I forwarded these paragraphs via email to my fraternity brother in Chicago who was very close with the Obamas. He likewise forwarded it on and he got a response promptly; he told me that Valerie Jarret and Obama’s sister loved what I wrote and that they forwarded it on to the speechwriting team. A day later, I was floored when he told me that my speech idea was actually incorporated into the South Carolina primary victory speech...continued....“From the pastures of Iowa, the granite mountains of New Hampshire, the bright lights of Nevada, and the shores of South Carolina, people of all races, creeds, and gender voted not because of who I am but what I represent. When we reach out to out [sic] neighbors and hold hands on this common pursuit of the American dream, we realize that a black child in South Carolina is afflicted by poverty the same way a white child is burdened in Missouri or a Latino child is hindered in California. When we reach out and hold hands with our neighbors, we realize that a man does not prosper when a woman is held back by a glass ceiling nor is a blue state enriched when it comes at the expense of the red states.
We have for too long been held back by historical divisions and a politics that seeks to separate the hopes of one group against another. But when we reach out and hold hands in the pursuit of a common good, when we realize that hope is not a scare commodity but an abundant resource bestowed upon every citizen. For that is the very essence of our country, when we unite we are greater than when we divide. When the very fortunate amongst us holds hands with those who are the least of us, when we come together not as Democrats and Republicans but as fellow citizens bound by the same goals, after all, we are not a divided states of America, we are a United States of America.”
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