Paras. 20-24

20 That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety-the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity's services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, and clapping, and screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and biases that make up the black experience in America.

21 And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions-the good and the bad-of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.

22 I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can disown my white grandmother-a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed her by on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

23 These people are part of me. And they are part of America, this country that I love.

24 Now some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. And I suppose the politically safe thing to do would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated bias.

Q1: What do paragraphs 20-26 mainly talk about?

A1: They illustrated the need to unite for the building of a more perfect union.

Q2: What can be known from paragraphs 20-24?

A2: They focused on the ground for the attachment between Obama and Wright.

Q3: How do you paraphrase the following knowledge points?

1. Like other predominantly black churches.… and the former gang-banger.

(Para.20)

Trinity embraces all types of people into the community, the doctor and women living on government aid, good kids and kids who went astray in the past. A contrast is used to indicate different kinds of people: man, woman, educated, uneducated, good, former criminal.

gang-banger: a member of a street gang, particularly a man who is part of a group of men who rape women

2. Like other black churches, Trinity's services... bawdy humor. (Para.20)

1) This is a parallel structure for emphasis, pointing out the similarities of black churches.

2) raucous: loud and rough-sounding

3) bawdy: coarse

4) The use of "raucous laughter” and "bawdy humor” gives the idea that the group at the religious ceremony are ordinary people, natural, full of life and down-to-earth.

3. They are full of... to the untrained ear. (Para.20)

People who are not familiar with such practices may find the services too noisy, too rowdy.

4. The church contains in full... the black experience in America. (Para.20)

The device of antithesis is employed with a number of contrasts: kindness vs. cruelty, fierce intelligence vs. shocking ignorance, struggles vs. successes, love vs. bitterness, bias vs. yes. The contrasts are used to show the two sides of the experiences of the blacks in America.

1) fierce intelligence: people who are very well-informed and intensely bright

2) shocking ignorance: people who are distressingly lacking in knowledge

3) yes: agreement

5. Paragraphs 19 and 20

Paragraphs 19 and 20 answer the question about the nature of Trinity United Church of Christ. Obama points out that Trinity, like other black churches, is an embodiment of black history, black experience, black people in the community, the embodiment of complex contradictions. It is impossible to use "good” or "bad” to describe it. And this is part of American reality.

6. And this helps explain... has served diligently for so many years. (Para.21)

In this paragraph, Obama deals with two things. One is Reverend Wright's relations with him and his family. The other is the complexity of Wright’s character.

1) as imperfect as he may be: Obama does not use the statement "as imperfect as he is” because he is not sure that Wright is so imperfect, and his personal contact with Wright does not convince him that Wright is so imperfect. This is a statement of concession.

2) officiated my wedding: performed the function of a pastor at Obama’s wedding

3) in derogatory terms: use words to disparage or belittle

7. He contains within him... for so many years. (Para.21)

Wright's fault is also the fault of the community he works for. A combination of opposites exists in him as well as in the black community.

8. I can no more disown him than.… the black community. (Para.22)

It is impossible for me to cast him off just as it is impossible for me to repudiate the black community.

disown: to cast of, repudiate

9. I can no more disown him... that made me cringe. (Para.22)

The same applies to my white grandmother who helped raise me, who loves me yet who is biased against blacks.

cringe: to shrink from something dangerous or painful

10. These people are part of me. And they are... country that I love. (Para.23)

This is a summing up of Obama's attitude. He can condemn Wright's recent statements in unequivocal terms but he cannot disown Wright or the Trinity Church because there is another side to the man, the good side of the man, because Wright is not just an individual but a typical example of the embodiment of contradiction, of good and bad, of the black community. This is the reality of America.

Obama is correct in such analysis and it takes a man of his background and his experience to see the issue in this light. It also takes a man of courage to put it this way, especially in an election year.

11. We can dismiss. as harboring some deep-seated bias. (Para.24)

We can condemn Wright as being odd or eccentric and then reject him and put him out of mind just as some have done with Geraldine Ferraro.

1) dismiss: to put out of one's mind; to reject as lacking in importance or value

2) crank: a person who has odd, stubborn notions about something; eccentric

3) demagogue: a person who tries to stir up the people by appealing to emotion, prejudice, etc., in order to win them over quickly and so gain power

Paras. 25-26

25 But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America-to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.

26 The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through-a part of our union that we have not yet made perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.

Q1: What do these two paragraphs tell?

A1: They are on the proper attitude to treat the issue of race.

Q2: How do you paraphrase the following knowledge points?

1. But race is an issue that I believe... to ignore right now. (Para.25)

Obama is trying to bring people's attention to the issue of race. It goes beyond

statements by Wright and the firestorm that followed. The use of the word "afford?

means if we ignore the issue, the consequences will be serious.

2. We would be making the same mistake... distorts reality. (Para.25)

1) What is the mistake made by Reverend Wright? The mistake is to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality. When one equates racial or ethnic bias or wrong doings to the nature of America, saying that these faults reflect the nature of America, they are distorting reality.

To Obama, America is fundamentally good and moving in the right direction.

2) What would be the mistake made by us? According to Obama, the mistake would be to limit the issue to Wright, his relation with Obama and the black community, and to see only one side of the greater picture of race.

3. The fact is... we have not yet made perfect. (Para.26)

The offensive comments and the subsequent firestorm show that the race issue has not been thoroughly resolved and this is one of the issues we need to confront in making the union more perfect. So, Obama is bringing the issue back to his theme.

4. And if we walk away now... good jobs for every American. (Para.26)

If we are afraid of confronting the issue and do not bother to deal with it and go back to our respective businesses, closing our eyes to the issue unresolved, we will never be able to work together to solve the pressing issues we mean to solve.

1) walk away: avoid confronting the issue; desert

2) corner: a remote, secret or secluded place