In an emotionally charged speech in Philadelphia this morning, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama talked about race and racism in the United States, his former pastor's controversial sermons, and the need for Americans to understand one another and work together on their common problems.

Obama condemned some of the comments made by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, calling them "views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation, that rightly offend white and black alike." And, he said, such comments "expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country." But, he said, "that isn't all that I know of the man," and he described Wright as a man who served the United States as a Marine and has led his church in helping the poor and the sick.

"I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community," said Obama. "I can no more disown him than I can disown my white grandmother... who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe."

Wright's comments and "the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through," said Obama, "a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American."

Americans, he said, must understand the complexity that makes up the experience of black Americans, of blue-collar white Americans who have lost their jobs, of immigrants. And, he said, Americans must understand the anger that those Americans sometimes express.

"The anger is real," he said. "It is powerful. And to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races."

The anger is often counterproductive and distracts Americans from their real problems, he said.

"We have a choice in this country," he said. "We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle - as we did in the OJ trial - or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news."

Or, he said, "at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, ‘Not this time' and work on the challenges facing the country."

The full text of Obama's speech is available on the New York Times website.