During the 2008 presidential campaign, then Senator Barack Obama delivered what was largely considered his most important speech of the campaign, and one of the most significant speeches ever on the subject of race relations. He was responding to comments made by his long-time pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright condemning what he called “racist America.” Wright suggested that racism led to the September 11 attack at the World Trade Center.  Because he was an informal adviser to the Obama campaign, Wright’s comments raised questions about candidate Obama’s own attitude on race. Sen. Obama delivered his response, titled A More Perfect Union at Philadelphia’s Constitution Center. The candidate discussed racial tension, white privilege and black anger.  He appealed for America and Americans to “come together” to confront and solve the major problems facing all Americans. The speech launched a national dialogue on race. In St. Louis, where the polarization of races had long been acknowledged by both blacks and whites, part of that dialogue was conducted by Lewis Reed, President of the Board of Aldermen, Rabbi Mark Shook of Temple Israel, and Reverend Earl Nance, Jr. of the Greater Mt. Carmel Baptist Church.

Listen to the episode:

Contributors:

Lewis Reed, President of the Board of Aldermen

Rabbi Mark Shook of Temple Israel

Reverend Earl Nance, Jr. of the Greater Mt. Carmel Baptist Church 

Additional information about this episode:

Huffington Post on Obama speech with video

President Obama's "More Perfect Union" speech videos

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About the Project:

With this collection of archived interviews of St. Louis on the Air, we present an oral history of civil rights, the black experience, and race relations in St. Louis from 1847 to 2010.

Additional Resources:

The Beacon's Race Frankly Series:
An on-going community discussion around progress being made on the subject of race in the St. Louis metro area.

Eyes on the Prize:
A documentary from PBS's American Experience

FOCUS St. Louis project: Bridges Across Racial Polarization:
Get to know people whom you might not otherwise meet.

Missouri History Museum exhibit, Race: Are We So Different?
Learn the history of race, the role of science in that history, and the subtle and obtrusive expressions of race and racism in institutions and daily lives.

NAACP:
The nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization.

Southern Poverty Law Center:
A nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society.