Obama says US cannot ignore race

Mr Obama called on his own history in an ambitious speech Obama on race issues

US presidential hopeful Barack Obama has sought to tackle the issue of race and defuse a controversy over comments made by his former pastor.

Mr Obama said he understood the history of anger between black and white Americans but that the US could not afford to ignore race issues.

He referred to the uproar over what he called the Rev Jeremiah Wright's "profoundly distorted view" of the US.

Mr Wright said the 9/11 attacks were like "chickens coming home to roost".

After the remarks resurfaced, Mr Obama denounced them as "incendiary" and "completely inexcusable" and said he had not been present when they were made.

Mr Obama is locked in a close race with New York Senator Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, with the significant Pennsylvania primary vote due on 22 April.

The BBC's Jamie Coomarasamy in Philadelphia says this was a bold speech with considerable risks, but one which Barack Obama clearly felt he had little choice but to make to defuse the race issue.

'Racial stalemate'

Speaking in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania city seen as the cradle of US democracy, Mr Obama drew on America's long history of racial inequality - and called on the US to move beyond it.

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community Barack Obama

"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," he said.

As the child of a black father and white mother, he said he understood the passions of both sides in what he called "a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years" - and said he was not so naive as to believe it could be overcome in one election cycle.

However, Mr Obama said, he believed the nation could - if it worked together - move towards healing some of the wounds caused by racial injustice.

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And while he condemned many of Mr Wright's political views as "not only wrong but divisive", he said it was important to remember that he had grown up at a time of racial segregation.

"I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother," he said.

He recalled that his grandmother had raised him and loved him - but that at times she had used racially-tinged language or stereotypes that made him "cringe".

'Don't walk away'

Mr Obama also said that it should not be news to Americans that anger over racial injustice still finds voice in many black churches.

The row was sparked by sermons given by the Rev Jeremiah Wright

"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," he said.

He challenged the nation not to ignore the issue of race "this time" - while acknowledging that white Americans, especially the working class, also had their problems.

"If we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American."

Race has emerged as an issue on several occasions in the battle between Mr Obama and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, but at no time before has Mr Obama addressed it so directly.

Former President Bill Clinton was accused of stirring up racial politics over remarks he made after Mr Obama's victory in South Carolina's primary in January, in which he seemed to try to marginalise Mr Obama as a black candidate winning a state with a heavily black electorate.

In an interview with US network ABC broadcast on Monday, Mr Clinton rejected that criticism, saying the story had been spun out of nothing and that it was a "myth" that the Clinton campaign had engaged in racial politics in the state.

Last week, former vice-presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro resigned from her unpaid advisory post to the Clinton campaign after a row over remarks appearing to suggest Mr Obama had only got where he was because of his race.

'Tragic history'

Mr Wright has resigned from an honorary position on the campaign's African-American Religious Leadership Committee, aides to Mr Obama said.

Before his retirement from Trinity United Church of Christ, in Chicago, the pastor helped Mr Obama affirm his Christian faith, officiated at his wedding and baptised his daughters.

Mr Obama said he had looked to Mr Wright for spiritual, not political, guidance.

In a sermon on the Sunday after the attacks of 11 September 2001, Mr Wright suggested that the US had brought the terror attacks on itself through its own foreign policy.

And in a 2003 sermon, he said blacks should condemn the US because of continuing racial injustice, saying: "God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human."

Trinity church said the recent attacks on Mr Wright had been made by "external forces" that want to "vilify us".
source:bbc.co.uk

Obama wins in Mississippi primary

Mr Obama was backed by nine in 10 black voters, exit polls suggest

Barack Obama has beaten rival Hillary Clinton to win the Democratic primary election in the state of Mississippi.

Mr Obama won 60.7% of the vote to Mrs Clinton's 37.1%, polling strongly among African-American voters.

The result is not decisive but boosts his lead in terms of delegates at the August convention where the party will choose its White House candidate.

With the Republicans' race settled, their presumptive nominee, John McCain has been focusing on fund-raising.

Mr McCain, who is set to secure the Republican nomination at the party's national convention in September after winning the backing of a majority of delegates, is under pressure to build up a campaign war-chest ahead of November's election.

Race issue

Speaking to CNN from Chicago, Mr Obama welcomed the "wonderful support" of voters in Mississippi.

The results followed a day of campaigning dominated by a row over the volatile issue of race, sparked by an interview with Clinton supporter Geraldine Ferraro in which she implied that Mr Obama has only been successful because of his ethnicity.

"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position," said Ms Ferraro, a vice-presidential candidate for the Democrats in 1984.

Mrs Clinton, senator for New York, said she regretted Ms Ferraro's comments, and did not agree with them.

"It's regrettable that any of our supporters - on both sides, because we both have this experience - say things that kind of veer off into the personal," she told the Associated Press.

"We ought to keep this on the issues."

One of Mr Obama's senior advisers, David Axelrod, has called on Ms Ferraro to be removed from the Clinton campaign.

In a follow-up interview with California newspaper the Daily Breeze, which originally broke the story, Ms Ferraro refused to withdraw her remarks.

"Racism works in two different directions. I really think they're attacking me because I'm white," she said.

Asked about the apparently worsening relations between the rival camps, Mr Obama said his campaign had been "very measured" in how it talked about Mrs Clinton.

"I've been careful to say that I think Senator Clinton is a very capable person and that should she win the nomination, obviously I would support her," he said.

"I'm not sure that we've been getting that same approach from the Clinton campaign."

Pennsylvania beckons

Exit polls of Mississippi voters conducted for AP painted a picture of an electorate divided along racial lines.

Mr Obama won support from nine out of 10 black voters in the state, while Mrs Clinton won about three-quarters of the white vote, the exit polls suggest.

Mrs Clinton did better with groups of white voters that have, in some earlier races, favoured Mr Obama. They include college-educated men, independent voters and those aged under 45.

Clinton campaign spokeswoman Maggie Williams congratulated Mr Obama on his win.

"Now we look forward to campaigning in Pennsylvania and around the country as this campaign continues," she said.

Hillary Clinton has been campaigning hard in Pennsylvania

Former President Bill Clinton planned to campaign for his wife in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, reflecting the state's importance as the next major battleground. It is due to vote on 22 April, with 158 delegates up for grabs.

Under the Democratic Party's system of proportional representation, Mr Obama picked up at least 17 of the 33 delegates on offer in Mississippi. Mrs Clinton gained 11 delegates, while five more are still to be awarded.

Mr Obama currently leads the fight for delegates with 1,579 to Mrs Clinton's 1,473, according to AP.

The successful candidate needs 2,025 delegates to secure the Democratic nomination.

Meanwhile, Mr McCain, who has raised less in election funds than either of his Democratic opponents, is touring the country as he seeks to fill his campaign coffers.

The Arizona senator will visit Boston, Pennsylvania and Chicago this week.
source:bbc.co.uk

Obama gets letter from Obama

FUKUI--The Obama municipal government in Fukui Prefecture has received a letter from U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama, the municipal government announced Tuesday.

In the letter, Obama said he appreciated the support he received from the people of Obama and praised the city's rich culture, deep tradition and natural beauty.

"I am touched by your friendly gesture," he wrote.

"We share more than a common name; we share a common planet and common responsibilities," he wrote.

According to the municipal government, the letter, which was typed and dated from Washington D.C., Feb. 21, was sent by airmail to Mayor Toshio Murakami on Monday.

"The letter will help citizens of Obama feel much closer to [Barack] Obama," Murakami said.
(Mar. 5, 2008)