Our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright’s sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. That does not mean we should ignore sources of tension.

To the Joshua generation, these challenges seem momentous – and they are. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Palestinian Authority must develop its capacity to govern, with institutions that serve the needs of its people. I know that for many, the face of globalization is contradictory.

It wasn’t until after college, when I went to Chicago to work as a community organizer for a group of Christian churches, that I confronted my own spiritual dilemma. Religious leaders like my friends Rev. Jim Wallis and Rabbi David Saperstein and Nathan Diament are working for justice and fighting for change. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn’t need to feel shame about…memories that all people might study and cherish – and with which we could start to rebuild.” But my personal story is not so unique. But we have a responsibility to join together on behalf of the world we seek – a world where extremists no longer threaten our people, and American troops have come home; a world where Israelis and Palestinians are each secure in a state of their own, and nuclear energy is used for peaceful purposes; a world where governments serve their citizens, and the rights of all God’s children are respected.

Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren’t always expressed in polite company. It is time for us to act on what everyone knows to be true. I know there has been controversy about the promotion of democracy in recent years, and much of this controversy is connected to the war in Iraq.

They would give me an African name, Barack, or “blessed,” believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success. Now let me be clear. They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted. They could’ve been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred. In signing the Treaty of Tripoli in 1796, our second President John Adams wrote, “The United States has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Muslims.” And since our founding, American Muslims have enriched the United States. That is why we will honor our agreement with Iraq’s democratically-elected government to remove combat troops from Iraqi cities by July, and to remove all our troops from Iraq by 2012.