Good talk by Obama; who's next?

People with good sense stay away from race in public.

Barack Obama tried to stay clear, but every year some national racial controversy pops up so I knew he'd run into one.I figured that since a chunk of his popularity rests on his being racially transcendent, having to wrestle with the question might doom his candidacy. But he got the 3 a.m. call and answered it in a speech that was eloquent, hopeful and even substantial.

Obama candidly addressed the one-sided conversations that take place in separate spaces.

He condemned statements his pastor made, calling them "a profoundly distorted view of this country." But he said he wouldn't condemn the man any more than he would repudiate his white grandmother, whose racial comments made him cringe.

He talked about the different experiences that shaped their views, and laid out paths to something better.

That's what's important now. Whether he rescued his candidacy or not, I don't know, but he did hand us an opportunity to talk openly about race.

We've had plenty of occasions to grumble about race within our respective groups, and we've been nudged before to go outside our groups.

But this speech comes from a credible presidential candidate and from a black man who has won the trust of millions of white Americans. His family tree allows him to speak with authority and empathy on things said in two worlds.

He demonstrated how to talk about race and move forward.

Obama asked black Americans to acknowledge progress and the struggles of other groups of Americans, and to form coalitions with them to improve life for everyone.

He urged white Americans to acknowledge that discrimination past and present still hobbles African Americans.

Last week I got an e-mail from a man who said he was 45 and white and troubled by what he perceives as growing black racism.

"I know of zero racists in my mostly white community," he wrote. "Black America in general hates white America; the problem of race is less of a white problem today and more of a black condition of hatred. ... "

It was an honest letter, absent the hostility of some I get. He wished my son well and told me he had two teenage boys, one of whom he said was typing the letter and worrying that his father was sounding racist. I appreciated his candor.

Hatred isn't the problem, but there is plenty of frustration and anger all around.

I tried to answer some of the questions the reader raised, but vast differences in perspective can't be closed with an e-mail or a column — or even a single brilliant speech.

I suggested he read "Afraid of the Dark," by Jim Myers. Beverly Tatum's "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" is excellent.

Obama's speech was both naively hopeful and courageously honest.

I'd like to hear from Hillary Clinton and John McCain.

When people with good sense won't talk about race, the conversation is left to people who feed the fire that burns all of us.

Jerry Large's column appears Monday and Thursday. Reach him at 206-464-3346 or jlarge@seattletimes.com.