Obama Ipsum

Bill, bought a house through F.H.A., and later moved west all the way to Hawaii in search of opportunity. This is where we are right now. The situation in Afghanistan demonstrates America's goals, and our need to work together. We know that is God's vision.

My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a small village in Kenya. They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren't rich, because in a generous America you don't have to be rich to achieve your potential. These are my heroes. It was Islam - at places like Al-Azhar University - that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe's Renaissance and Enlightenment. They have fought in our wars, served in government, stood for civil rights, started businesses, taught at our Universities, excelled in our sports arenas, won Nobel Prizes, built our tallest building, and lit the Olympic Torch. Countries like Japan and South Korea grew their economies while maintaining distinct cultures.

If there is a child on the south side of Chicago who can't read, that matters to me, even if it's not my child. In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships. I reject the view of some in the West that a woman who chooses to cover her hair is somehow less equal, but I do believe that a woman who is denied an education is denied equality. We know that is God's vision.

It's a war I'm proud I opposed from the start - a war that should never have been authorized and never been waged. Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less.

At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either "too black" or "not black enough." We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. For centuries, black people in America suffered the lash of the whip as slaves and the humiliation of segregation.

Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.