On the March 18 edition of MSNBC Live, contributor Pat Buchanan declared that “parts of” a speech given that day by Sen. Barack Obama about race and the controversy surrounding his recently retired pastor, Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, were “very grating” because of what Buchanan asserted was “the constant sense of putting the burden on the society for what's happened to the African-American community and not enough of the acceptance of responsibility of their own -- their own responsibility, frankly, for what's happened.” Earlier in the program, when MSNBC host Joe Scarborough said that Obama “went through a list of grievances that Reverend Wright and black America could have with the government and with white America,” Buchanan similarly stated: “Joe, you've raised one point there that I think is going to grate a bit. A lot of Americans feel the idea coming from Obama is that somehow the ... larger society, the white community, if you will -- 'You are responsible for our failures. You are responsible for our problems' -- that is not going to sit too well.” However, during the speech, Obama specifically emphasized that African-Americans should not become “victims of our past,” but must instead “tak[e] full responsibility for our own lives.”

From Obama's March 18 speech, delivered in Philadelphia:

OBAMA: [W]orking together, we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact, we have no choice -- we have no choice if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union. For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances -- for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs -- to the larger aspirations of all Americans -- the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling; the white man who's been laid off; the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for our own lives -- by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism. They must always believe -- they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.

Ironically, this quintessentially American -- and yes, conservative -- notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright's sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is that embarking on a program of self-help also requires a belief that society can change.

Moreover, undermining Buchanan's suggestion that “the idea coming from Obama is that somehow the ... larger society, the white community ... 'are responsible for our problems,' ” Obama also addressed what he called the “legitimate concerns” of “white Americans” in the speech:

OBAMA: In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience. As far as they're concerned, no one handed them anything. They've built it from scratch. They've worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and they feel their dream slipping away. And in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero-sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So, when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear an African-American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced -- resentment builds over time.

Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren't always expressed in polite company, but they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk-show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.

Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle-class squeeze: a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns -- this too widens the racial divide and blocks the path to understanding.

From the 11 a.m. ET hour of the March 18 edition of MSNBC Live:

SCARBOROUGH: Pat Buchanan, what surprised me about this speech, though, is that Barack Obama has not spoken much about race throughout this campaign. He has tried to transcend race. That certainly was not the case today. In fact, he went through a list of grievances that Reverend Wright and black America could have with the government and with white America.

BUCHANAN: Well, you know, I thought it was an excellent speech. He's an extraordinarily good speaker, and it was extremely well-delivered, and so, I think -- and it's going to appeal to an awful lot of folks. But Joe, you've raised one point there that I think is going to grate a bit. A lot of Americans feel the idea coming from Obama is that somehow the gen -- larger society, the white community, if you will -- “You are responsible for our failures. You are responsible for our problems” -- that is not going to sit too well, but his fundamental view, I think you got to judge him very well as a man standing by his friend. What he said, in effect, I think was, “The good that Reverend Wright has done outweighs the evil he has spoken. I am not going to turn my back on my friend.”

It was like a defense, frankly, of Minister Farrakhan, who, undoubtedly, the Million Man March is a good thing, turning African-American prisoners and people out of the gutters and things like that, into strong human beings and really real men, has been a good thing. At the same time, you got this message that comes out, which is preaching hate. Now, here's where Barack didn't address it.

He talked about the anger that came from Reverend Wright. But that wasn't anger we saw; that seemed to be the rhetoric of hate. And I think he's tried to lift us all up and away from Reverend Wright onto a higher plane where we can discuss these things. But I think a lot of folks are going to go back and say, “He did not divorce himself from this man. And quite frankly, how could he have sat there, given what he believes and says, for 20 years in a pew and listened to this?” And so, I'm not sure he solved that problem.

[...]

SCARBOROUGH: Pat Buchanan, I am not trying to be cynical here. I am just trying to get to the political impact of it. I think most of us here were inspired by Barack Obama's words, but I was also inspired by Al Gore's speech after he lost the presidency -- but he lost the presidency. How does this speech play with white Americans in Pennsylvania, in Ohio, in Florida, in the swing states -- in areas, quite frankly, Pat Buchanan, that you did very well in?

BUCHANAN: Well, I think this -- I believe the speech will play very well in this sense. He did try to rise above -- certainly above the Reverend Wright material.

SCARBOROUGH: OK. OK.

BUCHANAN: And I think he, Joe -- I think he delivered an outstanding speech, and he did talk about the grievances of white America and the grievances of black America. There are parts of the speech, which, to me, and the community I think I come from, I found very grating, quite frankly. And the constant sense of putting the burden on the society for what's happened to the African-American community and not enough of the acceptance of responsibility of their own -- their own responsibility, frankly, for what's happened.

But overall, I do think he tried to reach, not only above party, but beyond party to the larger community, in a way that might have succeeded. However, his political problem is what follows. I mean, for example, he said, “You know, I have never heard him speak, Reverend Wright, in derogatory terms of any ethnic group.”

SCARBOROUGH: Well, Pat, if you'll stop right there -- if you'll stop right there, because I want to play that sound bite.