Hypocrisy in the Public Sphere on Obama's Speech
London - Even on this side of the ocean Barack Obama's speech on his personal Jeremiah has made waves but I see that the usual suspects in the right-wing commentariat are not satisfied: Krauthammer in the Washington Post opinion pages today and Michael Gerson in the same place earlier in the week. How can a pastor, a man of the cloth attack the U.S. with words like "God Damn America?" they ask and demand total renunciation, repudiation etc., etc...
In the autumn of 1995 I was traveling around Mississippi doing some reporting for the BBC World Service. I try to get to the deep South once a decade because for better or worse it remains the cauldron where this nation's politics are forged. People reading this on either coast may think they set the nation's agenda. They don't. The South does. White southerner's lingering resentment to being conquered and occupied for the best part of a century is what drive's American politics. Nixon knew it and that's why the southern strategy was so successful. White southerners are their own tectonic plate crashing into one party or another for a time and creating the political equivalent to a super continent.
Anyway as I'm cruising the surprisingly well-paved back roads of Miss'ippi I'm listening to AM radio. A white Christian station comes up and I hear a song that is absolutely shocking. It calls on God to destroy America. Why? So it can be reclaimed for Christ. I was so stunned by the tune that the next time it came on, as I was driving through a white section of Clarksdale I pulled over, took out my Sony Pro tape machine and recorded it. The chorus ran, "Even if you have to bring her to her knees/Lord, please/ revive her again."
The song's image of America destroyed so it can be reclaimed for white Southern Christians was only one example of the relentless disparaging of the U.S. along with damnings to Hell of vast swathes of American society to be heard being broadcast by white Christian pastors.
These same pastors of course preach the politics of the right from their pulpits and their congregations provide the foot soldiers of the conservative movement.
No one ever demanded of President Bush that he repudiate these hellfire and brimstone types, yet even after delivering one of the great speeches of the last several decades the ideologues are demanding something more of Obama.
The hypocrisy here is large; I would not expect anything else from Krauthammer but Michael Gerson is a "person of faith." And surely he knows the danger of hypocrisy in that part of the public sphere where religion intersects with politics. I'm sure he knows much of the Gospel of Matthew by heart. I am certain at this season of the passion he is re-reading it fervently. But in case he is speed reading it let me remind of Matthew 23 verses 13-15. Each verse begins, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!"
America needs no heavenly destroyer to revive itself, it needs people in Gerson's position to examine their consciences and stop being hypocrites. A good place to start would be for him to address the shocking statements made by white Christian preachers over the air waves every day. He might take advantage of the opportunity to repudiate them by name and renounce their help in electing Republicans to office. If not, to quote the Gospel, "Woe unto him ..."
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and here is one of their talking heads.... with his unbelievable spin... on CNN and his talk show...
please watch:
I believe that by the consensus of every fair minded American, I cam safely say, that this man is a loathsome abomination, and consummate disgrace, to America and every good thing that it stands for? And in need of a lot of prayer, on his behalf. Since I'm retired and have a lot of time to spare, I'll begin praying for him today.and the South as well.
By your post, I think that you're also in need of prayer.
As others have likely posted, Obama deserves our respect for disagreeing with, but not distancing himself from his mentor. A lesser man or woman would have done some thing "Clintonian", e.g., repudiated his whole 20-year relationship the the Reverend. And, as you write, there is little, if any difference, between the preachings of Wright and the anti-American rhetoric of the white, Christian, fundamentalist preachers, who are indeed leaders and foot soldiers of the conservative movement. (well, maybe there is a difference, in that Wright's words are more honest) This whole affair is just more evidence that racism is alive and strong in America today.
There is a big difference. One group extolls war, while Reverend Wright preaches peace.
If we curse our government for killing and corrupting in our country's name, is it unpatriotic? If it is, then we need to do some serious soul searching.
Come on man. The media never holds white conservatives and conservative democrats accountable.
You want to be shocked and disgusted? Go to this link and read an article by Pat Buchanan on his website entitled "A Brief for Whitey."
http://buchanan.org/blog/?p=969
This man is given a platform every night to influence with his commentary based on racism. Pat Buchanan is a white supremacist. Now I understand the basis for the comments he's been making. It also gives new context to him telling the female, African-American commentation to shut up.
Below are a few paragraphs from a much longer article:
First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.
Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American.
Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ’60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.
Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks — with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas — to advance black applicants over white applicants.
Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks.
We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude?
