"Seeing Barack Obama accept the Democratic nomination for President will be one of the biggest moments of my life."
Yesterday morning, I typed those words to several thousand friends of mine through Twitter and Facebook and received a response as diverse as our nation. Admittedly though, I was surprised at the number of people that were angry, dumbfounded, or just downright confused as to why seeing Obama nominated would be such a big, hairy deal for me or anyone else. While it makes deep and easy sense to me, my family, and millions of American’s, many folk just don’t get "it" and I feel partly responsible for helping them to get "it" because I just don’t think anyone has ever made it very plain to them.
I was honored to have BBC follow my coverage and raw thoughts of the speech on Twitter last night. Hundreds of us had a spirited, but civil evening of political engagement and debate and I think we are all better for having done it. I gave my heartfelt response as to why last night was such a big deal there, but hope to say it with a little more prose here for you.
I endorsed Barack Obama nearly two years ago and almost left my previous church job when I had a window of opportunity to work for his campaign. However, I have since pledged not to use this blog and to never, ever use the platform of The Courageous Church to endorse political candidates. That is a principled decision that I detail further here in my explanation of how our church will approach politics.
I am not interested in using this space here to illuminate why I chose to endorse Barack Obama or the many reasons why I am still an avid supporter of his campaign. I made this decision with access to all of the same information you have. If you arrived at a different conclusion, that is perfectly fine with me.
What I hope to help some of you understand is why the speech that Barack Obama gave last night was not only one of the biggest moments of my life, but was one of the biggest moments in the entire history of our country. This goes beyond politics and far beyond wedge issues that drive us apart. This goes beyond party affiliation and flag pins. This goes beyond attack ads and slanderous email campaigns. This goes beyond John McCain and even goes beyond Barack Obama.
The United States, compared to most of the world is a very young nation. The sobering truth is that the land we call home was once the home of other indigenous people that were murdered en masse and eventually squeezed into tiny pockets of land that we call reservations.
To make this land profitable, a system of forced, free labor was created. I’m not talking about a friendly volunteer system like you have at your church, but a brutal, oppressive system of slavery was created so that this country could grow quickly and gain power. As an African American Studies major at Morehouse College, I read eye accounts that would make vomit today that describe unthinkable atrocities that were done to imported Africans to break their spirits and make them into forced servants. These stories would make Saw and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre look like Teletubbies. Here is a documented sample of what slaveholders often did on plantations to totally break the will of the imported Africans.
A newly imported African man would regularly be killed in front of other imported Africans on a plantation to break their will to fight or escape. A strong African man would be stripped naked in front of everyone and have his left arms and legs tied to one horse and his right arms and legs tied to another horse. Those horses would then be whipped. The African man would then be stretched and stretched by the horsepower. His screams of agony would be like nothing you have ever heard before. First his tendons would tear, then his arms would break, then his arms would rip off, then his legs would break and be ripped off of his torso. His limbless body would then soon die.
No one would ever try to escape from that plantation. Ever.
To say that a Black man was never intended to be President of the United States is a gross understatement. Black men were never intended to be human when this country was founded.
In 1787 at the United States Constitutional Convention, it was, in fact, determined that imported Africans were not human and a government clause was passed that determined that imported Africans were only 3/5 human. For you math whizzes – that’s 60%. Thomas Jefferson, in his writings entitled "Notes on the African Race" suggested that the other 40% was gorilla, but we all know that that would make him a personal fan of bestiality.
At least 3 million Africans died on brutal ship rides from Africa to the Americas. As many as 100 million Africans were forced into slavery against their will. After 250 years of slavery in this country, "free" African Americans were denied the right to vote and tens of thousands of Black men (and women and children) were lynched without ever having any type of legal justice.
It was just 43 years ago, with the passing of The Voting Rights Act, that the hard-earned right to vote was earned for all people in this country. Many members of my family and many of you remember the harshness of segregation. My friend Chris Elrod, a self-proclaimed redneck pastor, gives his vivid memories of those days here.
All 43 Presidents of this country have been white men. Even more Vice Presidents have been exclusively white men. No men of any of any other race and no women of any race at all have been elected or selected for these positions. How can a democratic country that proclaims we are ready to take freedom to other nations call itself free when 100% of its presidents are made up of a group of men that only make up 30% of our beautifully diverse population?
Two years ago my wife, a great elementary school teacher, took her kids to the Georgia State Capitol for a tour. When the kids (all Black) saw the wall with the portraits of every governor in the history of our state, several kids honestly and painfully asked, "Mrs. King, do you have to be a white man to be Governor of Georgia?" My wife answered with an emphatic "no" but the kids never quite believed her.
For decades, Black parents have told their kids that they could be the first Black President of the United States. Black people were then told over and over again in a ridiculous joke that this role had already been taken by Bill Clinton. Colin Power, at the height of his popularity had an amazing 80% approval rating in America – higher than any politician today. It was said that he would be a shoe-in for President, but he was urged by his wife not to run, in great part because of her very real fears for his personal safety.
Barack Obama is not God. He is not a god. He is not a messiah. In fact, he is an admittedly flawed and down to earth man with a story of humble beginnings that is so preposterous that it would seem like far-fetched fiction to most publishers. However, his nomination and his awesome speech last night to the largest, most diverse crowd ever assembled for a political speech, goes beyond his personal story.
The nomination of Barack Obama breaks down barriers that many thought would never be broken. The nomination of Barack Obama shatters at least one glass ceiling that has appeared altogether unreachable. The nomination of Barack Obama means that our nation, with its tremendously painful past, has the power to do what no other G-8 nation or world superpower has ever done – elect a man with Brown skin to the highest nation in the land.
If elected President, Black parents will then be able to say to their children that they can be the NEXT Black President instead of the first Black President. The difference may appear subtle to most, but not me, not to my wife, not to my neighbors. For us, it is HUGE.
It is not just huge for Black families in America, but major parts of the entire world are ablaze with the idea that this barrier may be broken. Its profundity resonates throughout Europe and throughout Africa. Our country has been known for decades as a real land of opportunity.
Nothing embodies the idea that this a land of opportunity more than electing a man born in Hawaii as the son of an African immigrant and a white mother from Kansas. Many people are starting to lose hope in the great ideal that is the United States, but the nomination of Barack Obama is a BIG, BEAUTIFUL SIGN, that the doors to this land of opportunity are still open.
Most critics, including conservatives, are saying that the speech below is one of the best political speeches ever delivered. Not just for its oratory, but the speech was celebrated for its politics, its tone, and its weight. Many analysts predicted that the venue would be too big and that the sound and energy would be lost. Some very respected conservatives even prayed that it would rain, but it didn’t.
See it again or for the first time here:
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