Been thinking today of Obama’s speech at the 50th anniversary of Selma, IMO the finest of his career. In direct response to an accusation from a now disbarred lawyer, who said he “didn’t really love America,” Obama laid out a vision of the America he loved.
time.com/3736357/bara...
He describes a country constantly trying to rise above its original sins by a constant effort to be “more perfect,” and succeeding, step by step, even in the face of violent opposition, as at Selma.
A powerful and convincing message from a Black man speaking as President at the very site.
What he didn’t understand, what I certainly didn’t, is those victories were still not universally accepted. That there were forces at work, energized in no small part by his occupying the office, that not only disagreed that those changes were improvements but were actively trying to undo them.
I think when we think "wow we made so much progress, what happened" it's that we DID make progress and some people really didn't like that progress at all and have put a lot of effort into undoing it while the other side perhaps rested a tad much
