Obama Selma Speech
March 7, 2015 1:22 PM   Subscribe

President Barack Obama delivers a speech to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Bloody Sunday March in Selma, Alabama.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates (28 comments total) 21 users marked this as a favorite
 
For those curious, Time has a transcript of the speech.
posted by codacorolla at 1:32 PM on March 7, 2015 [2 favorites]


Speaking of those no longer with us,
posted by an animate objects at 1:41 PM on March 7, 2015


Did any House or Senate Republicans show up for this?
posted by five fresh fish at 2:03 PM on March 7, 2015


I think they were all out on a dinner date with Bibi Netanyatu.
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:11 PM on March 7, 2015 [6 favorites]


Did any House or Senate Republicans show up for this?

According to this local coverage, 5 Republican senators and 18 Republican reps were in attendance.
posted by ndfine at 2:19 PM on March 7, 2015 [2 favorites]


Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, who survived Bloody Sunday as a young SCLC leader, (or someone on his staff) has been posting pictures and remembrances on Facebook today.
posted by hydropsyche at 2:36 PM on March 7, 2015 [3 favorites]


I watched this speech and couldn't help but wonder where the hell this Obama has been spending the last 6.5 years? This one woulda sent chills up Chris Matthews' leg like it was 2008 all over again.
posted by the christopher hundreds at 2:47 PM on March 7, 2015 [4 favorites]


That is a powerful, articulate, and moving speech... Every single teacher in America should show that to their classes tomorrow...
posted by HuronBob at 3:06 PM on March 7, 2015 [7 favorites]


I have to admit that this white 40-something was only vaguely aware of the Selma march, much less its importance. With the movie and the anniversary now it's been a crash course in an event I should've learned about long, long ago.
posted by zardoz at 3:07 PM on March 7, 2015 [3 favorites]


I was super confused by this until I realized that I thought it was on April 4th because I was confusing two different U2 songs.
posted by trackofalljades at 3:22 PM on March 7, 2015 [2 favorites]


Damn, that's the guy I voted for twice.
posted by octothorpe at 4:18 PM on March 7, 2015 [7 favorites]


Obama unleashed is enough to make me believe in this country as I did many years ago. I'm in awe of this man.
posted by aryma at 5:18 PM on March 7, 2015 [2 favorites]


Inspirer-in-Chief
posted by Edward L at 5:19 PM on March 7, 2015 [2 favorites]


I watched this speech and couldn't help but wonder where the hell this Obama has been spending the last 6.5 years?

well, in this speech he came down:

against affirmative action i.e. special treatment

against equality of outcomes i.e. wealth transfers/welfare.

he said we should feel like, despite Ferguson, we've moved forward because there are black CEOs... he actually said that twice, well black and female CEOs. and gay CEOs.

we can celebrate the courage of ordinary patriotic americans, but can't acknowledge the power of political activists.

"it requires the occasional disruption, the willingness to speak out for what’s right and shake up the status quo." tell that to Occupy which faced an assault coordinated at the federal level.

"And if we make such effort, no matter how hard it may seem, laws can be passed, and consciences can be stirred, and consensus can be built." change can only come from legal process and consensus.

citizens: vote! but we are clearly moving forward since the VRA is about to die in congress. uh... so how will we vote then?

"Together, we can address unfair sentencing, and overcrowded prisons.." and uh... cops shooting people?

"We are Lewis and Clark and Sacajawea – pioneers who braved the unfamiliar, followed by a stampede of farmers and miners, entrepreneurs and hucksters. That’s our spirit." this seems unintentionally dark.

and a lot of god talk he doesn't believe, some retreads of his old stale political slogans.


so, pretty much the same Obama. a lot of transparently hokey orating, no uncontroversial opinions, no promises.
posted by ennui.bz at 5:46 PM on March 7, 2015 [9 favorites]


I have to admit that this white 40-something was only vaguely aware of the Selma march, much less its importance. With the movie and the anniversary now it's been a crash course in an event I should've learned about long, long ago.

