Obama in 2002: Rich People Are All For Nonviolence Because They Have What They Want

Morgen Richmond released several YouTube clips of a speech given by then State Senator Barack Obama speaking at the University of Chicago during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day Memorial Service.  During the speech he said, “Rich people are all for nonviolence.  Why wouldn’t they be?  They’ve got what they want.”

Here is the transcript for the video above:

The philosophy of nonviolence only makes sense if the powerful can be made to recognize themselves in the powerless. It only makes sense if the powerless can be made to recognize themselves in the powerful. You know, the principle of empathy gives broader meaning, by the way, to Dr. King’s philosophy of nonviolence. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but rich people are all for nonviolence. Why wouldn’t they be? They’ve got what they want. They want to make sure people don’t take their stuff. But the principle of empathy recognizes that there are more subtle forms of violence to which we are answerable. The spirit of empathy condemns not only the use of firehoses and attack dogs to keep people down but also accountants and tax loopholes to keep people down. I’m not saying that what Enron executives did to their employees is the moral equivalent of what Bull Connor did to black folks, but I’ll tell you what, the employees at Enron feel violated. When a company town sees its plant closing because some distant executives made some decision despite the wage concessions, despite the tax breaks, and they see their entire economy collapsing, they feel violence . . .

This follows The Daily Caller surfacing a 2007 speech where President Obama cheered on his then pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright and said the Feds don’t care about New Orleans (following Hurricane Katrina).

HT: Patterico Pontifications

Tags: Barack Obama, class warfare, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Obama speeches, University of Chicago

Category: Barack Obama, Videos