In 1962, in connection with the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, the celebrated black writer, James Baldwin wrote a dedicatory letter to his nephew on how to survive and deal with living with white racism in America. It was published as an Essay in New York Magazine under the caption "The Fire Next Time". Baldwin wrote:
A vast amount of energy that goes into what we call the Negro problem is produced by the white man's profound desire not to be judged by those who are not white, not to be seen as he is, and at the same time a vast amount of the white anguish is rooted in the white man's equally profound need to be seen as he is, to be released from the tyranny of his mirror.
My esteemed brother Dr. Cornell West writes about Baldwin's "The Fire Next Time" saying that "(he) spoke the deep truth that democratic individuality demands that white Americans give up their deliberate ignorance and willful blindness about the weight of white supremacy in America. Only then can a genuine democratic community emerge in America."
Not since James Baldwin's famous quote from the Ralph Stanley Blues' Hymn, "God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no more water but the fire next time" has America been so consumed in a national discussion about race.
The reappearance of Reverend Jeremiah Wright in the national media with an interview by Bill Moyers, a weekend speech in Detroit at an NAACP conference of some 10,000 and his recent speech at the National Press Club opening a two day theology and Church meeting in Washington, DC, has reignited this discussion and its impact on the presidential campaign of Senator Obama.
To some, the "political" consequences of Rev. Wright's comments on Obama have been the principal, if not their exclusive, concern. Some persons, like Eric Deggans, in an article earlier today in the Huffington Post, said it would be the "the race-based bullet" coming from the "friendly fire" of Rev. Wright that could prevent Senator Obama from winning the Democratic nomination.
Aside from whether or not Democratic primary voters believe Senator Obama can effectively address their day-to-day concerns with high gas prices, rising foreclosures, absence of affordable health insurance and ending the war in Iraq, the underlying issue, uncomfortably presented by Rev. Wright, is the reality of race relations in America.
"Perhaps the most pervasive theme in our history is the domination of black America by white America. Race is the sharpest and deepest division in American life....
"Almost no genre of popular culture goes untouched by race."
"Black-white relations became the central issue in the Civil War...was the principal focus of Reconstruction after the Civil War; America's failure to allow African American equal rights led eventually to the struggle for civil rights a century later."(Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Lowen)
Race relations in American is the 800-pound gorilla in our national living room that most politicians have been unwilling or too afraid to acknowledge or discuss.
The media and political pundits reaction to the remarks of Rev. Wright is an unambiguous reminder that white America remains seriously afflicted with amnesia with respect to its treatment of African Americans throughout most of our history.
Rather than condemning Rev. Wright I commend him for refocusing the issue of race in America within a more relevant contemporary framework: A conference on the role of the Church in America, its organization, community work and its theology. The Church and its companion teaching of the gospel of Christianity was the centerpiece of leadership provided by Martin Luther King, Jr. It was Dr. King's abiding faith in the ultimate decency and fairness of most of white America that enabled him to build a successful coalition for the elimination of institutional segregation and the most egregious forms of white supremacy and racism in the United States.
It may be that America will look back at this election and conclude that we owe a great debt to Rev. Wright. However painful the rebirth and perfection of a new 21st-century America may seem now, ultimately he may be the unheralded, indeed unpopular, "hero" who enabled us to reembark on a new journey of recovery for social justice, initiated earlier by Dr. King, the greatest moral leader in our country in the 20th century.
The millions of white people who have voted for Senator Obama in the democratic primaries may be telling us something that we are unable to "hear" and understand. They just might be saying, in spite of all of the negative media and a political pundits, the time has come when they want to finally cross over the bridge to a new 21st century based on a color/race-irrelevant and multiracial society.
Clarence B. Jones is a former lawyer and draft speechwriter for Martin Luther King, Jr and author of What Would Martin Say?, published by Harper Collins. Currently he is a Scholar in Residence/Visiting Professor at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research & Education Institute at Stanford University.
That's also why I continue to support unashamedly and unapologetically Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Sen. Barack Obama. Hopefully reasoned minds for survival sake will continue to discuss this most important topic; as race still matters.
The core of the Issue is NOT Obama’s judgement or integrity, which are beyond compare,...
No, it's the scare by his enemies that the beliefs of Wright have affected the Obama and will carry over into his presidency.
A scare however which is not however based in reality as if it were, there would be patterns in Obama's life and record that correlated to this rhetoric..
However Obama's life and choices to work within the system and to demonstrate his love for our country, by his deeds and indeed his race for the ultimate office, proves the opposite.
His mother, his family, his life experiences have shaped who he is, Not, as people like you would like us to believe,..Wright.
So unless you want to give Wright a medal for making Obama the great person he is,.. do the smart thing and crawl away or risk total exposure of your three card monte game... it's getting old and quite boring..
Unless that is,... you are really as stupid as you would like us to believe...
Click on "See Profile" above to find links to these videos.
If you actually take the time to watch the videos, you will find that Pastor Wright's comments are well founded and backed by research. You might even learn stuff you didn't know.
Whether or not you believe in what Wright is trying to say in his speech, it is obvious that the tenor of his message is exactly the opposite of what the MSM claims it is.
