ADVANCE TEXT: BARACK OBAMA’S REMARKS IN NATIONAL TELEVISED ADDRESS, June, 2008.

“Good evening. I want to speak to you tonight about two issues which are of concern to the American people, and which have not been discussed openly by the candidates for President.

“We have had debates about other important issues: the economic problems which beset most families and individuals, and which have arisen as a direct result of the policies of the Bush administration; the war in Iraq, which is draining our treasury and costing the lives of so many people, and the poor judgment which led to it; the health care system which leaves many millions, including children, without insurance.

“But the issues I must speak with you about are being raised on the internet, and in media commentary, and they are often mixed with rumor and prey upon people’s fears. These are the issues of religion and race.

“I am a Christian. Because I have an unusual name, there have been stories on the internet which claim that I am a Muslim. These stories are false, but they are being circulated in an effort to associate me with an unpopular religious view.

“We live in a free country. One of the most basic principles upon which the United States was founded was freedom of religion. This means that every one of us has the right to worhship God, or not worship God, in the way we want to.

“I happen to belong to the largest religious group in America, Christianity. That is my choice, and it reflects my beliefs. But one of the great glories of America is that every other person is to be respected in his or her own beliefs, and all other religions are as important and valid as my own.

“The issue of race is different. When America was born, neither African-Americans nor women could vote. African-Americans were considered to be property, to be owned as slaves. Women could not hold property and had few other rights.

“It is part of the history of America that these deprivations would fall under the weight of freedom. The promise of America has always been that all human beings are equal under the law, and that all races and both sexes are entitled to respect.

“We have come from a time in which women were denied the right to vote to a time in which women may be elected to any public office, including the presidency. And we have come from a time in which African-Americans were excluded from participation in politics to a better day, one in which all people may serve their country, regardless of their race.

“In this critical year in our history, we have reached a moment when the promise of America may be fully realized. The measure of our candidates may no longer be their gender or the color of their skin, but their intelligence, their knowledge, their judgment and their character.

“If that is so, then we may fulfill many other promises, many of them long in waiting, promises about jobs and a decent life for all Americans, about health care and quality education available to all Americans, about a national government which respects the Bill of Rights and the laws of the land.

“Senator Clinton and I have reached this moment not because our race or gender conferred upon us some unfair advantage but because we speak to the concerns and hopes of many millions of Americans.

“There have been barriers to women and to people of color. These barriers are falling. It is a great tribute to America that we are bringing them down. It is a great tribute to the American people that we are bringing them down together.

“As we continue this campaign over the weeks and months ahead, let us remember to respect our differences and to celebrate this opportunity to recover what is best in our country.”

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