Obama: God has let us 'see where we've been blind'

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[h=4]Obama: God has let us 'see where we've been blind'[/h]Paying tribute to nine African-Americans who lost their lives in a church shooting last week, President Obama said Friday their deaths should inspire Americans to finally confront the challenges of gun violence and race relations.

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Since the events in Charleston, South Carolina, race relations in America has been on the minds of much of the Nation. For President Obama it has been a common theme in his speeches for years. (USA NEWS, USA TODAY)


President Obama delivers the eulogy during the funeral of Clementa Pinckney at the College of Charleston TD Arena on June 26, 2015.(Photo: Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images)


CHARLESTON, S.C. — Paying tribute to nine African-Americans who lost their lives in a church shooting last week, President Obama said Friday their deaths should inspire Americans to finally confront the challenges of gun violence and race relations.
"As a nation, out of terrible tragedy, God has visited grace upon us," Obama told some 5,000 congregants at a funeral for the church pastor. "For He has allowed us to see where we've been blind."
On issues ranging from the Confederate flag to voting rights to hiring practices, the nation can do a better job of living up to its creed of equal opportunity, said the nation's first African-American president.
As a bipartisan group of lawmakers looked on, Obama again called for legislation to restrict the availability of guns that have taken so many lives.
It would be a "betrayal" of the victims' memories "if we allowed ourselves to slip into a comfortable silence again," Obama said during remarks that combined spiritually with a bracing discussion of political and social issues.

President Obama embraces Jennifer Pinckney, the wife of the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, during his funeral at the College of Charleston TD Arena on June 26, 2015.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images)

Delivering the eulogy for the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Obama praised the shooting victims, their families and people across the nation for coming together in the face of a hateful crime.
The killer thought he would "deepen divisions" between the races, Obama said as a crowd of some 5,000 cheered and applauded. "Oh, but God works in mysterious ways."
Devoting his remarks to the power of grace, a preacher-like Obama ended by leading the crowd in a rendition of "Amazing Grace." The following speaker described him as "the reverend president."
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Twitter lost it when President Obama sang 'Amazing Grace' during his epic Clementa Pinckney eulogy




In addition to race relations and gun control, Obama said the nation should also address problems such as poverty and police-community relations, especially in African-American communities.
In terms of race relations, Obama said people should guard against not just "racial slurs," but also "the subtle impulse to call Johnny back for a job interview — but not Jamal."
As for gun violence, Obama said: "For too long, we've been blind to the unique mayhem that gun violence inflicts upon this nation."
Speaking at a college basketball arena just a block from Emanuel AME Church, Obama also praised the plans of South Carolina lawmakers to remove the Confederate battle flag from its State House grounds, calling it another act of grace.
While it is "true that the flag did not cause these murders," Obama said it is also a "reminder of systematic oppression and racial subjugation."
USA TODAY
S.C. governor calls for removing Confederate flag from Capitol grounds




As first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Biden and other dignitaries looked on, Obama traced Pinckney's life as a man of the cloth and a state senator, lauding him as a "good man" who was "slain in his sanctuary."
Obama also read the names of the "good people" who died with their pastor: Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, DePayne Middleton, Doctor Tywanza Sanders, Daniel L. Simmons, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton and Myra Thompson.
"The nation shares in your grief," Obama told family members whom he met with after the service.
The pain cuts "much deeper" because the killings occurred in a church, traditionally "the center of African-American life," Obama said.
USA TODAY
Dylann Roof visited S.C. Confederate museum




A bipartisan congressional delegation also made the journey to Charleston, led by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. Boehner, who flew with Obama aboard Air Force One, said lawmakers want to "pay our respects to the families of the victims and express the condolences of the American people."
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also attended, receiving cheers and a standing ovation from the crowd.
"The world has come to you, to South Carolina," one speaker said during a ceremony that featured preaching, music, hymns, and spirituals.

Krislynn Rambert, of Charleston, S.C., wears a button in memory of the victims of last week's mass shooting while waiting in line to enter Sen. Clementa Pinckney's funeral service on June 26, 2015, in Charleston, S.C.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: David Goldman, AP)

As dawn broke Friday, hundreds of people began lining up along Charleston's Meeting Street near the basketball arena that hosted the service, as scores of security officers scoured the area.
"I've never seen a crowd like this line up for anything in Charleston," said Tasha Moseley, 42, a businesswoman who lives in the city.
"They are coming here not only to show their love and respect for Rev. Pinckney," she said. "It''s also history. Our first African-American president is here."
USA TODAY
Obama says we can't accept this level of gun violence




The crowd packed the 5,100-seat TD Arena at the College of Charleston as a choir sang hymns like "Amazing Grace" and "The Lord Is My Light." They repeatedly stood and cheered mentions of the Rev. Pinckney and the other church members who lost their lives.
The June 17 crime stunned a nation that has seen its share of racial killings. Public anger rose with discovery of a website on which the accused assailant declared himself a white supremacist and posted pictures posing with the Confederate battle flag.
The accused, Dylann Roof, has been charged with nine counts of murder and could face the death penalty.
Given the public interest, the funeral service for Pinckney — a state senator as well as pastor of the Emanuel AME Church — was moved to the college arena, right around the corner from the house of worship.
Police and security officers combed the area Thursday, preparing for the visit by the president and a host of federal and state officials.
Obama has spoken of the nation's long-standing racial divisions before, on occasions ranging from the police shooting of a black teenager to the 50th anniversary of the civil rights march in Selma, Ala.
USA TODAY
Obama, Bush, civil rights icons retrace Selma march




He has had two basic messages: The nation once divided over slavery has made undeniable progress in race relations over the years, but there is still a long way to go.
"When it comes to the pursuit of justice, we can afford neither complacency nor despair," Obama said March 7 in Selma.
This time, Obama spoke in a city of vivid cultural contrasts.
Charleston is where slave ships once unloaded human cargo, and where delegates to a special South Carolina convention voted in December 1860 to secede from the Union, helping to trigger the Civil War.
Today, it is a city of antebellum homes and world-class restaurants, a racially diverse area where blacks and whites have gathered throughout the week to condemn the church killings.
While Roof reportedly wanted to start a "race war," the church attack instead triggered a political backlash against the Confederate battle flag.
USA TODAY
South Carolina lawmakers to debate fate of Confederate flag




Lawmakers in South Carolina have called for removal of the flag from the State House grounds in Columbia, and there are similar calls about Confederate statues and memorials in other states as well. Numerous outlets have stopped selling Confederate memorabilia.
References to the proposed furling of the Confederate flag drew loud applause at Pinckney's funeral service.
The National Park Service is also calling on concessionaires to stop selling Confederate flags and related items — a request that presumably includes Fort Sumter, where the Civil War began and which sits in Charleston Harbor.
USA TODAY
Lawmakers 'punt' on request to remove Confederate flag from House




During the funeral service, Bishop John Richard Bryant said the killer did not understand that peoples' faith in God would enable them to overcome any anger over his actions.
"Someone should have told the young man," Bryant said. "He wanted to start a race war, but he came to the wrong place."
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