Sen. Barack Obama in a speech Tuesday addressed the controversy surrounding his former minister, using it as an opportunity to challenge Americans to take a closer look at race relations.
Speaking at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center, the Democratic presidential candidate said he rejected racially charged comments made by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, but he tried to explain the root of those remarks.
Wright recently retired as pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where the senator from Illinois worships.
Some of Wright's old sermons came under fire after a news report last week turned some of his most controversial comments into a YouTube phenomenon.
In one, the minister said America had brought the September 11 attacks upon itself. In another, he said Sen. Hillary Clinton had an advantage over Obama because she is white.
Speaking before a relatively small, diverse crowd, Obama emphasized his upbringing as "the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment