The Undeniable Virtue of Jeremiah Wright's Pro-Blackness (and the Problem with Pro-Whiteness)

Bill Moyers is broadcasting a siddown with Barack Obama's "controversial" pastor Jeremiah Wright this Friday evening, April 25th. By Saturday expect every utterance Pastor Wright makes to be as picked over as an episode of Lost at the San Diego Comicon.

Now, I'm not going to even try to defend everything that Pastor Wright has to say. At least not the four of five loopy sound bytes -- out of how many thousands of sermons he's given -- that have made him quite the YouTube sensation. But there is a particular aspect of the Wright mischaracterization I take exception with: the idea that his pro-black teachings make him some kind of radical separatist. Interviewing Pastor Wright in March of last year, for example, Fox's Sean Hannity had this to say about statements appearing on the website for Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ:

"It says, "Commitment to God." By the way, I'm with you, and I hope you'll pray for me, Reverend. Commitment to the black community, commitment to the black family, adherence to the black work ethic. It goes on, pledge, you know, acquired skills available to the black community, strengthening and supporting black institutions, pledging allegiance to all black leadership who have embraced the black value system, personal commitment to the embracement of the black value system. Now, Reverend, if every time we said black, if there was a church and those words were white, wouldn't we call that church racist?"

In answer to the question: yeah, probably. But that's 'cause there's a difference between being pro-black and pro-white and the difference is a bad one.

Adherence to pro-black values isn't code for "kill whitey." It's merely how blacks have managed to stay alive and viable in America all these many years since we were first graciously given a ride across the middle passage to get dropped off in Virginia.

"A commitment to the black community" is what got us collectively through slavery, through an abandoned reconstruction and the ensuing era of Jim Crow. As I'm sure some will recall, because of a pesky little thing called segregation there was nothing for the black community to rely on but the black community.

Ironically, the community values and focus on the family Wright preaches of are exactly the kind of "don't bother us, do it yourself"-isms conservatives are always hectoring people of color to observe. How convenient for the pundits they can both wish us off the perceived teat, then get riled by those who encourage us to be self-reliant.

To the contrary of pro-blackness, it's pro-whiteness which has unfortunately produced some awful to horrible results: white sheets and nooses and burning cross and Citizens Councils and red lining and guys nicknamed Brownie doing a "heck of a job."

That's not say there's anything wrong with being comfortable in white skin. If that's what God gave you, sure, be happy with it. However, the whole concept of having to be pro-white is redundant. It's not as if, in the normal course of events, white folks as a race really need that much encouragement. Do teachers really have to explain to white kids that in a more fair America they could perhaps grow up to be president?

So, yeah; based on its suspect history, if one were to preach the doctrine of pro-whiteness there could be due cause for concern.

Pro-blackness, on the other hand -- analogous to the Protestant work ethic -- is one of the most positive American values we have.

Comments

[kravitz]

I updated this list to include some media contact information, because I've been hearing some want to let it be known how they feel about how the media has handled this issue.

A List Of Postings About Reverend Jeremiah Wright.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/04/a-list-of-postings-about-rever.php

[StillIRise]

Where is the list of media contacts? Thanks.

[digoweli]

It seems to me, from reading Wright’s sermon, that he truly believes in an America that I’m not sure exists. He is an old fashioned redemptive optimist who believes that by pointing out sin, you can change things. Even his condemnation was no different from the Pulpit condemnations of injustice and duplicity that is a part of the preacher tradition of the Great Awakening.

I have personally experienced the tradition of White, Black and Jewish ministers of which Wright is an example. Working at conducting their choirs I have heard literally thousands of such sermons that seek to change and develop their communities into an America that lives up to its founding stories.

Anyone who calls Wright unique in the “Great Awakening tradition” is ahistorical. Duplicitous history practiced by the morally challenged is ultimately, historically embarrassing and just plain silly.

Preachers who hide in the face of injustice express their lack of respect for the U.S. Ideal. Lies are everywhere and so is evil. Sometimes the only “sensible” thing is to hide and keep your mouth shut. But when you do the “abscess” of hate grows and carries down to the seventh generation.

My Cherokee Elder came to New York while her husband worked here. She chose to study in the 1950s at Union Theological Seminary with Paul Tillich. Tillich encapsulated the problem in the name of his most famous book. He called it: “The Courage to be.” It is more true today than ever. Digoweli

[MaryNotMartha]

Huff Post, here's my reality show pitch, white viewers living as black people using the same drugs as the "Black Like Me" author, in their own and unfamiliar communties. We don't bias everyone around them with TV cameras but ask them to diary the differences they see and don't see (if any) and use only hidden cameras. Instead of using painted black people, like a recent reality show (it fooled only the visually impaired, at best), why not take the time to find white skinned, blue eyed black people with european features who pass for white but identify as black.

[jade7243]

better yet... let's call it "REALLY Extreme Makeover "... put them under anesthesia and whem they wake up all bandaged from head to toe they won't know they've been "blackened" ... PERMANENTLY!!! Let's change their eyes, give them plastic surgery to change their noses and lips, nice round butts instead of those flapjacks you all call an ass.

The acid test will be to have them drive a nice car at night. If the cops pull 'em over or rough em up we know we've got it just right. (Of course if the cops empty 50 bullets in their direction, we just call that an unfortunate accident. Same if they're hit 41 times in the doorway of their home while reaching for their wallets to prove they really do live there. OOPS!)

[bluescat47]

You are absolutely right. Sean Hannity's feigned outrage is ludicrous. Blacks and whites occupy vastly different spaces in American society. One is a racial, demographic, and economic minority, the other controls every major institution in the country, from congress to corporate America. Blacks are underrepresented politically and, while there is a burgeoning black middle class, black workers are overrepresented in the lower occupational tiers. For generations, blacks were largely excluded from labor unions and white neighborhoods, where the best schools were. Moreover, it is anticipated that marginalized groups or minorities will try to organize around a banner of ethnic or racial pride in order to promote their agenda.
"Pro-black" simply means(except for a handful of radical black nationalists) a desire by the black community to thrive in American society, organize to do so, and to address the problems (many of them self-inflicted, and many of them recognized as such) that have prevented the community from fully reaping the rewards of American life. As a white person, I am hardly threatened by these efforts;but the "pro-white" rantings of the far right (which is the only place you will find these outbursts, and of course, it is an ideology deeped rooted in Nazi literature) is another matter. You would think us white people had somehow been victimized in this country, so much so that we need some ridiculous cheerleading about our "whiteness'! No thanks.

[realpolitic]

Yes, the only place one hears this song and dance about the victimization of whites is among the right wing loonies.

[monique]

I don't feel the need to be "pro-white" but I think being "pro-black" is divisive.

We should all be pro-people. Period.

Wright's angry anti-white sermons only teach future generations to continue to blame the "white man" as he calls it, for everything.

His community outreach and work is wonderful, but the anti-white sentiments are damaging. It just perpetuates the whole problem, and the anger lives on.

Let's stand up and fight for justice for everybody. Let's be pro-poor people. Let's force our governments to invest in all poor neighborhoods and schools. Let's be pro-people.

[Davwbaird]

this is a grand idea, however the problem of white racist is so profound that many whites deny their obvious racist us/them situation and statements. Having grown up in such a home in flint Michigan I know how sick it is and was. The area is still that way. The whites have moved out of Flint and that includes all of my dwindling family. Not one has a flint address. I find their attitudes to be the same as those on fox news, William safire and many of the uncle toms on CNN.

[chinaskee]

So in other words only white people can be racist. Blacks by definition can't be racist . Otay Buckwheat. Whatever you say.

[ErikW65]

"Buckwheat"? You little rascal!

[SpoxLogic]

Yes, chinaskee, that is exactly what we are saying. In order to be racist, you have to have the power to back up your discrimination. Since Blacks (and other minorities) have no power in THIS country, they are not racist. THEY CAN AND DO DISCRIMINATE, THOUGH. So, if you're white and live in an African country, and the Black ruling class makes rules to keep you down based solely on the perceived inferiority of your race, then the Blacks are racist. Same thing in any other country. In this country, Whites run things, so they are the only ones who are racist.
check this out: http://www.thefire.org/index.php...ticle/ 8552.html

[zerostress]

Here is the correct link :

http://www.thefire.org/index.php/article/8552.html

[Woggles]

You can join a Black student union at university, without being black. You simply have to agree to celebrate black culture, events, holidays, etc.
It's in the organization's charter.

Now, if you replace every instance of the word 'black' with 'white' in the charter, you have created a parallel organization. That is a White student union. This organization, likewise, cannot prohibit people from joining on the basis of their skin color. It is open to all. You simply have to agree to celebrate white culture, events, holidays, etc. It's in the organizations charter.

Since we already have hundreds of black student unions on campuses across America, then it shouldn't be a problem to have hundreds of similar white student unions
on campuses all across America. Right?

[AJTheReverb]

You completely and utterly dont get it at all.

[Jocalo]

There are probably Irish clubs, Japanese clubs, German clubs, and all sorts of clubs that celebrate different cultures on that same campus.
Black America doesn't have a designation that doesn't confuse people into thinking that the opposite of a black organization is a white one. That argument ignores the fact that slavery made it impossible for Black Americans to belong to the Senegal-American Club and have a parade like the Irish.

[Centaur]

Let's see how I can frame this so that it's perhaps understood by the "majority" populous in this country. It always amazes me that when black folks want to form their own organizations, i.e. NAACP, The Urban League, e.t.c and oh yeah, Black Student Unions(formed because blacks weren't allowed in white student unions), there is this ridiculous crying about some kind of "reverse racism". It would seem to me that you would applaud this because these organizations are trying to help a people who were denied a whole lot of things and had to survive centuries of discrimination. It's not like these organizations are out to "terrorize" or "kill" whites like, say, the kkk, the american nazi party, and other "white" hate organizations who did those things to black people. Ridley, keep up the good work!

[digoweli]

Rev. Jeremiah Wright is a part of that tradition that chooses to use the scalpel of extreme language to pull his people out of the depression of poverty and cultural abuse.

The European immigrant of whatever nationality will make the point that unless they are “English”, they too gave up their history to become Americans. But in truth, they only gave up their languages. They did not give up their “way” of expression. They did not give up their “way” of moving. They did not give up their religion or their history. They were punished by the poverty of the immigrant, but they could learn to dress and act like the English and work their way out without sending their grandparents home to the Indian reservation or the Black ghetto. No Irishman sued her mother for not telling her she was Irish. A simple name change is not the same as changing the skin that covers your body.

America is a “visual” culture that denigrates sound, movement and all of the other senses in favor of the three Rs. The three Rs are all visual expressions now taught almost exclusively in the public schools. If you don’t fit the visual "clothes" of the Englishmen then you have a problem. The further you are from that, the greater your problem. The problem is within the killer assumption that you use to form your thoughts about meaning. Digoweli

[realpolitic]

What is the "white" culture and holidays that you speak of? Many blacks and other groups already celebrate St. Patrick's Day and wear green along with many of us. Most celebrate Christmas and Easter as religious holidays and if we are given a day off we likely celebrate it with friends and family. This "white culture" that you suggest is in need of reinforcement, I am not sure what it is? I mean, we mostly learn the history of white America in school and not so much that affecting the American Indians or black Americans.

[seenitall]

Hannity has the same problem with NOW...ever­yone not a white male has been a second class citizen until they fought against that kind of bigotry... we are not there yet. Mr. Ridley's assessment makes sense. Don't expect people like Hannity and other conservative bigots to have a clue.

[realpolitic]

Hannity has a problem with everyone who is not a white male on the far right. He really has a problem with America.

[fourex]

Could you imagine putting up side by side the resume and achievements of Rev Wright and Rush Limbaugh.

[realpolitic]

That is an excellent point. After serving in the marines, Rev. Wright graduated from Howard University and the University of Chicago Divinity School. He was a pastor for 40 years or so, helping with the lives of many impoverished on the south side of Chicago. Rush, on the other hand, takes sex vacations to the Dominican Republic.

[Bladernr1001]

John,
I disagree with your with your assertion that there is a difference between being pro-black and pro-white.
1. Being pro-white is NOT a code word these days for kill blacky as you infer. White communities have just as much right to look after each other as blacks do. And no act of racism should be infered.
2. No living black has had to deal with slavery or Jim Crow laws. You cling to this victimology as a crutch. That is what has become of the civil rights movement. Very sad.

[EliotWare]

Not to ruin your day but there are literally millions of blacks that had to deal with Jim Crow laws living today. As a matter of fact, every black born before the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was subject to Jim Crow laws. I can still remember having to pack a lunch for the ride from the north down to visit my grandparents in Alabama in the early 60s because we would not be able to stop for food once we crossed into Virginia. So, please, don't make it seem like it was so very long ago. It just wasn't.

[Thunderbeach]

"2. No living black has had to deal with slavery or Jim Crow laws. You cling to this victimology as a crutch. That is what has become of the civil rights movement. Very sad."

Jim Crow laws were ultimately reversed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voters Rights Act of 1965. That's only 44 years ago. Do you really think all blacks alive today were born after 1964?

[KYZipster]

I can remember a neighbor refusing to sell his house to a black family in the mid 1970s, to our all white subdivision's credit, many people were outraged, but then I'm sure there were many people who were silently pleased. It wasn't even newsworthy back then. To pretend that discrimination and segregation went away with passing some legislation in 1964 is ludicrous.

[Davwbaird]

Ah but the results of those odious situations are so pround and as awful,

[MaracaKabob]

Bladernr1001, you should copy your post down and send if to yourself 25 years from now. You'll see what an old school bigot you were way back then and have a good laugh. Right now, you obviously can't understand how f##king stupid your comment is right now, be we understand and forgive you.

[uheardme]

My grandmother and mother lived under Jim Crow in Mississippi. So stop lying, whitey.

[steamboat]

Keep your racist slang names to yourself you racist hypocrite. We're not 'whiteys', we're white Americans or caucasians. Thank you.

[ApolloniaCreed]

Name calling is counter intuitive in this instance, don't you think?

[theblindboygrunt]

The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid,
And the marshals and cops get the same,
But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool.
He's taught in his school
From the start by the rule
That the laws are with him
To protect his white skin
To keep up his hate
So he never thinks straight
'Bout the shape that he's in
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.

From the poverty shacks, he looks from the cracks to the tracks,
And the hoof beats pound in his brain.
And he's taught how to walk in a pack
Shoot in the back
With his fist in a clinch
To hang and to lynch
To hide 'neath the hood
To kill with no pain
Like a dog on a chain
He ain't got no name
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.

[fignozzle]

beautiful piece.
i hope hannity reads it.

[jackiekahane]

John misses the point, I think. First of all to jump to the conclusion that Wright has only said these things 4-5 times is embarrassingly naive. Look at the response of the congregation. They weren't surprised at all. They lept in the air cheering as if the "applause" sign went off. To assume what Ridley is espousing, that the main objection to Wright's hate speech is Sean Hannity subsituting "white" for black, is ludicrous. Most conservatives have no problem with any group banding together to better themselves. That's what we want for everyone - to take care of themselves and not give all their power away to a Central one-think fits all government, who in order to please all the people all the time, taxes us into socialism. What is objectionable about Wright's is the Reverend uses an "us versus them" locker room speech as a way to motivate his parishioners. The claims regarding AIDS and certain poultry coming home to roost is total mythology.

Also objectionable is Obama, who admits he knows better, has left his children to grow spritually in this negative and, historically inaccurate, environment.

I was struck by something Wright said during the machine fed, slow-pitch softball inteview "conducted" by Moyers. He said that neither he, in his pulpit, nor Obama in distancing himself from Wright, REALLY meant what either was saying. He said they were on the same page, but had to tell different stories because they were speaking to different audiences.

[BuffaloSoldier]

You guys amaze me. Why all of sudden, what is done or said in black church means so much? Not until a black man tried to run for president…did any of gave a damn.

….“What is objectionable about Wright's is the Reverend uses an "us versus them" locker room speech as a way to motivate his parishioners. The claims regarding AIDS and certain poultry coming home to roost is total mythology.­”….

As long blacks stay within the confined space of the world you guys have given us (thanks)…

[jhink465]

"I was struck by something Wright said during the machine fed, slow-pitch softball inteview "conducted" by Moyers. "

What hardball question pray tell, should Moyers have asked Rev. Wright that would have satisfied your bigoted urge to continue disparaging someone I found to be a thoughtful, intelligent and devoted man of God? I am a white Roman Catholic and I can only wish for a pastor that moved me like he did in those so-called hateful sermons. He speaks God's word like his namesake Jeremiah the Prophet. Sometimes people need a swift kick in the butt to get their minds and souls right. Tell us what is so negative and inaccurate about the environment Obama is letting his kids grow up in? All I hear from you is someone talking out of his ass. Tell the truth. Did yiu watch the Moyers interview? I really doubt it.

[realpolitic]

How can you say that this church environment is negative and historically inaccurate from several soundbites. I read one of Rev. Wright's sermons and learned very much about the gospels. I think one hears many, many more historical inaccuracies daily on Fox News. Do you complain about that? Of course not! You celebrate it!

[Lagniappe]

Waiting for God


Journalist, columnist, and television commentator Bill Moyers recently wrote that “for the first time in our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of power in Washington­.” Ever since Abraham Vereide, a misguided immigrant to this country who brought very un-American ideas of Nazism and Fascism with him in his steamer trunk, the so-called “Christian” Right has long waited to take the biggest prize of all – the White House. Moyers correctly sees the Dominionists or “End Timers” as being behind the invasion of Iraq.

The political and religious dynasties who have embraced the Fellowship, Vereide, Fascism, Moon, Buchman, Moral Rearmament and all of their current and past manifestations, hatreds, and phobias show no sign of ceding power any time soon. There are many such father-son dynasties that hope to ensure a continuation of their shameful racketeering and political chicanery under the corporate “logo” of Jesus: George H. W. Bush to George W. Bush; Douglas Coe to David Coe; Billy Graham to Franklin Graham; Oral Roberts to Richard Roberts, Pat Robertson to Gordon Robertson; Jerry Falwell to Jonathan Falwell; Jeb Bush to George P. Bush; Robert Schuller Sr. to Robert Schuller, Jr., and Sun Myung Moon to at least nine sons (who are known about)
]What many evangelical Christians fail to understand is that Bush only pays lip service to Jesus while advancing a Dominionist (“fascist”) plan for global control. __________­__________­__________­_____ Google up "The Fellowship",better known as "The Family"-Hiilary's Christian Dominionist associates.

[jackiekahane]

Jessie Jackson to Jesse Jackson Jr. John Adams to John Q. Adams. Kennedy to Kennedy times ten. Archie to the brothers Manning. Your premise is silly.

Also, in your adoration of the feeble-minded Moyers, you failed to spin your hate speak on the subject at hand - Jeremiah Wright who gave the very foundation of religion in politics to Obama that you and Moyer's are so "GodDAMN (America) irked about.

I hate hypocrites more than anything.

[rmreddicks]

except yourself.

[CivilDisobedient]

God's an absentee landlord.

[Lagniappe]

Apparently he's been letting you rent for free,far too long.

[cylindar]

What's the big flap about Wright, all he said was "God Damn America. Hell, if everbody made a flap about every time someone said "God Damn America, we would have to install an office in the Federal Government just to attend to all the God Damn America utterings that abound. I mean most people don't even know what Wright meant when he said "God Damn America". God Damn America" can mean many different things to many different people. God Damning is a favorite sport of mine. I God Damn everbody and everything on some days. Other days I am more polite. I like God Damning however, as it makes me feel better. Everbody should open their window and doors and walk out onto the streets today and say "God Damn America". I am sure they will feel better after that, just like taking a tonic. Remember that this country is only as good as it does good things. If it does God Damn things than it is no God damn good. Why is it that people want to make poop smell like roses?

[freshnotbitter]

Americans love "redemption". They love to see it in all their movies, books, etc.

The Wright story needs to be explained as follows:

the first African Americans landed at Jamestown in the early 1620's with the very first settlers in America.

They arrived before the Pilgrims if my history is correct.

In the 400 years that followed since, no African American has been President. So they feel like Charlton Heston in the Planet of the Apes (remember how mad he got??)

When Barack becomes President, a huge reason for all that anger is gone. There is a huge transformation in attitudes that will lead to great social progress for American society as a whole, not to mention what it will mean for how the rest of the world sees America.

Now if you think of the above paragraph you realize how important it is for the Sean Hannity's to replace that positive image with something else: A soundbite of somebody swearing at America.
They have to become negative because electing the first black President is a very positive, transforming factor in history whereas Republicans want to keep things as they are because they like their 50's gas guzzling Cadillacs and big mansions and their preferential tax breaks on their hedge fund profits.

It isn't really possible to start the ball rolling untill we get Hillary out of the race. When is she leaving?

[politicky]

I watched the Moyers interview and I'm glad I did.

Here's a link to part one.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04252008/watch.html

[mamak]

Rev. Wright is an intelligent, honest and articulate pastor. If only there are MORE people like him.
Intelligence attracts intelligence. I'll let the antonym speak for itself...w­hich I'm sure is the majority.

If you are troubled by the Wright "Issue"...­pls read the transcripts or watch the video at http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04252008/watch.html. Learn and opine.

I liked this part:
----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­---------
BILL MOYERS: What does it say to you that millions Americans, according to polls, still think Barack Obama is a Muslim?

REVEREND WRIGHT: It says to me that corporate media and miseducation or misinformation or disinformation, I think we started calling it during the Nixon years, still reigns supreme. Thirty some percent of Americans still think there are weapons of mass destruction. That you tell a lie long enough that people start believing it. What does the media do? "Barack Hussein Obama! Barack Hussein Obama! Barack Hussein. It sounds like Osama, Obama. That Arabic is a language. So that's why many people still think he's a Muslim. He went to a madrasah. What's a madrasah? I don't know, but I know it was one of those Muslim schools that teaches terrorism. The kind of I don't want to think, just tell me what to think mentality is why so many Americans still think that.
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