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I just read Barack's Philadelphia speech. Thanks, OpEdNews, for posting a manuscript copy. I'm thinking--But how does Obama know what happened in the 60's? He was just a wee boy then.
I remember the 60's in Chicago–the march Jessie Jackson didn't make into Cicero, how we at Spiegel on 35th Street wore black and white after an especially tough event, and then later how Spiegel moved to the suburbs and those good people had no way of getting there.
I know about the United Church of Christ. As Sunday School superintendent in an all-white western suburb, we were confronted with members who were virulently anti-segregationist, while at the same time we saw that the children learned what Jesus said. Viet Nam and civil rights were what made my life challenging at a time when I was learning how computers were programmed at Spiegel.
In the evening, the Sunday School teachers and our minister went to meetings to promote the anti-ballistic missile treaty and interracial fellowship. Sunday evenings we went to the Loop to hear Dr. Benjamin Mays, head of Atlanta University, tell us we were all brothers and sisters. The night Dr. King was murdered, a group were sitting in the Fellowship Hall, wondering how the men could make a better contribution to our community. Shortly afterwards, I saw my dear stepson off to the Navy. All the time he was on that destroyer I asked my associates, young black men who had returned from Viet Nam, what his letters really meant. He returned safely, I'm glad to say.
A movement which addressed the problems of race and poverty, the Ecumenical Institute, offered a weekend seminar where adults were willing to address their futures. It was before presidential elections while Shirley Chisholm was still a candidate. I remember clearly how Mrs. Ken Smith's presence made the trip worthwhile. Her husband was pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, a person I heard a lot about but had never had a chance to meet.
It bears relating how the U C of C, a small Protestant denomination, has a special role in Christianity. Formed by the 1957 merger of the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church, it is slow to criticize other religions and quick to champion personal liberty. Recently, the national headquarters has run into legal problems with the federal government. Donations were received sufficiently to defend itself in the lawsuit, while a law firm has agreed to represent it pro bono.
Here I sit in Hillary country. She won decisively over Obama in Tennessee's primary, just as Huckabee prevailed over McCain. So much water can gush over so many bridges between now and November 4. I thought it prudent to give one person's view.
