obama, race & the end of the soundbite

You can see Obama's awesome speech today on his own page and at the NYTimes (where I linked). I'm embedding the video below as well. One thing that is really heartening to me is the end of the soundbite. Even though this whole thing has flamed up due to a sound bite or two of a minister, the debate is really being done in longer pieces. Look at people talking on YouTube and you'll see 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and more minute long pieces. Amazing. People are really digging into the issues in ways that have not been possible since the days when people actually talked face to face. It is great to get these deep seated issues addressed and discussed in the public sphere, and if nothing else, Obama's candidacy is making America start to acknowledge some of the hidden prejudices in everyone of us.

And I'm also not going to resort to soundbites. Even though I usually grab a line or two out of articles and put them here, I'm not doing that with this speech. There are certainly some really choice lines, but the whole of the speech is very powerful. And it is only 38 minutes long, so watch it, or read the whole thing if you are pressed for time.