“In the 21st century, white America got a wake-up call after 9/11/01. White America and the western world came to realize that people of color had not gone away, faded into the woodwork or just ‘disappeared’ as the Great White West kept on its merry way of ignoring black concerns.”

“Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run!…We [in the U.S.] believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God.”

Those quotes are racist and divisive. He’s putting everyone into either the “black” category or the “white” category - and he’s pitting them against each other. We aren’t each other’s enemies - and that kind of talk only serves to make the divisions that exist even worst.

My “unsubstantiated conclusion” was that if a person makes two statements that are contradictory, then one statement is false (i.e. a lie). When exerpts from Wright’s “sermons” were first made public, Obama tried to act like he had never heard such things from Wright. When he found that everyone wasn’t going to just say, “Oh, okay,” but were going to actually check to see if that was the truth, THEN he started back-pedaling.

Obama’s Philadelphia speech on race was nothing but CYA - delivered very well, but we all know he’s a great speaker. My only advice is to actually listen to what he is saying - and to what he is not saying - rather than getting swept up in rhetoric.

Don’t be so afraid to admit that the man is not perfect. Yes, he’s an inspiring speaker, but go beyond the “change” and “hope” verbiage.

The change that has to happen is for everyone to realize that blacks can be racist, too. If there is to be real equality and fairness, then the rules have to be the same for all people. Wright can’t be given a pass on his racist language simply because of his “black experience.”