No one has ever succeeded without being persistent. Insofar as it is this truth that animated President Obama’s speech on education, his speech is brilliantly radical. The speech gets at the very reality of life. In pursuing an education, there will invariably be obstacles. And the fundamental key to success is not to become discouraged by those obstacles.
Some conservative folks have sought to discount his speech. Others have claimed that President Obama’s speech on education constitutes some kind of political agenda. This is just so much nonsense. Indeed, what Obama said speaks to a very deep and abiding truth about success—so much so that it seems to me that the speech is more radical than many realize.
There are many obstacles in life. Some are financial, some are personal, and others are social. For some the financial obstacles overshadow the person ones. For others, the personal obstacles overshadow the social ones. And so on. At the risk of offending some, it is a simple truth that there are forms of racial discrimination that utterly pale in comparison to physical disabilities. And history shows that anyone who wallows in self-pity, be it owing to racial discrimination or significant physical disabilities, is pretty much destined to fail.
President Obama’s speech is profound in the following way. In a word, he said that notwithstanding the misfortunes that students may encounter in the pursuit of their studies, they must nonetheless persist in the pursuit of their studies.
Notice what this entails. This line of reasoning does not deny that there may be obstacles of injustice of some sort or the other. Rather, the line of reasoning holds that one must not allow oneself to become discouraged by them.
In this respect, minorities might do well to think of themselves on the order of individuals with physical disabilities who persist notwithstanding the extraordinary obstacles that they face. On the one hand, this is not tantamount to denying the reality of racial injustice, any more than those physically challenged are even remotely tempted to deny the reality of their circumstances. Not at all. One the other, Obama’s extremely substantial point is that success is not possible if people allow themselves to be too easily discouraged by either type of obstacle.
So far from finding Obama’s speech objectionable, the speech should be music to the ears of conservatives. Indeed, in their rush to criticize Obama, conservatives missed a truly wonderful opportunity to echo a truly fundamental social ideal.
I do not know whether Obama fully intended this, but it is arguable that his speech signals to minorities that they need to stop using racism as an excuse for their failures. And this makes Obama’s speech radical in a way that conservatives can roundly embrace.
And then there is this: What Obama has said is surely true. As we veer towards moral and social perfection, we must now allow obstacles to discourage us. Indeed, it is impossible to veer towards moral and social perfection if we too easily allow obstacles to discourage us. It is this simple truth that makes President Obama’s speech, at once, so significant and so radical.
Moral and social progress is inextricably tied to individuals not allowing themselves to become too readily discouraged by the obstacles that they face in life. Our acceptance of those with physical abilities owes so very much to the unfailing persistence of so many with physical disabilities. More generally, it is precisely because so many endured in spite of social injustice of one type or the other that we have a most just society today.
There is a fundamental difference between trivializing an injustice and being determined not to let that injustice be an impediment to one’s flourishing. Far too often, nowadays, folks wrongly think that doing the latter (not letting an injustice be an impediment) is tantamount to doing the former (trivializing the injustice). In effect, what President Obama does in his speech is draw attention to this difference and extols individuals not to do the latter. It does not matter whether the character of the injustice might be.
The substance of Obama’s point can be masterfully put as follows: When we can maneuver around an injustice is it much more important that we do that, then that we invest so much energy in complaining about the injustice that we faced. This holds whether we are talking about injustices against those with physical disabilities or injustices against those who from an impoverished economic background (be they white or black or Asian or whatever) or simply racial injustices.
With respect to minorities, especially, and blacks in particular, what President Obama majestically maintains is that it is far more important to have an investment in getting ahead than it is to have an investment in playing the race card. After all, if all it takes to derail a black is the slightest amount of racism, this is to give the enemy far too much power. Only a conservative in need of lobotomy can disagree with that. And judging from the reaction of some conservatives to the President Obama’s speech on education, a lobotomy is precisely what they need.
Thus, Obama’s speech on education was indeed a moral and social gift. Alas, as is so often the case: even precious gifts can be undervalued.
i like your views towards moral education