Why do I get the feeling that none of the aids to black families and chlldren that you mention above were freely given by you. No genuine charitable act demands gratitude. Your resentment just leaps from the screen. Yet, would you have willingly changed places at any time with a black person? If not, why not? Because on some level you know that blacks will still have to deal with people like YOU, people who can't seem to forgive them for the period in history in which they were given more "breaks" than they had before?
You misread my post. These weren't my words. I posted excerpts from an article by Pat Buchanan.
I believe he is quoting the Buchanan article here, not gving his own ideas...look at the first paragraph...
Bluesue ....
Actually, Slavery existed, including for people with black skin, long before the American Continent was even suspected of existing... Were it not for people with white skin ( so called "WHITES" ) (European Immigrants) the USA would still have Slavery...
I suspect the roots of Slavery grew in control of $$$$$, not over what color one's skin is.... Native Americans were tried out as Slaves, but that did NOT work... But for "WHITES," people with black skin tones would still be Slaves in the USA... And many of those "WHITES" came as indentured "servants" to earn passage to the New World... Maybe "WHITES" don't deserve all the Hate and Blame they get... Perhaps a Thank You for People with white skin tones enlightened thinking, and votes to end Slavery, would actually be welcome...
I notice you do NOT refute what Pat B. said, but dislike what he said...
The Obama's have played to Race and Color from the start... The Obama's have played the Race Card against the Clinton's several times... Prior to this Campaign, I saw NO accusations the Clinton's were Racist...
If you understand the meaning of a "red Herring" ( from the practice of drawing a red herring across a trail to confuse hunting dogs] : something that distracts attention from the real issue ) then in my observation, Racism entered the Campaign as an Obama "black herring"...
Obama's judgement related to making Rev. Wright a "Spiritual Advisor" is in question... Obama's 20 year friendship with Rezko... Obama's distancing himself after the Fact, has brought question of his Campaign claim of his Judgement being better... Obama's Lying is a Documented Fact...
And, yes, Racial, Ethnic, Religious, ETC, hatred and fear exist with all skin tones... That is part of our Human Created Social/ Cultural Environment...
Its worse than anyone had admitted yet.
There are more lengthly excerpts from the two - and only two - sermons of Rev. Wright's 40 year career that the racist bigots find objectionable.
It turns out they have been very selectively editing...
They edited out Wright's acknowledgement that the Rev. was QUOTING a white Ambassador in the Reagan years...
The edited out the build up of a long long history of terrorism here and abroad....
And they failed entirely to point out that Fawell and Robertson said America deserved 9/11 too.
This failure to be ethical with facts, to skewer them deliberatly KNOWING most people would
never check the facts themselves, makes them racist bigots.
Every time you see or hear anyone claiming that Barach Obama sat in his church for 20 years of
sermons of hate....
Know it is a lie.
A deliberate, racist, bigoted lie.
I couldn't care less if Obama remains in that church or doesn't disavow his mentor. How do you disavow a mentor anyway?
What bothers me is that he absolutely lied. Today there's a petty story about Hillary and Bosnia. She clearly was there when she said she was, and there were snipers in the hills. She had a bit of fun talking about the trip and gets slammed for "exaggerating her record." Good grief. It was a story not a speech.
Yet nobody is discussing Obama's lies about Wright preceding his speech?
This is a very serious matter. We have lived with Bush and his lies. Do we want yet another liar in the White House?
And I will not feel a bit sorry for the public if they do not recognize that they have all the information now about Obama and his willingness to lie to people.
WTF? It's okay for Hillary to make a "slight" exageration about her trip to Bosnia? I guess I missed the part where she was just exagerating to make a humorous point when she said that they sent her and Chelsea to all of the places that were too dangerous for the President to go. WTF? Or that she really was against NAFTA when she was the point person to get female business leaders on board the NAFTA train.
Obama said this in one of the debates........."There is noe white America, no black America, no hispanic America and no asian America, there is only the United States of America."
In his speech he said this....."Race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot ignore."
So my question for Obama....Which is it?? Make up your mind Barack.
Where is the contradiction? There IS only the United States of America, and we should not see ourselves as separate from one another as Americans, in spite of the reality of the superficial differences among us, such as race, ethnicity, religion, political affiliation, etc. Nonetheless, it is also a reality that we do see ourselves and others as different, and race therefore remains an issue in America that we must begin to address if in fact we truly aspire to live as one people, united. It is not a contradiction when both statements are true; and it is not for Senator Obama to make up HIS mind, it is for America to make up ITS mind about what it wants to be, which in essence means, we must make up OUR minds about the kind of America we want to live in.
Explain what is contradictory about these two statements.
Transcendentilist,
He is consistent. If you listen to his speech, he says to all Americans that our issues and goals are the same. Jobs, health care for all our children (because each child is our child), etc. He said that all races have to work for them together, because we have to move away from the belief that what we don't have is someone else's fault. He said that that thinking is not getting us anywhere.
Obama appeared on the major news shows on Friday the 14th and denounced Rev. Wright and made the statement that:
“he didn't attend controversial Wright sermons excerpts of which are now circulating on the Internet.”
What Obama said in his speech:
“I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. 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 church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely - just as I'm sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.”
I see no contradiction much less a lie. But I admit it depends on the disposition you bring to the party.
Please, Obama did not lie. It is clear that you are one of those blind hillary supporters who does'nt care whether or not she destroys the party. How come is it that when Hillary lies she's just having fun? but when Obama explains himself on more than one occasion he's lying. Stop being a hypocrit. there is nothing with wanting to support your candidate but like her please stop disorting the truth for political purposes.
SherlandoBlaise ....
On Obama: RUSSERT: When we talked back in November of "04, after your election, I said, "There's been enormous speculation about your political future. Will you serve your full six-year term as a United States senator from Illinois?"
Obama: "Absolutely."
OMG...
Obama, LIES!
No! NO! NoooooOOO! Say it isn't so...
Glad you like Documented LIARS....
Obama's Campaign started with a LIE...
That so called "Honest" speech is a self serving "Red Herring"... The Obama's have played to Race and Color from the start... The Obama's have played the Race Card against the Clinton's several times... Prior to the Campaign, WE saw NO accusations the Clinton's were Racist... If you understand the meaning of a "red Herring" ( from the practice of drawing a red herring across a trail to confuse hunting dogs] : something that distracts attention from the real issue ) then in my observation, Racism entered the Campaign as an Obama "black herring"...
Obama's judgement related to making Rev. Wright a "Spiritual Advisor" is in question... Obama's 20 year friendship with Rezko... Obama's distancing himself, After the Fact, has brought question of his Campaign claim of his Judgement being superior...
The Idea that Obama, who uses Race and Color, to distract from questions of his "claimed superior judgement," plus the Obama Campaign has played to Race and Color to get him Elected, and accused others of making Racist remarks when none were made.... He even used his Maternal Grandmother as a "typical White" to distract US... Well, the Idea that he is going to "heal" Race Relations seem ludicrous to me... That would be like adding G W Bush to the Supreme Court because he is knowledgeable about the Constitution...
Obama ran a Campaign Ad claiming there is only "One America"... By his own "WHITE America and BLACK America" definitions again he LIES... His "speech" was pure and simple about getting him ELECTED President... He behaves like a user, not a Healer...
Hillary just doesn't recall. One hundred and fifty-two time, Hillary was not able to "recall". Such an inability must be at least defined as impending dementia, after 8 years of this, how could America possibly want more?
What does Hillary not "recall". The Rose Law Firm? The looting of Vince Foster's office? Stealing all that money from Whitewater investors? What does Hillary not recall?
The hypocrisy about this is unbelievable. There are far more white bigots on the radio and in the churches preaching racist garbage everyday and the moronic media insists on harping on this one sermon by a man who joined the marines and when he came home could not use the same toilet as his white comrades. Is there a country on earth more hypocritical than the United States?
1) I've always said that the number one problem in this country is Corporate Media. They feed us wall-to-wall propaganda 24-7, lies of comission and omission. They should all be stripped of their licenses.
2) Just remember that the "reporters" at the Gridiron dinner the other night whooping it up with the mass murderer, Constitution destroyer and Treasury robber are charged with bringing us the "truth".
Even if what you say is true, which I somehow doubt, these people aren't asking us to hire them for the nation's highest office. That's the difference. Think man, think!
Neither is Reverend Wright!!
GOOGLE HAL TURNER. Oh heck here is the link
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050620/blumenthal
It's not just the hypocricy of white preachears getting a pass. It's the hypocricy of WHITE PEOPLE getting a BIG pass.
Clinton friend and longtime supporter Elton John, for example. He's doing a huge benefit for Hillary Clinton in NYC, with about 7000 people paying over $1000 a piece.
Now, is anyone in the media pointing out "Well, look... this guy is a foriegner. Is this even legal?! If so, how?" No.
Are they holding Elton John accountable for his previous statement about a year ago, where he said "I would ban religion completely. Organized religion doesn’t seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it’s not really compassionate."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15675821/
No. Meanwhile, if you look at LGBT-oriented coverage of the race, you can't get away from stories about how a black pastor/gospel performer who performed before a few of Obama's campaign appearances in South Carolina is openly against homosexuals.
But Elton? He's considered white and safe, and his hate speech gets a pass. Nobody's asking Hillary to reject and renounce him, or even to refuse fundraising efforts from someone who is a British citizen, rather than doing end-runs around campaign finance laws.
This is racist and wrong. Do any of us think that if a prominent American black rap group did a benefit for Obama, that their support wouldn't be questioned, their lyrics scoured for racism, anti-semitism, etc.?
It's simply not honest and fair of us as Americans, that we instinctively have less trust for blacks than whites in this election.
Frankly, as a white male, I find this constant media slant embarassing and saddening.
Mitt Romney was a Presidential candidate (hoping to be Vice President - and will be the ticket if Rove gets his way) was a member of a church whose doctrine teaches that Blacks have the mark of cain (skin coloring) and was ineligible for the same level of spiritual attainment as Whites. The LDS Church until 1978, would not permit Blacks to marry inside their temples (which is a religious ceremony to seal their families to them for all eternity). Worthy Black men were denied the same priesthood as their White counterparts. Black people could not enter the "Celestial Kingdom" (highest level of heaven). This is as recent at 1978!!! No one insisted that Romney reject, denounced, walk out or confront the Prophet of his faith to object to its teachings.
"How can a pastor, a man of the cloth attack the U.S. with words like "God Damn America?" they ask and demand total renunciation, repudiation etc., etc..."
You left out the stuff about Wright's adoration of Louis Farrakhan. Again, Obama's repudiation of that came only at gunpoint, too little and too late. In my opinion, the famous speech was nothing more than sugar-coated BS. I wouldn't accept excuses like that from a six-year-old.
Has Hillary turned down Ann Coulter's endorsement?
At this point I think Hillary would take an endorsement from the Klan if she thought it would help her in any way.
Bauersox,
And you probably still believe that he is not a patriot because he doesn't wear a lapel pin and he doesn't know "our" national anthem or say "our" pledge of allegiance and because he speaks a "foreign" language and also he is a Muslim although he is a member of Trinity Church of Christ and he has a tail.
Guess what! America has committed sins. You can refuse to believe it if you want. But it is an inconvenient truth. BTW, Conservative White Southern Christian pastors say the same thing repeatedly. Usually though because heaven forbid, America has gay people and people have had abortions!
Quote: "Who is really offended by Rev. Jeremiah Wright"s fiery sermons? I certainly hope there are no people who call themselves Christians who are offended by this preaching."
I was talking to someone who was really offended by what Rev. Wright said, who kept telling me: "You must not have heard the whole thing," etc. etc. I was so perplexed. I finally said: "But it's just words. It's just words!"
Which reminds me: Aren't the people who are so up in arms now about what Rev. Wright said the same people who scoffed at the Muslims who were upset about the cartoon of Allah? And didn't they say: "It's just a cartoon!"
Didn't Obama, when using Deval Patrick's words, say that "words count".?
Good post. But just to add another observation: Aren't these people who are so up in arms now about what Rev. Wright said the same people who were ready to dismantle Senator Obama's campaign because they wanted to believe that HE was a MUSLIM, as if being an American Muslim is somehow antithetical to being a good and whole person who has as much potential and integrity and love for America as anyone else who seeks to be the leader of our country. I assume that those who are most upset by Pastor Wright's words are Christian; yet there is not anything even remotely related to Christianity in the angry, self-righteous, judgmental, unforgiving, vile and vicious remarks I have read from those attacking Reverend Wright on this blogsite. Nor is there anything remotely related to Christianity in their willingness to use their alleged indignation as a weapon to judge and defame Senator Obama. It is the epitome of hypocrisy. It seems that at least one of them might have asked themselves, "What would Jesus do?"
Obama nailed it when he said that if we do not say "enough" to this crap now, it will come back to bite us again and again every election cycle. If not this distraction, it will be another, and we will continue not to address the real problems of this country and the world.
Oh, well, if nothing else, this has at least temporarily put "gay marriage" on the back burner. I suppose we can all be grateful for that.
I agree that it would not only come back, but come back tenfold. It will only get nastier in future elections if we do not hold people to standards and do not reward them for their tactics.
Billy Graham, the anti-semite. Caught red-handed in the Nixon tapes.
