Obama speaks of social evolution in repressed Russia
Obama has a difficult task ahead of him in repairing relations with Russia.
Since World War II, Russia and the United States haven’t been the best of friends, spending several decades in a Cold War until Reagan knocked a brick from a wall and the Soviet Union came crashing down. Obama has vowed to repair the relationship between the nations, but also looked to promote civil rights and acceptance in a government restricted information country.
Speaking to a crowd of students at the Moscow’s New Economic School, Obama spoke of free speech, free elections, and the government being accountable to the people. He toed a fine line between insulting and being spineless, maintaining his assertive and thought provoking stance with sheer charisma and historical evidence. He spoke of governments being “inevitably imperfect” and that a person’s universal values create a tool to be used to correct the wrongs within the government.
Citing the United States’s history with slavery, segregation and racial divides, Obama demonstrated how throughout the history of this country, minorities rose up under their rights as people, not blacks, to be treated the same as any other person.
Governments are not perfect, but as people evolve, so do the great nations. It is through this constant evolution that people are empowered and the government serves to unite those under the values of its citizens.
To what we hold dear, the government is sworn to uphold.
Obama’s Russian school speech was indeed one truly important moment in his young presidency, and while it may go unnoticed with Michael Jackson’s death being all the rage in the media at the time, it will earn him some respect in the minds of those who care about our nation.
After all, Obama spoke the truth and spoke it well. The United States has evolved. If it didn’t, he wouldn’t be our president.
Rob @ July 10, 2009