Thank you for collecting these responses. I do wonder what was distracting Michael Goldfarb when he was trying to listen to the speech. Or, perhaps he heard another speech than the one I heard.

Sent by Brian Rendel | 8:25 AM ET | 03-19-2008

With regard to the Washington Times comments, "... why didn't he just walk away?" Is that what those editors do in their communities, just walk away when they disagree with someone? That is the weakest most passive strategy I can imagine. A community that is built on that principle probably looks like a bunch of people sitting in their houses watching tv, not a vibrant, raucous community shaking things up and trying unpopular ideas. Sometimes you just have to love the people in your life, warts and all. That means forgiving them and understanding them and listening to them even when they are wrong.

Sent by Richard Osborne | 8:37 AM ET | 03-19-2008

Bill Cosby is 100% correct. How long will the Black community be subject to the soft bigotry of low expectations? How long will white liberal elites treat them as children by different standards and excuse destructive and irrational behavior under the umbrella of "Black anger?" How long? 200 years? A thousand? What's the magic number so we can move on?

Sent by deek | 8:46 AM ET | 03-19-2008

The fact that Senator Obama's speech continues to be controversial among political parties,columnists, and the news media just proves that there IS prejudice in the world. It is a dirty little secret most would prefer never sees the light of day. But at what cost to our nation? By focusing Rev. Wright's remarks and 'black this' and 'black that' without comparing his rhetoric to what goes on in white, Christian churches preaching against gays, etc., or people like Rush Limbaugh who keeps the right constantly stirred up, the media condones prejudice rather than exposing it for what it is and always has been - fear. It also keeps this election focused on emotional hot buttons instead of issues. Why?

Sent by mary catherine linse | 9:03 AM ET | 03-19-2008

As a member of a faith community that has struggled with a Pastor with great strengths and equally great weaknesses, I fully understand why Obama would stay in the Trinity Church. The church is bigger than one person -- all the members are the church, and a Pastor should never be treated as all-knowing.

My respect for Obama is heightened because he did not cast Jeremiah Wright aside, but articulated his disagreement and disappointment within a context of forgiveness. If that isn't a Christian in action, I don't know what is.

And for the record, all the news stories on polling and opinion splits along racial lines doesn't help. Apparently no one contacted this "middle aged, working class white woman." If they had, I would be right in the same camp as the "disillusioned, angry black elders." We need to stop classifying one another by racial, economic and social labels if we are really going to move the race thing forward. I don't think I have ever found myself in agreement with what the media claims my demographic to be thinking.

Sent by Judith | 9:34 AM ET | 03-19-2008

Obams's speech was a defining moment in our history. Not only did he make us all uncomfortable in the whispered realities of racism in the United States, he set the standard for dialog and a path to understanding. As a white female over 50 living in a rural area on the Midwest, I say the time is now to follow his leadership and make a better America.

Sent by Martha Carver | 9:35 AM ET | 03-19-2008

In response to those who ask why Obama, as a spokesperson for unity, did not just get up and walk out of Wright's church twenty years ago:

What he HAS done is emerge from that congregation with a better, less divisive, less inflammatory way of speaking and of approaching the need to change American society and government. His disagreement with Wright's sentiments and approach are evident in the fact that he has made a higher level of discourse a centerpiece of his campaign. Words DO matter, evidenced by the public's strong reaction to Wright's sermons, and Obama's words are tellingly NOT like Wright's. Perhaps the change he is calling for is not only a change in government but a change in leaders of all kinds. Perhaps the fact that Obama's call for unity comes after his experience of hearing a different kind of call is evidence of the earnestness and authenticity of his desire for a change that includes all Americans.

What Obama also showed in his complex, honest account of Wright is an astute ability to listen to others, to find common ground, and to understand the complex role of history in shaping current emotions and world views. This makes me think MORE of Obama, not less.

If you have not sat down and listened to his speech all the way through, I really hope you will do so. Even if you do not end up agreeing with his approach to Wright, his account of race in America is frank and instructive. We should listen to it, and perhaps we can then learn what it means to listen astutely, to find common ground, and to think about emotions and world views in the context of history.

