The reading is from what I remember as the most racially poignant part of the book. It takes place when he was 16 and includes the incident when his maternal grandmother was frightened by a black man at her bus stop as well as an interchange Barack had about that with Frank Marshall Davis.
In the discussion after the reading, Obama talks about how he has reconciled the anger he experienced as a teenager and how his faith gave him an optimism about our ability as Americans to deal with the racial divide.
If you can find the time to watch this video (introduction and reading until 25:10, then Q&A), you will be reminded that we have a President who has had his own unique experience of racism and taken a deep personal journey to not only understand himself, but how his life is part of the greater American story.
Up till now, I never considered buying this book ...
ReplyDeleteBut just this part makes it clear that one *cannot* understand Barack Obama without reading it.