vetteman89
Member
eliminated any doubt in my mind - that as our president, he does in fact love this country with all Her warts and blemishes.
he mentioned not only those who marched of color, but also those who marched with them who truly believe that "all men are created equal", regardless of color. i found it humorous that he mentioned one of the reporters at that time wrote a quip about the fact that the "whites" who participated in the march added a little "disharmony" to the old gospel songs that were sung by all who marched (I can identify with that statement - i'm a little tone deaf, but i can still raise a joyful noise knowing the God who created me will appreciate my effort).
he also mentioned "the lewis and clark" expedition and all those who couragiously went West to find a better life, as well as all the asians, latino's, and immigrants of all races who contributed to the building of this great country (the railroads, dams, sky scrapers, etc).
i felt like he made it clear that people of all races have contributed immeasurably to the building of this great nation and that Selma was a shining example of the heart of our country (i.e. how our people of good faith banded together, believing in the high ideas this country was founded upon t to bring about change - moving us all a step closer to those utopian ideas of our founding fathers).
it's very easy to look back over our history and point out all the bad and ugly elements during those early years (i.e. slavery, our treatment of native americans, and inequalities of all shapes and sizes), and we can't play down those ugly parts of our history. but as the same time, we must realize that the immigration of mankind to this "new world" was inevitable. yes, there are many things we can look back and say that was wrong and we should have done much better - but the good news is that we have a form of government that has allowed and encouraged our continuous movement toward a utopian society, despite the excesses of our past.
we all wish that slavery and the lies/abuse imposed upon native americans was not part of our past, but it is and we should never forget it - because "those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it".
i was glad to hear our president give a speech that included all of us as "americans" and encouraging, in the immortal words of lincoln, "the better angels of our nature" so that we might find a way to transcend our race/biases/defensiveness/religious affiliations/prejudices/color/etc/etc and pull together as "americans" to continually right the wrongs of our past and make life for future "americans" even better.
together, we can and we will - that was the gist of the message at selma, and i, for one, found it to be empowering.
to be clear, i consider myself a "conservative" who typically votes republican, but i have lost faith in both parties of late, quite honestly, and I'm looking for leaders who encourage us all to pull together instead of apart. in many instances, i have felt that president obama has not pushed legislation and ideas that pull us together - but his speech at selma, for me, was a speech that transcended time and space, pulling us together instead of apart, to continue the work of implementing our constitution as it was written - that "all men are created equal".
it's important, i believe, to give credit where credit is due, and president obama's speech was one that i believe will be repeated over and over again long after our generation has past.
so kudo's to president obama on this one!
Save it missy.
for all the work he has done to highlight the entrenched racism in this great nation 