___________________________________________________________
Please, you besmirch the memory of Jerry Falwell, invited so many times to the White House by presidents Reagan, Bush and Bush. The same Jerry Falwell who said that the Antichrist was alive and walking the earth as a Jew. Even his buddy Pat Robertson took him to task for that one.
But, while Falwell was alive, every Republican candidate (and even some Democrats) bent over backwards to honor and fete Mr. Falwell every chance they got.
So even if he wasn't the minister of their church, was inviting him to the White House and showering him with honors any better than Obama attending Wright's church?
At least Obama had the decency and courage to repudiate Wright's outrageous comments. The last Republican to challenge Falwell was John McCain, who called him an "agent of intolerance."
Oh, but wait a minute, he took that back when he reported on schedule to kiss the guy's ring, didn't he? Too bad, John. In a contest with Hillary, you might have had my vote. Now, if it's you vs. Hillary, my vote will go to neither of you.
It is time to call out the hypocrisy of the whited sepulchres.
Who is really offended by Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s fiery sermons? I certainly hope there are no people who call themselves Christians who are offended by this preaching.
Rev. Wright’s preaching is right out of the Bible. If you denounce it you are denouncing the Bible and the God of the Bible. Any true Christian understands where this kind of preaching is coming from – its tone, its import, and its place in the Judeo-Christian lineage. If you don’t know it, you are unfamiliar with the Bible.
It seems like people expect our preachers to be nice and patriotic, to only say “God Bless America”, even to have the attitude “my country right or wrong,” but absolutely this expectation has no basis in the Bible. It doesn’t take extensive perusing of the Bible to find many examples of the kind of language Rev. Wright has used.
To start with a most obvious example regarding this issue, Jesus was executed by the government as an enemy of the state. Neither Rome nor the government of the Israelites considered Jesus a great patriot; just the opposite. There were patriots in Jesus’ time, they were called zealots. Jesus rejected zealotry. Barabbas was likely a Jewish patriot that we learn about in the Gospel and we are told that the crowd chose him over Jesus to be spared execution. (Luke 23:18) I assume that those today who are crying out for patriotism in our preachers would also have called out then “we choose Barabbas! Barabbas!”
John the Baptist rebuked King Herod for sleeping with his brother’s wife and was beheaded by the king for that. (Luke 3:19) I guess John was not a good patriot, he criticized the government. I assume that those who are calling Rev. Wright anti-American would have called John anti-Israelite.
Rev. Wright is named after the prophet Jeremiah. In the Bible we find the prophet Jeremiah saying: “Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem, or who will bemoan you? Who will turn aside to ask about your welfare? You have rejected me, says the Lord, you are going backward; so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you.”(Jer 15:5) That doesn’t sound like “God bless Jerusalem” it sounds like “God damn Jerusalem.” I guess Jeremiah was not a patriot but an anti-Judean filled with hate.
The Bible is not a textbook of patriotism. The harsh judgments are made in the hope that things will be brought to right so that life can be better. The stern message that we could be better people, must be a better nation, is much more valuable than a vain self-indulgent pep talk that “we’re OK,” “we’re number one!”
Now that more of Rev. Wright’s sermon has been posted on YouTube we can see the larger context of the hardest words of it and we can see that this uproar has been created by media deception through video editing. We see that Rev. Wright does emphasize the positive restorative aspects of Christianity in his sermons. So what must we say of those who have been so quick to condemn this preacher on the basis of short clips of video deception? I think those who have spoken so loudly and quickly in condemnation are persecutors of Christianity, hypocrites if they claim to be Christian themselves; as Jesus called the Pharisees, “whited sepulchers:” self righteous on the outside and full of corruption on the inside.
