can subordinate feelings to values. We have the intiative and responsibility to make things happen.
Look at the word responsibility - 'response-ability' - the ability to choose your response. Highly proactive people recognize that responsibility. They do not blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior is a product of their own conscious choice, based on values, rather than a product of their conditions, based on feeling."
Obama is an eloquent speaker, without question, but I couldn't help but feel he missed an opportunity to raise up more than just one generation, and more than just one generation of Black Americans, with his speech. He could have driven home to the black community specifically, but to all races generally, a philosophy of striving to change a lousy hand of cards through action, which would have been a true message of change. Instead, there seemed to be justification for spewing hateful speech like that of Rev. Wright.
Obama differentiated his solutions for current racial divide in American into what the black and white communities respectively could do to acheive "a more perfect union," but it seemed a little one-sided. He seemed to suggest the white community still has more to do for the black community, while he tossed out a few token mentions of personal responsibility for the black community. His message seemed to really be directed at an audience of people who, by Stephen Covey's definition, are Reactive - who "build their emotional lives around the behavior of others, empowering the weaknesses of other people to control them." On this, Obama seemed to be speaking to those who are expecting him and the government to come to their rescue. I guess its no coincidence he is running for President as a Democrat.
Consider how Barack explained some of Wright's remarks involving race - as, essentially, the result of growing up under the big white thumb of a discrimination which defeated many blacks who hoped, wished or tried to acheive The American Dream. "This legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations" who now stand on street corners and languish in prison without hope or prospects for their future, according to Obama. "For the men and women of Rev. Wright's generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years."
Also consider Obama's second use of 'legacy' - when proffering his recommendation to the white community, he said, "...the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination -- and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past -- are real and must be addressed."
Since Obama was addressing criticisms of some of Rev. Wright's sermons, race had to be a big part of this speech. But take color completely out of the discussion; What I did not hear from Barack Obama is a call to stop the excuses for poor education, which leads to low-paying jobs and a life of poverty. I didn't hear a call for people to stand up on their own two feet and begin taking full advantage of all America has to offer. I thought that was the part of his message of Hope and Change for all of America that got the younger generation excited about him. I guess that was before the media decided to share the words of Rev. Wright, which forced Obama to address race as it pounded on his front door. It was at that moment that he turned from a liberal prince back into a frog.
What sparked my thoughts last evening on this subject were the words of Stephen R. Covey, from his 1989 book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:
"(Proactivity) means more than merely taking initiative. It means that as human beings, we are responsible for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions. We can subordinate feelings to values. We have the intiative and responsibility to make things happen.
Look at the word responsibility - 'response-ability' - the ability to choose your response. Highly proactive people recognize that responsibility. They do not blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior is a product of their own conscious choice, based on values, rather than a product of their conditions, based on feeling."
Obama is an eloquent speaker, without question, but I couldn't help but feel he missed an opportunity to raise up more than just one generation, and more than just one generation of Black Americans, with his speech. He could have driven home to the black community specifically, but to all races generally, a philosophy of striving to change a lousy hand of cards through action, which would have been a true message of change. Instead, there seemed to be justification for spewing hateful speech like that of Rev. Wright.
Obama differentiated his solutions for current racial divide in American into what the black and white communities respectively could do to acheive "a more perfect union," but it seemed a little one-sided. He seemed to suggest the white community still has more to do for the black community, while he tossed out a few token mentions of personal responsibility for the black community. His message seemed to really be directed at an audience of people who, by Stephen Covey's definition, are Reactive - who "build their emotional lives around the behavior of others, empowering the weaknesses of other people to control them." On this, Obama seemed to be speaking to those who are expecting him and the government to come to their rescue. I guess its no coincidence he is running for President as a Democrat.
Consider how Barack explained some of Wright's remarks involving race - as, essentially, the result of growing up under the big white thumb of a discrimination which defeated many blacks who hoped, wished or tried to acheive The American Dream. "This legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations" who now stand on street corners and languish in prison without hope or prospects for their future, according to Obama. "For the men and women of Rev. Wright's generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years."
Also consider Obama's second use of 'legacy' - when proffering his recommendation to the white community, he said, "...the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination -- and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past -- are real and must be addressed."
Since Obama was addressing criticisms of some of Rev. Wright's sermons, race had to be a big part of this speech. But take color completely out of the discussion; What I did not hear from Barack Obama is a call to stop the excuses for poor education, which leads to low-paying jobs and a life of poverty. I didn't hear a call for people to stand up on their own two feet and begin taking full advantage of all America has to offer. I thought that was the part of his message of Hope and Change for all of America that got the younger generation excited about him. I guess that was before the media decided to share the words of Rev. Wright, which forced Obama to address race as it pounded on his front door. It was at that moment that he turned from a liberal prince back into a frog.
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