On March 13 ABC News had aired a shocking video It showed clips of Obama’s pastor Reverend Jeremiah Wright Wright was speaking at Trinity Church in Chicago Illinois He condemned the US government He claimed the government was corrupt and racist A Look at Race Relations Wright’s harsh words put Obama in a tough spot The candidate had attended Trinity for 20 years Some people agreed with Wright’s comments Obama did not In a public statement he called them appalling He added I reject outright the statements by Rev Wright It quickly became clear that this distancing was not enough Obama saw that the controversy was starting to hurt his campaign He decided to address the issue in a speech Obama also wanted to talk about the wider issue of racial prejudice in the United States Obama distanced himself from Wright’s views so they would not be mistaken as his own
In the speech he focused on the topic of race relations As a people he said Americans had never fully dealt with the nation’s racial problems He urged his listeners to take an honest look at race relations If they could not the country could not become fully unified A Positive Trend Obama knew that giving the speech was risky Some people might see him as being too concerned about race That perception might keep them from voting for him But he felt the issue was too important to ignore Some people were disappointed that Obama rejected Wright’s comments They felt Wright was supporting a group that had faced a history of mistreatment But Obama’s choice to give the speech paid off It was widely praised That praise proved to be part of a positive trend As the months rolled by many national polls were taken Obama came out ahead in most of them This showed that more voters were
leaning toward him than toward McCain Obama held his lead into the week of the election in early November 2008 That week still proved to be a highly dramatic one McCain’s followers insisted that he might come from behind and win Tensions rose on election day November 4 2008 A major question on nearly everyone’s mind was whether or not history would be made Would Barack Obama PERSPECTIVES DIFFERING VIEWS Many Americans praised Obama’s speech on race Among them was historian Garry Wills He described its wording as very effective and moving A number of scholars Wills points out went further They felt it was one of the finest speeches ever given by an American A few were critical of the speech however Some black writers felt that Rev Wright’s views were correct Racism was deeply imbedded in American society and government Among those critics was noted black religious scholar Obery Hendricks He claimed the speech was politically motivated Obama had to condemn Wright in order to maintain the support of white voters Hendricks said
