We're Too Far Advanced to Continue Avoiding All These Problems
- Race relations in our country today are a huge problem, absolutely—however, they don't exist separately from all kinds of other issues.
- Obama believes that moving forward requires Black people to bind their grievances "to the larger aspirations of all Americans—the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man who's been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family" (118).
- These small pieces are all part of the larger story, and we need to work together to solve all of these problems.
- He says we have to have faith we can make a difference, and we need to remember that even if Reverend Wright's comments were based in some truth, "he spoke as if our society was static," and that's just not the case (123).
- The part of our union that was perfect in 1787, and has been perfect ever since, is our ability to change and the desire to make it happen.
- As awesome as it would be to freeze time or move things with our minds, even the Charmed Ones can't vanquish these demons.
- We need to acknowledge "the legacy of discrimination" by taking action and creating opportunities for Black populations (127).
- Those opportunities will translate into similar prospects for the white woman with an engineering degree or the immigrant who wants nothing more than to create the American dream for his family.
- But according to Obama, all these things are active, which means we have to choose.
- We have to "find that common stake we all have in one other" and turn discussions on race, and gender equality and immigrant rights, into something more than tools politicians use to win campaigns (133).