What you will discover is proof that the MSM are masters at propaganda. I had thought that they were doing this because if you knew what Pastor Wright was really like, you would know what fools the MSM have been.
I see by Mr. Jones post that there may be yet another reason for the MSM's need to foster this big lie about Pastor Wright. Ironically, even Mr. Jones doesn't realize the size of the lie that is being promulgated against Pastor Wright.
I am an atheist, but if I lived close to where Pastor Wright preached, I would be in the congregation every Sunday to receive a free lecture and inspirational message. No wonder Obama stayed in the congregation for all these years.
Reverend Wright, as he moves into his 10 million dollar mansion is laughing all the way to the bank.
Black-centric politics and self victimization have left the black community to open their eyes to their "chickens that have come home to roost".
If Victim Politics are keeping African Americans down, why is it that in 1980, less than half of African Americans had their high school diploma, but now 83% do?
Why are the numbers of African Americans who finish college with degrees increasing and not decreasing?
Why is African American employments rates increasing and not decreasing?
Your rants don't actually match up to the facts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Myung_Moon_Coronation
Considering the current controversy with Reverend Wright, it is only fair to review and update the associations between our governmnent and Sun Myung Moon and his church.
Article 20 (2) of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (which includes freedom of speech) states:
"Any advocacy of national, RACIAL or religious HATRED that constitutes INCITEMENT OF DISCRIMINATION, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law."
This is a good thing, right? Who do you think is most likely to benefit from this prohibition in the United States? Blacks? What did the United States say about this provision?
THE UNITED STATES REJECTED IT WITH THE FOLLOWING RESERVATION:
"Article 20 does not authorize or require legislation or other action by the United States that would restrict the right of free speech and association protected by the Constitution of the United States."
This type of Reservation justified racist Whites burning crosses in Black peoples' properties, in the name of freedom of speech, ie., their exercise of their First Amendment rights! And you call Reverend Wright a racist? Please, abandon your willful ignorance for the progress of our Nation.
Rev. Wright is correct to point out that our foreign policy is and has been destructive and that there are consequences. If you believe we invaded Iraq because we are good people who want to share the "good news," you need to read some history books.
The second democracy in the Western Hemisphere was Haiti. We have never supported that democracy, until Clinton invaded. It had a right wing dictatorship for generations, and we did not care because it did not threaten us financially. We only cared about Cuba when Americans lost money there to Castro. Battista was great because Americans made money under his regime.
By the way, every sermon over a twenty year period could not have been about 9-11-01.
Being divisive and saying crazy things will not help anyone get along better.
Wright and his kind are prolonging the race issue.
OH YES! That's the dream.
As detestable as Rev. Wright is he at least has the courage of his convictions and is never in denial of his statements and controversial positions. As it turns out Wright has more character than Obama and was right in branding him an ordinary dime a dozen politician. Obama's politics of change and hope and lofty rhetoric about turning the page of history is nothing more than an election year gimmick that is wearing very thin.
Rev. Wright does NOT have MORE character than Obama (although CLEARLY he does have character). What Wright's doing is FAR easier than what Obama's doing. Rev. Wright's a messenger; Obama is THE MESSAGE. Obama's attempting to do what Dr. King did using the same tools Dr. King used ["lofty rhetoric," as you smugly put it (remember "Strength to Love," "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," and "I Have A Dream," ApolloSpeaks?]; reason, thoughtfulness, an appeal to our better angels). As far as the Obama campaign being "nothing more than an election year gimmick," read Obama's books, go to his website, and get enlightened (assuming that you'd want to be enlightened).
What ever happened to separation of church and state? This prolonged viewing of the speeches and clips of Rev Wright is solely being played out to the country by these so called “I know more than you know anchors and pundits.
Is there no other news to discuss concerning the citizens of America? Where are the clips and vetting of Mc Cain's minister and Hilleary’s?
Why must someone denounce a person instead of denouncing a rejecting some of the things they say and believe? I am Catholic and I don't agree with everything our priest talks about on Sunday?
And, there is no reason for me to do so. What I take away from sermons is what pertains to me, what doesn't I let it pass on to the next person in the pew.
Yes, we have made some strides in this country but just read the thousands of blogs on all the news channels and you can see fro yourself we got a long way to go.
Whites as a whole can not stand the truth about Afro American bitterness of past wrongs toward ancestors, education, housing, fairness of equal rights.
Many 60-80 year olds still feel whites still view themselves as the "superior race."
In the midst of this media cirucs surrounding Rev. Wright we had an acquittal in NYC of Sean Bell's killers (NYPD cops) one of who felt it necessary to discharge 31 rounds of firepower into an unarmed black man on the morning of his wedding day.Where's the media or public outrage over that?
Obama actually was a member and financial supporter, a classic case of damned if you do, damned if you don't. It proves he isn't Muslim, but he's still caricatured as a radical.
If they did, maybe we wouldn't be where we are now, in a country where illegal and unconstitutional actions taken by government and media are barely mentioned, but a black politician's acquaintances are examined ad nauseum.