A lot of the history of the American segregation and the struggle to overcome it is rarely mentioned. I believe this is mostly due to not wanting to really reckon with the staggering amount of violence waged in the name of preserving the racist status quo of the time. The story of the freedom riders is rarely part of the general narrative of the movement. Which is a shame. If you ask me, the heroism of the Freedom Riders is unparalleled. And speaking of heroics, John Lewis might as well be Batman as far as I'm concerned.
posted by billyfleetwood at 5:52 PM on March 7, 2015 [4 favorites]


I was glad to see this day, glad to see it memorialized by a proper American President. Proud of that speech, of the reason and the beauty in it. It was very well constructed, so carefully constructed. Glad to see the praise and the hope still out on the horizon, for a better, and even better nation. I left the south just as desegration began, what brave souls to walk into the gates of that hell, calling on heaven as witness.

What a graceful president Obama is, to serve us so eloquently in the face of so much run amok racism.
posted by Oyéah at 6:25 PM on March 7, 2015 [3 favorites]


I'd love to have recommendations for history books that treat this topic well, if there are any thoughts.

John Lewis' memoir Walking With The Wind

The King Years Is a "highlight reel" pulled from Taylor Branch's 3000 page trilogy Parting The Waters, which I have attempted a couple of times, but never finished.

The excellent PBS documentary Eyes On The Prize is available on Amazon streaming, as well as dvd.
posted by billyfleetwood at 6:39 PM on March 7, 2015 [3 favorites]


That was the first time in my life I've ever felt pleased to see George W. Bush.

Obama walked across the stage to shake people's hands after the speech, and W was one of them, and I actually thought "Oh, W was there, that's nice" and felt pleased. Weird.

It was good to see a Republican president there to commemorate this anniversary, is what it was.
posted by kadonoishi at 6:50 PM on March 7, 2015 [6 favorites]


ennui.bz:well, in this speech he came down:

against affirmative action i.e. special treatment
WRONG. He noted the marchers to Selma weren't asking for special treatment - which is 100% true. BIG difference from saying he was personally against affirmative action, which wasn't even a concept back then.
against equality of outcomes i.e. wealth transfers/welfare
You are twisting his words. He said nothing about welfare.
he said we should feel like, despite Ferguson, we've moved forward because there are black CEOs... he actually said that twice, well black and female CEOs. and gay CEOs.
Yes. And that is proof we've moved forward. Are CEO's so EEEVIL to you that black people shouldn't be them?
we can celebrate the courage of ordinary patriotic americans, but can't acknowledge the power of political activists.
Where did he say this? CITE. I can cite him saying the exact opposite of your claim:
What could more profoundly vindicate the idea of America than plain and humble people – the unsung, the downtrodden, the dreamers not of high station, not born to wealth or privilege, not of one religious tradition but many – coming together to shape their country’s course?
"it requires the occasional disruption, the willingness to speak out for what’s right and shake up the status quo." tell that to Occupy which faced an assault coordinated at the federal level.
Ahhh, did you not get every single thing you asked Santa for? THAT MEANS OBAMA IS A LIAR!
"And if we make such effort, no matter how hard it may seem, laws can be passed, and consciences can be stirred, and consensus can be built." change can only come from legal process and consensus.
You have a problem with rule of law?
"Together, we can address unfair sentencing, and overcrowded prisons.." and uh... cops shooting people?
Yes. Obviously. We ARE addressing it. Do you really think the Justice Department's analysis of Ferguson would have been issued in such stark, damning language in 1964?
and a lot of god talk he doesn't believe, some retreads of his old stale political slogans.
Glad to know you have the inside track on Obama's religious beliefs. So... secret Mooooslem, or just the Antichrist?
so, pretty much the same Obama. a lot of transparently hokey orating, no uncontroversial opinions, no promises.
Same as that slackjaw do-nothing Lincoln at Gettysburgh. We expected a decision on the sugar-import tax and square-nail-size regulations, and all we got was some hackneyed, insincere crap about remembering the dead who fought for our nation.

