Talk:Two Americas

Obama

I like Barack Obama's line: "There is not a liberal America and a conservative America, there is the United States of America." - signed by an anon IP

Obama also said in a televised campaign speech on May 11, 2008 (if my memory is correct): "We are Americans: whether you are conservative/liberal, Northern/Southern/East coast/West coast, urban/rural/suburban, male/female, black/white/brown/yellow, young/old, rich/poor, Christian/Jewish/otherwise...we are Americans first". I doubt this is anything relevant to the Two Americas article, but he rejected Edwards' doom-and-gloom class division speech and Obama wants to change the rigid class structure pattern to kept out poor Americans for a long time. + 71.102.53.48 (talk) 13:26, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

• Where is the Obama quote/response from? Source please. Beeswax07- signed by an anon IP

Origins

The two americas speech didnt originate at the 2004 DNC. I know for a fact that he had been using it on the campaign trail as early as june 2003, if not even earlier than that. I changed the article slightly to reflect that. Rbell73 (talk) 13:34, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

Sources needed

I don't really see how that is relevant to the 'Two Americas' idea, or why it is linked here. 74.64.99.122 (talk) 17:53, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

John Edward's coined "Two Americas" speech

In 2004 at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), John Edwards addressed the division that could be seen in modern America: with one set of circumstances composed of the wealthy and privileged, and the other of the hard-working common man. While primarily being used to appeal to the blue collar worker, due to the term's early ties with MLK Jr, unaware listeners can make connections in reference to racial/ethnic oppression as well as class struggles.

Martin Luther King, "Two Americas" 1967-1968

The phrase "Two Americas" was used by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in a speech given March 10, 1968, to Local 1199. The relevant text of the speech is available from the King Center, starting on page 3.

There is also an essay on "Two Americas", also at the King Center. I think this essay is from 1967.

A speech by Dr. King is cited by John Light at "Moyers & Company" as given at Stanford University in 1967, using words similar to those in the essay.

The concept used by King in 1967 is the same used by Edwards decades later.

There may have been other uses that preceded these by King. But clearly the King references pre-date Edwards.

I think this entire article is incorrect in attributing the phrase and its meaning to Edwards. At best, its original use and meaning should be given to King, and Edwards would be credited with giving it resurgent interest.

--BVWatson (talk) 00:45, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

I also think that this article is incomplete without a mention of King's work, in which he repeatedly uses the exact phrase "two Americas" to describe this same concept. Unfortunately https://thekingcenter.org/ no longer seems to host the essays or speeches linked above.

I found an WaPo opinion piece that discusses Edwards' role in popularizing the idea within his party and also acknowledges King's prior use of the phrase. Stanford's King Institute also documents his "The Other America" speech (in which he says "I use this subject because there are literally two Americas") but I'm sure that either of these is an acceptable source. benchun (talk) 06:26, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

I've decided to go ahead with including the MLK information based on a transcript of the speech being published in a book that I can cite as a source. It's clear that MLK used this exact phrase to describe this same concept well before Edwards. I welcome input from other editors! benchun (talk) 07:57, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Kerner Commission Report 1968 "Two societies, one black, one white---separate and unequal"

The idea, if not the exact words, first became mainstream with the best-selling report of the Kerner Commission commissioned by Pres. Lyndon Johnson in 1967 and published in 1968. Its first page includes the sentence, "Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal." Martin Luther King and the Kerner Commission should be credited for making the concept a household word, and the Edwards campaign as a subsequent example and paraphrase.CharlesHBennett (talk) 22:46, 23 September 2020 (UTC)