I think a few words are missing from the quote. It was something like “They needed my assurance that I will stand with them if the political winds shift in an ugly direction.”
I imagine his story will be that he will stand with people of every nationality if the political winds shift in an ugly direction. He’s the Kumbaya Candidate.
"Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific reassurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."
You can count on Obama standing with white-folks just as reliably as Reverend Wright would.