Max & Murphy: Race and Politics 10 Years After Obama Made History

It was not the biggest history he would make that year, but the moment then-Senator Barack Obama took the stage in Denver on the final night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention was a milestone: the first time a person of color became a major party’s nominee for president.

Obama’s masterful speech barely mentioned race and never explicitly discussed his own status as a pioneer. He didn’t have to: Others, in the media and elsewhere on the convention stage, noted the importance of the moment to America’s politics of race in tones ranging from hopeful to proud to breathless.

That was before the beer summit and the healthcare fight, at a time when no one knew outside their families who Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown were, and when Trump was the name of a few buildings and a casino, not a president accused of embracing white supremacy.

As the 10th anniversary of that speech approaches, Max & Murphy invited Fordham University Professor Christina Greer to discuss that moment and the road we’ve traveled since. Below, hear the full WBAI program (including the latest political news), listen to the full interview with Greer or take another look at that evening in Denver a decade ago.

Max & Murphy on WBAI 99.5 FM: August 22, 2018

Full interview with Prof. Christina Greer

Sen. Barack Obama’s speech: August 28, 2008