Obama urges unity in rousing speech at King's church AFP | January 21, 2008
'At a time when many were still doubtful about the possibilities of change, a time when those in the black community mistrusted themselves, and at times mistrusted each other, King inspired with words not of anger, but of an urgency that still speaks to us today,' Senator Obama said.
''Unity is the great need of the hour' is what King said. Unity is how we shall overcome,' said the Illinois senator, who narrowly lost Saturday's Nevada Democratic caucuses to rival Hillary Clinton, who took 51 per cent of the state's vote to Senator Obama's 45 per cent.
The race for the Democratic party's nominee for president, which has seen Mrs Clinton grab the lead after her earlier win in New Hampshire, has heated up with both senators now competing furiously for the support of black voters.
Speaking to hundreds of people at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church in the southeastern state of Georgia, where Reverend King launched the civil rights movement, Senator Obama evoked the ongoing racial and ideological divide in America.
'We have walls, barriers to justice and equality that must come down,' Senator Obama said as Reverend King's sister Christine listened and nodded from her spot in a front pew.
'For most of this country's history, we in the African-American community have been at the receiving end of man's inhumanity to man. And all of us understand intimately the insidious role that race still sometimes plays - on the job, in the schools, in our health care system, and in our criminal justice system.'
Martin Luther King's vision
'And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our hands are entirely clean. If we're honest with ourselves, we'll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's vision of a beloved community.'
Senator Obama cited anti-immigrant sentiment, black-Jewish clashes and scorn for the gay community as examples of how blacks had fallen short and added: 'Our politics fuels and exploits this kind of division across all races and regions; across gender and party.'
Senator Obama's speech at the historic church, where the Reverend King was ordained in 1948 and where he gave some of his most rousing sermons, came on the same day as another influential black preacher in New York, Calvin O. Butts, endorsed Mrs Clinton.
Bill Clinton's visit
Former president Bill Clinton, who was popular among blacks during his two terms, was to visit the same Atlanta church on Monday, the day when the United States honours Reverend King, who was assassinated in 1968 at the age of 39, with a national holiday.
The church's pastor, the Reverend Raphael G. Warnock said in introducing Senator Obama: 'We had to fight, bleed and die just to be able to vote. Now we can select presidents, and now with credibility and intelligence and power, we can run for president.'
The 46-year-old son of a white mother and Kenyan father, whose main campaign themes have been unity and change and who has typically steered clear of racial issues, concluded: 'In the struggle for peace and justice, we cannot walk alone. So I ask you to walk with me, and march with me, and join your voice with mine, and together we will sing the song that tears down the walls that divide us, and lift up an America that is truly indivisible, with liberty, and justice, for all.'
Some worshippers - who spilled outside the tiny red brick church and braved frigid temperatures to watch the speech on large screens - sang 'We shall overcome,' and wiped tears from their eyes at the end of the speech.
Afterward, Senator Obama laid red roses on the grave of Reverend King and his wife Coretta Scott, who died in 2006.
Mike Huckabee's visit
In addition to Bill Clinton's visit on Monday, the church prepared to welcome Republican White House hopeful Mike Huckabee, who was invited personally by one of Reverend King's nieces, Alveda King.
She has indicated that she does not back the Baptist preacher and former Arkansas governor in his bid for the presidency, but that she agrees with his opposition to abortion and gay marriage.
Ethiomedia.com - An African-American news and views website.
© Copyright 2007 Ethiomedia.com. Email: editor@ethiomedia.com
'At a time when many were still doubtful about the possibilities of change, a time when those in the black community mistrusted themselves, and at times mistrusted each other, King inspired with words not of anger, but of an urgency that still speaks to us today,' Senator Obama said.
''Unity is the great need of the hour' is what King said. Unity is how we shall overcome,' said the Illinois senator, who narrowly lost Saturday's Nevada Democratic caucuses to rival Hillary Clinton, who took 51 per cent of the state's vote to Senator Obama's 45 per cent.
Speaking to hundreds of people at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church in the southeastern state of Georgia, where Reverend King launched the civil rights movement, Senator Obama evoked the ongoing racial and ideological divide in America.
'We have walls, barriers to justice and equality that must come down,' Senator Obama said as Reverend King's sister Christine listened and nodded from her spot in a front pew.
'For most of this country's history, we in the African-American community have been at the receiving end of man's inhumanity to man. And all of us understand intimately the insidious role that race still sometimes plays - on the job, in the schools, in our health care system, and in our criminal justice system.'
Martin Luther King's vision
'And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our hands are entirely clean. If we're honest with ourselves, we'll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's vision of a beloved community.'
Senator Obama cited anti-immigrant sentiment, black-Jewish clashes and scorn for the gay community as examples of how blacks had fallen short and added: 'Our politics fuels and exploits this kind of division across all races and regions; across gender and party.'
Senator Obama's speech at the historic church, where the Reverend King was ordained in 1948 and where he gave some of his most rousing sermons, came on the same day as another influential black preacher in New York, Calvin O. Butts, endorsed Mrs Clinton.
Bill Clinton's visit
Former president Bill Clinton, who was popular among blacks during his two terms, was to visit the same Atlanta church on Monday, the day when the United States honours Reverend King, who was assassinated in 1968 at the age of 39, with a national holiday.
The church's pastor, the Reverend Raphael G. Warnock said in introducing Senator Obama: 'We had to fight, bleed and die just to be able to vote. Now we can select presidents, and now with credibility and intelligence and power, we can run for president.'
The 46-year-old son of a white mother and Kenyan father, whose main campaign themes have been unity and change and who has typically steered clear of racial issues, concluded: 'In the struggle for peace and justice, we cannot walk alone. So I ask you to walk with me, and march with me, and join your voice with mine, and together we will sing the song that tears down the walls that divide us, and lift up an America that is truly indivisible, with liberty, and justice, for all.'
Some worshippers - who spilled outside the tiny red brick church and braved frigid temperatures to watch the speech on large screens - sang 'We shall overcome,' and wiped tears from their eyes at the end of the speech.
Afterward, Senator Obama laid red roses on the grave of Reverend King and his wife Coretta Scott, who died in 2006.
Mike Huckabee's visit
In addition to Bill Clinton's visit on Monday, the church prepared to welcome Republican White House hopeful Mike Huckabee, who was invited personally by one of Reverend King's nieces, Alveda King.
She has indicated that she does not back the Baptist preacher and former Arkansas governor in his bid for the presidency, but that she agrees with his opposition to abortion and gay marriage.
Ethiomedia.com - An African-American news and views website.
© Copyright 2007 Ethiomedia.com. Email: editor@ethiomedia.com
