Listen to an audio interview Obama gave in 2001 with Chicago Public Radio WBEZ.FM. In this interview Obama discusses the best way to bring about a redistribution of wealth, how the Warren Supreme Court interpreted the law and the fact that it wasn't terribly radical.
During the discussion Obama says, "Generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties, says what the states can't do to you, says what the federal government can't do to you,but it doesn't say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf . . . because the civil rights movement became so court-focused, I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change."