Obama talks of unity while at King's church

ATLANTA --- Speaking at the church where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. launched the civil rights movement, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Sunday called for unity to overcome America's "moral deficit."

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Associated Press

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (center) sings We Shall Overcome with the Rev. Raphael Warnock (left) and associate pastor Shanan Jones at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. "We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing each other down," he said.

In a visit steeped in symbolism -- coming a day before the King holiday -- Mr. Obama evoked the civil rights leader's legacy to a packed house of 2,000 mostly black worshippers.

"Before there was King the icon and his 'magnificent dream,' there was King the young preacher and a people who found themselves suffering under the yoke of oppression," Mr. Obama said.

He also used the pulpit at the Ebenezer Baptist Church to take blacks to task for not always embracing gays, immigrants and Jews.

"None of our hands are clean," he said.

"The divisions, the stereotypes, the scapegoating, the ease with which we blame the plight of ourselves on others, all of that distracts us from the common challenges we face: war and poverty; inequality and injustice," he said. "We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing each other down. We can no longer afford to traffic in lies or fear or hate. It is the poison that we must purge from our politics; the wall that we must tear down before the hour grows too late."

The congregation rose to its feet as Mr. Obama harkened back to the civil rights struggle that he said had made his campaign possible.

The U.S. senator from Illinois offered what has become a familiar campaign message centering on hope, and he drew raucous applause as he referred to his own modest upbringing and struggles as a teenager with drugs.

"Unity is the great need of the hour -- that's what Dr. King said. Not because it sounds pleasant or because it makes us feel good, but because it's the only way we can overcome the essential deficit that exists in this country," he said.

Former President Clinton is set to attend the King Day tribute today at Ebenezer on behalf of his wife, who will be stumping in South Carolina.

Republican Mike Huckabee is the only presidential candidate scheduled to be at the church today.