As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding and baptized my children.

The profound mistake of Reverend Wright's sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It's that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress had been made; as if this country -- a country that has made it possible…

I understand the anger. It's time for us to move to a new place.

To the larger aspirations of all Americans: the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man who's been laid off.

Barack knows what it means to be a black man living in a country...

So, when they are told to bus their children to a school across town, when they hear that 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…

Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in the church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with…

But the anger is real, 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 statements that were the source of controversy from Reverend Wright were wrong, and I strongly condemn them. I think the caricature that's being painted of him is not accurate.

Let me be absolutely clear here. I opposed this war in 2002. I opposed it in 2003, '04, '05, '06 and '07.

I strongly condemn the statements that have been shown on the tape.

What I have said is that we have the capacity to move beyond them and improve our relationship with each other in a way that actually reflects the best of American values and American ideals.

And part of what my campaign has been about is how can we push the country into that direction, so that white America and black America are able to recognize this history, acknowledge it, but not engage in the blame and the anger that is…

I just don't think that it's necessary to talk about Senator Clinton or anybody in those terms.

Had I heard those in the church, I would have told Reverend Wright that, you know, that I profoundly disagreed with them.

We have a history of discrimination and, you know, slavery and Jim Crow that continues to have a powerful pull on the African-American memory.

I have never been naive enough to think that we get beyond these issues of race or gender or our history or our past.

I have to strongly condemn the statements that were made. They do not reflect my views or Michelle's views.