--

Honestly, Fox News is more accurate than your version of Obama's speech.
posted by IAmBroom at 10:11 PM on March 7, 2015 [22 favorites]


I rarely post political stuff on facebook, being a Democrat in the heart of Republican Texas, but I posted this proudly. I thought this speech was one of Obama's best.
posted by DynamiteToast at 11:24 PM on March 7, 2015


I'd love to have recommendations for history books that treat this topic well, if there are any thoughts.

The Taylor Branch trilogy already mentioned is the gold standard. I also liked David Halberstam's The Children.
posted by sallybrown at 7:47 AM on March 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


Yes. Obviously. We ARE addressing it. Do you really think the Justice Department's analysis of Ferguson would have been issued in such stark, damning language in 1964?

"Addressing" one municipality is not really going to fix this systemic problem. So once again we get the illusion of change, instead of the real deal.

This speech was a much better; one that actually led to real, concrete change. Arguably the most important speech ever given by an American President.
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 9:14 AM on March 8, 2015


I find it interesting that Mr. and Mrs. Bush stood and applauded (with the crowd) after his plea to renew the voting rights act.
posted by anastasiav at 9:19 AM on March 8, 2015 [7 favorites]


AElfwine Evenstar: "Addressing" one municipality is not really going to fix this systemic problem. So once again we get the illusion of change, instead of the real deal.
Great. Now trying to fix a hotbed problem area while the national attention is powerfully focused on it is "an illusion of change".

You do realize that the March to Selma worked in exactly the same way? A horrific example was held up for public scrutiny, which disgusted the nation so much that even comfortable white people were forced to care?

And the murdered voting activists in the "Mississippi Burning" incident as well? Change doesn't happen as a sudden swell everywhere; it tends to catch like wildfire from an ignition point.

And whether or not Obama is capable of making that wildfire happen, he's doing hella more on it than any other recent president I can think of.
posted by IAmBroom at 12:46 PM on March 8, 2015 [3 favorites]


Another anniversary for Selma - 25 years ago.

Full Disclosure: I was one of those white kids that the national guard extracted from the school and who was forced to leave town to finish high school.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 7:24 AM on March 9, 2015


Yes. And that is proof we've moved forward. Are CEO's so EEEVIL to you that black people shouldn't be them?

It's progress of a kind. Not to speak for ennui.bz, but I think more meaningful progress would involve redressing the inequities of American capitalism - doing something about the wage stagnation of the last thirty years - rather than facilitating the ascension of a very few members of oppressed groups to its summit. That said, you can certainly celebrate both while criticizing each one's shortcomings. It's just that one has happened and the other hasn't.

Ahhh, did you not get every single thing you asked Santa for? THAT MEANS OBAMA IS A LIAR!

A federally coordinated crackdown on peaceful protests makes hypocrisy of the speech's praise of protest. I guess it was too much to ask Santa for the right to free assembly.

You have a problem with rule of law?

For some reason, you ignored the point that immediately followed:

citizens: vote! but we are clearly moving forward since the VRA is about to die in congress. uh... so how will we vote then?

The rule of law is not the end-all and be-all. The protestors in Selma could have told you that. Moving on:

Glad to know you have the inside track on Obama's religious beliefs. So... secret Mooooslem, or just the Antichrist?

Jesus would have personally approved double-tap drone strikes. I can't keep track: Is ennui.bz an evil socialist or an evil conservative?

Honestly, Fox News is more accurate than your version of Obama's speech.

Even if this is true of ennui.bz's comment, your aggressive, poorly argued comment is no less reminiscent of cable news.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 8:05 AM on March 9, 2015




I have to say, that interview I linked to above really affected me in a very positive way.

The Celebration Is Over, and Selma Is Still Poor
posted by Golden Eternity at 9:33 AM on March 12, 2015


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