I've waited for obama to come out and talk about race

Barack Obama is the most interesting political figure right now. In this speech, finally, he talks about race.

On his show Tuesday night Jon Stewart said that Obama spoke to Americans about race "as if we were grown-ups". I think that's right. Obama suggested a reality that is not black and white. Where there is room for someone like him, of mixed race and with diverse experience, where there is room for the reverend Wright, an African American man with a lot of anger, and where is room for someone like his own white grandmother, a woman carrying the stereotypes and prejudices of her generation.

Obama said his grandmother was afraid to meet black men in the street, even though her own grandson, who she helped raise, was growing into a black man. Very few of us can imagine what it might have felt like to hear her say that.

No one else on the political arena is as personal as Barack Obama. Others may talk about race in the abstract, but he is forced to talk about his life. Some of the cable anchors are taking their cues from him. On Tuesday night Keith Olbermann on MSNBC spoke about his own racist grandfather. It is interesting what is happening. I think much would be gained if more people spoke less about what they think, and more about their own lives.