not only that jonesgen57...americans are trying to ignor the fact that after the slaves were freed...they were left under the control of the most rabid racists on this planet...white southerners. this entire nation was complicit in the condoning of lynching and all other appurtenances of white racism..not only in the south but all over the united states.reverend wright like i myself grew up having to jump off the side walk and into the mudpuddle or traffic to get out of a nasty stinking goat smelling racists way.we probably said ...goddamn america...every time we saw a racist or saw a relative lynched or shot with 41 or 56 bullets like amadou diallo and sean bell.does anyone in their right mind think we felt like singing god bless america when we saw 30 cops busting rodney kings brains out? .in spite of all that...black men have stood shoulder to shoulder with white americans in every war this nation has fought beginning with crispus attucks bunker hill. we never chose the way of the irish and other waves of racist immigrants...prefering instead the nonviolent strategys of mahatma ghandi and martin luther king.in our darkest day...and under the most brutal oppression in this...arguably...the most racist country in the world...you will never be able to find 5 black men...that would conduct themselves the way the irish and british did in northern ireland...or like the PLO and iraqi insurgents now.obama is doing what the average black man would do...walk in the oval office and sit down...not because we bombed innocent people...or exploited weaker people...or stole an election...but the way we did when moses lead us the original jews out of egypt...we made people like us...we found favor with the egyptian oppressors...they liked us...they gave us money and gifts....and some of them...the mixed multitudes ...even left with us.if white people would only let their guard now...they will realize that we are worthy of love and respect. what do you think would have happened if the situation was reversed...and whites were enslaved and lynched? remember northern ireland? there would be bombs going off every 10 minutes.but what did reverend wright do really?he bitched about his...our 400 year oppression.
The deceptive editing by a far right wing producer; was passed along endlessly by the talking heads at CNN and MSNBC who either did not bother to look at the original video in its entirety or choice to suppess it. Perhaps" blind guides" who are trying to lead us into a dicth
Here, Here.
And not only do these "whited sepulchers" dishonor their bible and their professed religion, but they also dishonor their Constitution by trying to quail free speech.
In a way, it harkens back to the bitter irony of Geraldine Ferraro's insinuation that the road to the nomination for Democratic party presidential candidate was made easier by the fact that Obama is black. Of course America has heard the hell-fire-n-brimestone preachers before. Of course a healthy chunk of Christians in America have heard at one time or another a fiery sermon/preacher suggest that America is headed to damnation unless it repents and turns away from sin. They probably thought nothing of it. We've never seen even close the outrage shown to Rev. Wright's statements when other white pastors have said that Sept 11th was because of the sins of our nation, or the flooding in Katrina was God's way of punishing a disobedient people. But what the public outrage over Rev. Wright's comment reveals is this strange prejudice that too many white Americans still harbors against Afr-Americans - that despite the laws and years of sacrifice to this nation, Afr-Americans are still not seen as full citizens, free to speak their mind about this country, free to criticize it, free to air grievances and expect to be listened to with full attention.
Of all the questions asked of Barack Obama, the most time, focus and energy is spent circling one particular item - is he a patriot? That's why we've had the Muslim smear and the myriad of commentary about his middle name, a great politically correct cover for questioning his patriotism because the common belief is you can't be a true American if you're Muslim. During the Ohio/Texas run, the reason the NAFTA controversy was particularly successful was that it suggested Obama was involved with a foreign nation - Canada - he can't be a patriot doing that. Note how folks pounced on Michelle Obama's comments about being REALLY proud of her country for the first time - she can't be a patriot saying something like that. Even ignoring Bill Clinton's comments today about two patriots in a general election, the Clintons have been quietly pushing the patriot meme by playing up the "Commander-in-Chief" language. Clearly, you HAVE to be a true patriot to be a Commander-in-Chief and trusted to lead our most powerful military - would you trust someone looking like Obama to be a TRUE patriot? ?And that's why the 3AM ad was quite genius- even if the viewer were to think of themselves as "fair-minded" and try to do a "comparison", (assuming one could completely ignore the dark night & lil precious girl in bed imagery) the graphics employed in the ad force the viewer to try to mentally substitute Barack Obama answering the phone for Hillary Clinton. And given the common experience of most Americans black or white who've never seen an Afr-American person that high up in authority or even have an image of a Afr-American in authority answering a phone (think a Condi Rice, Colin Powell), few of us could make that mentally substitution - the Clinton image is just soo much "easier" to accept. She fits the mold of what our Hollywood movies, our history books and even our 24-hour cable news tell us a true patriot looks like - in this thread, I would almost dare anyone to name at least 5 major motion pictures that show Afr-Ams patriots as lead characters. The fact is the history simply does not lead itself to those sorts of portrayals, which makes it all the more difficult for most Americans to picture an Afr-Am as a true patriot.
Which is why I like the reference to the white southerners in this story. Because by popular thinking, these would be the folks who might have the hardest time picturing Afr-Americans in power and accepting an Afr-Am ruling over them. While we'd like to deposit all the blame on Southerners for prejudice in our nation, the truth is there are millions throughout our nation who for one reason or another think either "blacks just aren't American enough to be president" or "we can never trust where their loyalty lies." And it is in moments like those that the Rev Wright controversy provide that these sentiments surface in a "socially acceptable" manner.
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