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I'm not talking about blind optimism here - the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don't think about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. I know, too, that Islam has always been a part of America's story. Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire. Of course, recognizing our common humanity is only the beginning of our task. America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own.
It is that fundamental belief, it is that fundamental belief, I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper that makes this country work. The questions I had didn't magically disappear. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either "too black" or "not black enough." We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. Ironically, this quintessentially American - and yes, conservative - notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright's sermons. They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.
The day after Pearl Harbor my grandfather signed up for duty; joined Patton's army, marched across Europe. He was a good-looking kid, six two, six three, clear eyed, with an easy smile. To the Joshua generation, these challenges seem momentous - and they are. Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity. We are the party of Roosevelt. They have killed people of different faiths - more than any other, they have killed Muslims.
Part of it's because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, who've been all too eager to exploit what divides us. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. And we will keep our promise to every young American - if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain. Moreover, freedom in America is indivisible from the freedom to practice one's religion. It's a faith in other people, and it's what brought me here today.
Wright deliver a sermon called "The Audacity of Hope." And during the course of that sermon, he introduced me to someone named Jesus Christ. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach. You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country. In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.
Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.