Norton's CBC Message to America Compares Obama's Win to King's Victories (6/7/08)
Norton's CBC Message to America Compares Obama's Win to King's Victories
June 7, 2008
Washington, D.C. ¾ Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton's (D-DC) Congressional Black Caucus "Message to America," began airing today throughout the country. She compared Senator Barack Obama's Democratic presidential nomination win this week, taking "the high road... for hope and unity, to Martin Luther King Jr.'s Nobel Peace Prize award almost 45 years ago for his leadership of the civil rights movement and his "masterpieces of language laced with love of country and of his white opponents."
But Norton warned that while Dr. King achieved his major goals with the passage of the civil rights laws, Obama's win was the beginning not the November finale. The presidency now lies "in our hands," she said, and with other voters to repeat this week's history-making nomination victory by going to the polls in record numbers on November 4.
The Congresswoman's full statement follows:
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. put Black Americans at the center of history almost 45 years ago when he won the Nobel Prize for leading a non-violent revolution against American racism and racial discrimination in our country. Black Americans this week stood with Barack Obama at another crossroad, when the Senator made history by winning the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.
The accomplishments of both these African Americans were liberating - for Black people and for our country. With the Nobel Peace Prize, the world recognized not only King, but the significance of our non-violent movement for human rights and equal citizenship. Senator Obama's achievement this week has equivalent significance. The high road he paved for hope and unity, and against division, moved voters beyond the old racism, just as King's non-violent resistance and his lyrical masterpieces of language, laced with love of country and of his white opponents, changed our country.
Both men had magical appeal, but personal charisma alone could not have broken the barriers of the ages. The courage of King's campaigns defying violence with the brave and brilliant use of non-violence was central to the direction he and the movement took, and to the ultimate victory of our movement.
Dr. King reached his goals with the huge 1963 March on Washington and the achievement of three great civil rights statutes - the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Whatever happens in November, Barack Obama, too, has changed America. A Black American has defeated not just any opponent, but the most formidable, Hillary Clinton, whom we salute as a champion of the same issues and causes that Senator Obama and African Americans regard as fundamental. Yet, Obama rose from community organizer and little-known senator, and came from nowhere in the polls to win 33 contests from South Carolina to Montana, to Clinton's 18, and the delegate majority necessary to capture the nomination.
Rarely has so sensational a turning point been a beginning and not a finale. Barack Obama has won the Democratic nomination. Now he must win the presidency. His nomination gives him millions of Americans who already have voted that he should be our president. Now, all of us must be mindful that we must vote again and bring many more with us because the vote that counts most will be cast on November 4. Victory is in sight, but not yet achieved.
Most challenging will be the winner-take-all arithmetic of presidential elections. Democratic primaries distribute delegates to each candidate according to the proportion he wins. To become president, the nominees must win entire majorities in a sufficient number of states. Even then, some states will count more than others because they have larger populations and therefore are assigned more electoral votes. It is this electoral vote total count that determines the presidency. Senator Obama has set new records for votes from young Americans, African Americans and many others. He must now win a cross-section of America itself.
In our country, where most Americans share his values but not his race or background, Senator Obama's work has just begun. We must not let this unique moment in history and a path-breaking new future slip from our country. The finale due on
November 4th does not depend on Barack Obama alone. The presidency lies with us and in the hands of other Americans who understand that Barack Obama, who has already changed America can also change our posture in the world and with it bring the return of the best and highest use of American power.
This has been Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton with the CBC Message to America. Thank you for listening.