ShoutyBear: Politics. Foreign Affairs. Zarf.

I love how the cable networks keep playing this up as “the most important speech” of Barack Obama’s campaign only to go back to playing those incendiary clips of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright on an endless loop. And people wonder why even some Democratic voters still mistakenly believe Obama is a closeted Muslim.

Obama absolutely had to deliver this address because of his decision to separate himself from Wright’s remarks and still count the retired pastor as a counselor and friend.

“I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community,” Obama said in a 40-minute speech delivered at Constitution Hall in Philadelphia. “I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother — a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.”

Obama added that he had not known Wright to be a racist in dealing with white people, but for voters who are disturbed by those sermon clips that’s besides the point. This controversy revived a question that many in Obama’s camp thought dead in the water: Whether Obama was that kind of black man.

You know, the stereotypically angry and resentful black man who feels this country owes him something. The only difference between white conservatives and white Dems on that black man is that white conservatives are open about their disdain for him.

For voters who began to fear that The Hope Fairy might be too good to be true, the sermon clips proved that instinct correct. Not only did Wright declare a class war on the “rich, white, privileged” Americans who control the country (and apparently include Hillary Clinton, who is not that wealthy), he also called out “negroes who just don’t get it.” One assumes that by “not getting it,” Wright meant they weren’t sufficiently angry, or something.

My feeling about Obama is that he is no more racist or unpatriotic than he is a secret Muslim. I’m no fan of the media’s swoony love affair with him, but the negative stuff they’ve chosen to highlight has been completely unfair.

Obama hit all the right notes in his speech, and did the smart and noble thing by not running to an extreme in order to disentangle himself from this mess. Problematically for him, the MSM doesn’t do gray areas very well, and it will be a continuing battle for Obama to explain why he isn’t Larry Craig-ing Wright’s ass.

For all the unifying Obama has done for Democrats, this affair is putting into sharp relief America’s lingering divides on race issues. Check out this MediaCurves.com survey of voters reactions to the sermon clips, and try not to let your jaw drop too hard.

I’m a savvy city girl. I know wassup. And yet I am shocked, shocked at the chasm between blacks on the one side and Dems, independents and Republicans on the other side. I think this now becomes a big obstacle for Obama, who as America’s most famous black man is also now the de facto spokesman for black America. There are voters out there who just don’t get that enthusiastic response to Wright’s post-9/11 assertion that “America’s chickens are coming home to roost.” Obama attempted to explain it in his speech today when he acknowledged the anger and resentment in some corners of the black community.

“The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright’s sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change,” Obama said. “But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.”

The temptation here will be to say that Obama’s standing among moderate Republicans and independents has been greatly diminished. Conservatives get a bum rap on race, especially as ones like Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee lead a renewal of sensitivity to the issues of black Americans. All the same, there is a palpable distaste for the perceived victimization that plagues black communities. On this issue, white conservatives and prominent blacks including Juan Williams and Bill Cosby are singing the same tune.

Meanwhile, we’ve got Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson — the fathers of the black victimization movement. Remember when Jackson offered free tuition to the Duke lacrosse rape accuser — whether she was lying or not? That label isn’t entirely unwarranted. To get to where he is now, Obama successfully convinced voters that he was no Sharpton or Jackson; ie, that kind of black man. Unfairly, his association with Wright puts that in jeopardy.

The MSM pretty much is horrible when it comes to covering race issues, so it’s unclear now where Obama goes next. One thing is apparent: Obama may be this country’s best shot at starting a serious and productive dialogue on race. That’s not to say he’d be the best commander in chief, obviously. But for Americans concerned about the growing chasm between black and white Americans in education, wealth, health, etc., Obama is their guy.

Your concern about race probably depends on what things are like in your neigborhood. I’ll give one anecdote: A few months ago, I volunteered to help two black D.C. public high school students with their college admission essays. To my horror — and I mean that quite literally — neither student had a passable grasp of the English language. It was mortifying and depressing, and I quit that tutoring program.

Yeah, so, I’m no Mother Theresa. Cosby’s and Williams’ critics are many, but at least they are doing something important by calling attention to the ways in which black people are falling behind. Some Americans don’t care because they don’t see it or aren’t affected by it. Fine. I’m more of a pull-’em-up-by-the-bootstraps gal myself.

I see more of a utilitarian argument here. The more black Americans fall behind everyone else, the more this country as a whole suffers. Mostly economically, for those of you who vote with your pocketbooks. I’m less concerned with the responsibility/blame game than with how to right this. At this point in time, I still see foreign policy and the war on terror as the greatest imminent challenges this country faces. But Obama is right about trying to wish the race issue away. If we keep putting it off, the chickens really will come home to roost.