Sent by Michelle | 9:57 AM ET | 03-19-2008

The idea behind the push for Obama to "denounce" and "disown" Rev. Wright was political blackmail, plain and simple, with the result that Obama would come off looking like a shameless panderer who would say anything to ward off criticism -- a lose-lose situation. I'm pleased but not surprised that he didn't take the bait.

Sent by George de Man | 9:59 AM ET | 03-19-2008

I think if we examine ourselves, we all will find we have a Reverend Wright or 2 in our lives. Maybe their words and ideas are not quite as fiery, but I know I have friends and family members that I love dearly, and I was very disappointed to find out they were racist, or homophobic, or that they held any number of ideas that I found appalling. But that doesn't mean I have cast them out of my life or love them any less. And it also doesn't mean that my association with them indicates my acceptance of their ideas. The Washington Times editors should examine themselves and I'm sure they will come to realize they have people in their own lives, maybe even influential people, whose viewpoints are very different from their own.

Sent by Sallie | 10:06 AM ET | 03-19-2008

Mr.Obama now chooses to bring up the fact that he is bi-racial? What an opportunist and this shows a little about his character. I believe he is stirring the negative feelings about race. He is not going to solve any race or gender problems that exist. That has to come from the street level. We as citizens in our cities and states need to address this issue and theb changes will come. Mr. Obama has a pastor who hates the white establishment and he himself attends an organization that promotes the Black Liberation Theology. This has overtones of racism in my mind. I want all of us to be equal and I am not afraid to speak up in defense of issues that need support. But Obama has inappropriately used his race over and over. Please stop it, you are causing more diversity among the citizens of the U.S.

Sent by Kris | 10:29 AM ET | 03-19-2008

In response to Kris, Obama is not "causing more diversity." His speech frankly confronted the diversity and divisions that are clearly already in existence. He was brave enough to put it under a microscope instead of talking over it and pretending like it does not exist. The "street" cannot begin to solve racism if the street does not recognize it is a problem or does not acknowledge the historical conditions that contribute to it. Effective leaders can energize citizens to address racism by asking them to look it squarely in the face.

Sent by Emily | 10:55 AM ET | 03-19-2008

The earlier this country stopped playing the Proverbial ostrich on race issues and deep feeling of resentment of one another, the better for everbody. Obama has laid the ball on the court, its now left for everyone of us who desires justice and equality to play that ball. Before i migrated to the US, i had the impression that race and racism have been overcome by the trumpeted freedom that resonates around the globe,a claim that makes America different from other countries, but i was wrong. Obama could no more than disown Rev. Wright than he would, his grandmother. But here is a courageous man of mixed race who wants to unite, deliver and unite his divided country. Fox news conservative fundamentalist and their likes can misjudge and misrepresent the facts all they want for political gains, my sincere advise is for them to go home and watch the "Obama messianic speech" with their children in the comfort of their homes because in that speech lies the cancerous tissues that may bring the great empire down.

Sent by Ezeogu Anthony | 1:27 PM ET | 03-19-2008

I'm still wondering why reporters check their professional skepticism at the door whenever he speaks. It's not that we shouldn't all be happy about the rainbow of different colors and hues at his family reunions; it's that his church -- and I don't mean just the flamboyant Rev. Wright (by the way, why doesn't some one analyze all his sermons for any sign of multiculturalism) -- I mean HIS CHURCH has practiced reverse racial apartheid for twenty years, and Sen. Obama presumably supported it with "his prayers, his presence, and his offerings." Anyone who bothered to check out the church website, which I understand has been changed to become more politically correct, knows his church was all about Africa and the idea of being Black. Now correct me if I got this one wrong, but wasn't the message of Jesus about abandoning the natural tendency to love one's race over others, (eg. the Good Samaritan). So, we are to believe Sen. Obama was just waiting 20 years until yesterday to correct this abberrant theology? "Sure, why not?" David Duke must be dying of envy now...

Sent by Skeptic | 4:57 PM ET | 03-19-2008