Race isn’t a card to play or fold, it affects EVERYTHING, ALL THE TIME April 29, 2008

SENATOR BARACK OBAMA:

Before I start taking questions I want to open it up with a couple of comments about what

we saw and heard yesterday. I have spent my entire adult life trying to bridge the gap

between different kinds of people. That’s in my DNA, trying to promote mutual

understanding to insist that we all share common hopes and common dreams as Americans

and as human beings. That’s who I am. That’s what I believe. That’s what this campaign

has been about.

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Yesterday we saw a very different vision of America. I am outraged by the comments that

were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday. You know, I have been a

member of Trinity United Church of Christ since 1992. I have known Reverend Wright for

almost 20 years. The person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago. His

comments were not only divisive and destructive, but I believe that they end up giving

comfort to those who prey on hate and I believe that they do not portray accurately the

perspective of the black church. They certainly don’t portray accurately my values and beliefs.

And if Reverend Wright thinks that that’s political posturing, as he put it, then he doesn’t

know me very well. And based on his remarks yesterday, well, I may not know him as well

as I thought either.

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Now, I’ve already denounced the comments that had appeared in these previous sermons. As

I said I had not heard them before. And I gave him the benefit of the doubt in my speech in

Philadelphia, explaining that he has done enormous good in the church, he’s built a wonderful

congregation, the people of Trinity are wonderful people, and what attracted me has always

been their ministry’s reach beyond the church walls. But when he states and then amplifies

such ridiculous propositions as the U.S. government somehow being involved in AIDS; when

he suggests that Minister Farrakhan somehow represents one of the greatest voices of the

20th and 21st century; when he equates the United States’ wartime efforts with terrorism,

then there are no excuses. They offend me, they rightly offend all Americans, and they

should be denounced. And that’s what I’m doing very clearly and unequivocally here today.

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Let me just close by saying this, I — we started this campaign with the idea that the

problems that we face as a country are too great to continue to be divided; that, in fact, all

across America people are hungry to get out of the old, divisive politics of the past. I have

spoken and written about the need for us to all recognize each other as Americans, regardless

of race or religion or region of the country; that the only way we can deal with critical issues

like energy and health care and education and the war on terrorism is if we are joined together.

And the reason our campaign has been so successful is because we had moved beyond these

old arguments. What we saw yesterday out of Reverend Wright was a resurfacing and, I believe,

an exploitation of those old divisions. Whatever his intentions, that was the result. It is

antithetical to our campaign, it is antithetical to what I am about, it is not what I think America

stands for, and I want to be very clear that moving forward Reverend Wright does not speak for

me, he does not speak for our campaign. I cannot prevent him from continuing to make these

outrageous remarks, but what I do want him to be very clear about, as well as all of you

and the American people, is that when I say I find these comments appalling, I mean it. It

contradicts everything that I’m about and who I am. And anybody who has worked with me,

who knows my life, who has read my books, who has seen what this campaign’s about, I

think will understand that it is completely opposed to what I stand for and where I want to

take this country.

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Last point, I’m particularly distressed that this has caused such a distraction from what this

campaign should be about, which is the American people. Their situation is getting worse.

And this campaign has never been about me. It’s never been about Senator Clinton or John

McCain. It’s not about Reverend Wright. People want some help in stabilizing their lives and

securing a better future for themselves and their children, and that’s what we should be

talking about. And the fact that Reverend Wright would think that somehow it was appropriate

to command the stage for three or four consecutive days in the midst of this major debate is

something that not only makes me angry, but also saddens me.

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