I just wanted to highlight the following:

In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don’t feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience – as far as they’re concerned, no one’s handed them anything, they’ve built it from scratch. They’ve worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they’re told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.

Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren’t always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.

Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze – a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns – this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.

I actually believe this is a VERY important section and a much needed starting point for racial unification. During one of the moments in Reverend Wright’s now infamous series of speeches, he says Senator Clinton has never known what it is like to struggle the way an African American has. The reality is, Senator Clinton faced an enormous struggle in her rise and it is a struggle most women still face today. Women have it tuff, it is difficult for them to rise up into positions of power regardless of whether they are black or white and they face internal struggles, double binds and more every single day of their lives.

In addition, my ancestors struggled too. Italian and German immigrants struggled and my Irish rooted wife’s ancestor’s were not too well liked on their way to this nation. Long held were the tensions between our ancestors, each believing the other was stealing their jobs or giving bad influence or simply held stereotypical and prejudiced traits.

The fact that my wife and I are so freely together without a thought of anything different is a testament to our nations ability to change, but we shouldn’t forget that there was a time when it wasn’t so easy. That there was a time when people of two different cultures hated one another so much they would not allow themselves to see the world in which we currently live.

Empathy is the most important aspect of understanding and harmony and if Obama or any politician, preacher or community leader is going to be successful in uniting our culture, they have to begin understanding that we all struggle and spending our time fighting over who struggles more will get us nowhere.