Endorsement of Barack Obama for President of the United States

Race has been the most divisive theme in the history of America. In 1903, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois said that the problem of the 20th Century was the “color line.” The challenge of the 21st Century is how we as a nation can transition from the legacy of slavery, which defined race relations in America for previous generations, to a multi-racial society predicated on the pursuit of excellence. Until we, as a country, can come to terms with our past of slavery, segregation and racial discrimination, relations principally between whites and African Americans will continue to define much of who we are as a nation.

Martin Luther King, Jr., a minority dreamer with a majority vision, bequeathed to us a unique and historic opportunity to chart a new direction. In 12 years and 4 months, from 1956 to April 1968, he may have done more to foster racial, social and political justice in our country than any other event or person in the previous 400 years.

Martin knew that the “freedom” he sought from racial oppression was a necessary prerequisite for African Americans to achieve economic parity. Most importantly, he knew this could not be done without a substantial base of support within the majority white community. His “Dream” for America, so eloquently described in Washington, DC on August 28, 1963, cannot be realized for current and future generations, in our information technology-based economy, without an abiding recommitment to the pursuit of educational excellence. To accomplish this, however, requires a special kind of political wisdom and leadership.

After the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the assumption of the presidency by former Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, some of us who worked closely with Dr. King concluded that no fundamental change in race relations in America could be accomplished and successfully sustained unless it was done under the political leadership of a white man from the south: Lyndon B. Johnson. Then other white southern political leaders arrived on the scene over the years: Jimmy Carter, William Jefferson Clinton and George W. Bush. This belief was predicated on the assumption that our country would be more willing to follow a white southern political leader on the issue of race relations and equal economic opportunity in America than the leadership of another politician from another part of our country. The candidacy of Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States challenges this long-held political assumption.

To bring about the necessary fundamental and transformational change on the historically pervasive issue of race in America, we need a political leader who can rise above the old, established paradigm and chart a new direction for our country. One who can inspire a new generation of all Americans to be the best that they can be.

President and Senator Clinton have made invaluable contributions to the achievement of racial justice and equality in America. They have built an enduring legacy on this issue and others related to fostering social and economic justice. For this, they, and those associated with them over the years, can be justifiably proud. Our country shall forever be indebted to them for their years of devoted public service.

They are campaigning for the presidency, however, in the tradition of the politics of the past. Senator Clinton seems committed to conducting her campaign on the basis of those previous national, state and community paradigms that were relevant and more appropriate for an earlier and different time in our nation. Today’s new foreign and domestic challenges confronting our country require a different political matrix of problem solving. Today’s challenges require the building of a new political constituency to implement successful solutions. A new generation needs new leadership.

Senator Barack Obama understands this. In his speech Saturday night following his primary victory in South Carolina he said, “This election is about the past versus the future. It’s about whether we settle for the same divisions and distraction and drama that passes for politics today, or whether we reach a politics of common sense and innovation – a shared sacrifice and shared prosperity.”

This becomes even more evident as we watch and listen to how the Clinton campaign communicates its reasons why Senator Clinton should be President. Their words and actions demonstrate how removed and poignantly irrelevant their form of political leadership has become to this new generation in the 8th year of our 21st century.

The current black experience in America is a political and cultural by-product of the legacy of slavery. In language, dance, fashion, sports, and music, it is the fuel that drives the engine of much of our popular culture. Who, as a new president in 2009, has best demonstrated the ability to tap into and ignite this fuel of potential talent and creativity, to harness its energy, and to address those problems requiring timely solutions for the benefit of all of our people?

Senator Obama, at 46 years of age, is like a musician blessed with “perfect pitch.” His ear and ideas are more in tune with the hopes and dreams of a new multi-racial generation than any other national political candidate today.

Yes, many of Senator Clinton’s African American supporters are also talented political “musicians”. Their only problem is that they appear to be “out of tune” and “off-key” to the inspirational music being played around them by a very motivated and enthusiastic generation which seeks to embrace and support Senator Obama as their spokesperson and messenger.

Caroline Kennedy describes the importance of his candidacy for President this way: “He has built a movement that is changing the face of politics in this country, and he has demonstrated a special gift for inspiring young people---known for a willingness to volunteer, but an aversion to politics---to become engaged in the political process.”

Only time and events will reveal whether Senator Obama’s candidacy for president will be, as Dr. King often quoted French author Victor Hugo in his classic Les Misérables, “There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world and that is an idea who time has come.”
I am pleased to join so many of my colleagues, with whom I worked in the Civil Rights Movement under Dr. Martin Luther King’s leadership, to publicly support Senator Barack Obama in his quest to become the 44th President of the United States.