If the polls and the pundits are to be believed, Barack Obama’s speech on race in Philadelphia a few weeks ago achieved its objective:  The Reverend Wright controversy is --for the moment -- safely behind him and Obama’s lead over Senator Hillary Clinton in national polls is intact.

But if we take Senator Obama at his word that his Philadelphia speech was meant to do more than this – to be the opening statement in a new and more serious dialogue about fulfilling the promise of America for all Americans – the speech is rapidly fading into failure.  After an initial burst of commentary, the political and punditry professionals have returned to more comfortable topics.  It’s back to politics as usual:  Who offended whom and whose approval rating is up with which identity group.

To be honest, it’s understandable that liberals are shrinking from this conversation.  Candidly taking-on the intertwined issues of race and poverty in America would alienate most of the factions of the left, from the halls of higher education to Hollywood, the trial lawyers and the unions.
What’s more puzzling is why conservatives haven’t taken Senator Obama up on his offer.  Senator Obama started an important conversation on how every American can secure their God-given rights and live up to the responsibilities that come with them.  This is a discussion that center-right Americans are well prepared to engage in – and prevail – if we rise to the challenge.

Here’s why:  In his speech, Obama was simply wrong in his emphasis on racism.  Racism was, and in some cases remains, an inexcusable violation of our Creator endowed rights.  But in case after case, it’s clear that the number one threat to the poor and minorities today isn’t racism.  Instead, the poor are trapped by bad culture and bad government.

Take the collapse of the city of Detroit, as an example.  It is a case study in bad culture and bad government that I explore in depth in my new book, Real Change.

In 1950, Detroit was a city of 1,800,000 residents.  Last year its population dropped below 900,000.   Detroit has gone from being the number one city in the country in terms of median income to ranking number sixty-sixth out of sixty-eight major cities in median household income.
Detroit’s decline can’t simply be blamed on the decline of the auto industry.  Elsewhere in America, typically in right-to-work states with low tax rates, the auto industry is very successful.

So what is it that’s wrong with Detroit?  One key could be found in the city’s almost criminally non-functioning public schools.  The Gates Foundation found that a high school freshman entering the Detroit school system has a 1-in-4 chance of graduating on time.  Three out of four children in Detroit are being cheated by one of the most expensive school bureaucracies in America.

Layer this bad government on top of the bad culture that Detroit kids soak up every day from the mass media, from absent parents and dysfunctional neighborhoods, and you have a genuine American tragedy.

So if we’re going to have an honest conversation in America about race and poverty, we should start with Detroit.  Because if we can’t have an honest conversation about how big a disaster Detroit is, we can’t have an honest conversation about poverty in America, and we surely can’t have an honest conversation about what needs to change

Senator Obama has started an important conversation.  Center-right Americans now have an opportunity to build on it – on our terms.  We should take it.