Reply #58: I don't quite think that's what Barack was trying to say. It's more sophisticated than that.. [View All]

Barack didn't say that Martin and Malcolm were wrong, per se. However, he suggested that they both limited their talents and abilities mostly to helping other black men and women. But, they had so much to offer other people, too. Yet they didn't reach out and influence white men and women who were also like-minded, as much as he thought they should have.

I think it is because Barack sees both sides of the racism problem in the country because his mother was white, and so he wants to help white people. And his father was black, so he wants to help black people. Barack went through a very troubling time of revelation for himself when he was a teenager, was he black? Or was he white? Was he blacker than white? Or was he whiter than black? Somewhere along the line, shortly after high school, Barack found himself - he learned that he can be both, black and white, white and black. This is just my opinion, but based on what Barack has said about himself, he has seen racism from both sides, white vs black and black vs white.

Whereas Martin and Malcolm both did good work towards helping some of the people, I think Barack would prefer to strive to work for ALL people, either black or white, or even red or brown. Barack also has the advantage of the times when he was raised. Had Barack been raised back in MLK's day, his attitude toward the races would not have been as highly socially developed as his are in today's society. Malcolm and MLK both were raised during times when segregation was prevalent. Barack saw the psychological effects of segregation, but he didn't have to live through those times.

This is why I think Obama is a unique man for our times as President. He considers all aspects when he is making his decisions. He is not trying to rock the boat, or overturn 300 years of prejudice and racism, he is trying to lead us through these days and times as best he can. Knowing that there are major differences between the races, but looking for those similarities we all have in common with each other, no matter what race, or color, we are.

I have been impressed with Barack's level of tolerance with the mostly Republican Congress of late. He knows it is a struggle, but he keeps focused on the future. He knows we can reach a better level of cooperation by working together to work our way through these problems, rather than just the ordinary back-and-forth infighting that Congress is famous for. I don't think he was prepared for the Senate Republicans to filibuster everything they tried to do, but that's the system we have.