Um povo de esperança improvável

O discurso de Obama em Berlim, perante milhares de pessoas, foi considerado histórico e até comparado ao discurso de Kennedy na mesma cidade. Ouvi uns excertos e resolvi ouvir o discurso na íntegra. Foi um discurso envolvente, como não me lembro de ouvir de nenhum político do meu tempo. Ouvi-o com gosto. Pode não ser verdadeiro, pode ser ingenuidade, mas fez-me olhar o futuro com um bocadinho mais de optimismo. Eu que sou de um povo de esperança improvável...

Saltando a parte inicial e a lição de história um pouco pedante, a partir dos 10 minutos o discurso torna-se muito interessante. Vale a pena ouvir pelo menos a parte final, da qual transcrevo as frases que me pareceram mais interessantes:

«Now the world will watch and remember what we do here – what we do with this moment. Will we extend our hand to the people in the forgotten corners of this world who yearn for lives marked by dignity and opportunity; by security and justice? Will we lift the child in Bangladesh from poverty, shelter the refugee in Chad, and banish the scourge of AIDS in our time?

Will we stand for the human rights of the dissident in Burma, the blogger in Iran, or the voter in Zimbabwe? Will we give meaning to the words "never again" in Darfur?

Will we acknowledge that there is no more powerful example than the one each of our nations projects to the world? Will we reject torture and stand for the rule of law? Will we welcome immigrants from different lands, and shun discrimination against those who don't look like us or worship like we do, and keep the promise of equality and opportunity for all of our people? (…)

What has always united us – what has always driven our people; what drew my father to America's shores – is a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people: that we can live free from fear and free from want; that we can speak our minds and assemble with whomever we choose and worship as we please. (…)

People of Berlin – and people of the world – the scale of our challenge is great. The road ahead will be long. But I come before you to say that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. Let us build on our common history, and seize our common destiny, and once again engage in that noble struggle to bring justice and peace to our world.»