Fathers and Sons

A year and two months ago, after the Reverend Wright was disinvited to deliver the invocation prior to Senator Obama's presidential announcement the New York Times reported that, "Mr. Wright expressed disappointment but no surprise that Mr. Obama might try to play down their connection." He told The Times that, "Mr. Obama said, 'You can get kind of rough in the sermons, so what we've decided is that it's best for you not to be out there in public.'"

The disinvitation raised concerns about the Senator within the black community. The Times reported that "word of Mr. Obama's treatment has reached black leaders like the Rev. Al Sharpton and given them pause. 'I have not discussed this with Senator Obama in detail, but I can see why callers of mine and other clergymen would be concerned, because the issue is standing by your own pastor,' Mr. Sharpton said."

That is not, it seems to me, the issue. The issue is generational -- is racism in America still all pervasive or has it been marginalized? Reverend Wright is in the business of racism. Barack Obama is the first black leader to suggest that we are on the verge of arriving at a post-racist society. If Obama is right, Jeremiah Wright goes out of business.

There was always a difference between Wright and Obama. When Wright was quick to cite racism as the cause of the Bush administration's failure to respond to Hurricane Katrina, Obama said, "I do not subscribe to the notion that the painfully slow response of FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security was racially based. The ineptitude was colorblind." Later, at a Harvard alumni function Obama said, according to the Harvard University Gazette, "Democrats and others working to help the poor should take the Bush administration at its word when it expresses a newfound determination to help the poor..." Is it possible for anyone to imagine the Rev. Wright taking President Bush's word about anything? Obama speaks for change, Wright thrives on the status quo.

Some will say that Wright has damaged Obama beyond repair, but it may be that by providing the opportunity for Barack Obama to say on national television:

"I have spent my entire adult life trying to bridge the gap between different kinds of people. That's in my DNA, trying to promote mutual understanding, to insist that we all share common hopes and common dreams as Americans and as human beings. That's who I am. That's what I believe. That's what this campaign is all about."

Wright has in fact done more to elect Obama than anyone on his campaign staff.

Comments

[RI]

I appreciate this post. Now, if you can only get the MSM to read it........

[abigail1]

I agree this is generational, but not just between Wright and Obama. It's not just Wright who will have to change his thinking if Obama becomes president, it is the main stream media who can't seem to talk about anything other than the demographics of this race, and many Americans as well who just can't or won't believe that the US has changed.

[Charmed]

I honestly don't think the National Stage is were Rev. Wright should be. He knows that him and Obama don't think the same about a lot of subjects and that's why Obama didn't allow him to speak at his announcement of running for the President. He would rather tear Obama down just to prove to himself that he's right about some insane thing rattling around in his head.

If he wants to pastor to the people that comes to his church that's fine BUT he is absolutely wrong to be running around forcing his views on America.....BUT ALSO the media kept attacking him and now he's out for revenge against them. I've talked to one woman who went to that church and she said she was shocked that Rev. Wright was acting such a fool Monday.

[grendl]

The first black baseball player in the major leagues couldn't be a marginal one.

Nor could this country's first black president. He was bound to face many obstacles, most of which the Clinton campaign has readily provided. But Wright's helped to, inadvertently trying to insinuate Barack secretly shared his views of America, whilst putting donning a political mask to placate a nervous white contingent.

Barack's been vetted in this process. While he's made missteps, hit some foul tips, like telling tales out of school to Bay Area supporters, and taken his sweet time addressing the constant barrage of ridiculous charges, he's managed to retain his integrity.

The fact that Barack didn't see the Katrina debacle as a result of racism should tell this country all it needs to know regarding some sort of secret agenda in exacting reparations from this country. That difference between him and Wright is what makes his special, and different from tired warhorses whose rhetoric from a bygone era is entirely lost on the newly awakened youth vote.

Our problem is the divide between the haves and have nots, not blacks and whites, or men and women. But a black man running for president, along with a woman portended the attempted hijacking of the Democratic race to warp it to fit their agenda. It's the class war which should predominate the agenda. But won't until the ratings start to sag following the racial fireworks.

[justobserve]

I agree that if all of us are fair then the Wright matter in fact helped us see what Obama stands for by his own words. Too much has been made of Wright' s words as if they are from Obama's mouth. What kind of a society we are in when Clinton mis spoke about sniper fire, falsely declared she got the most popular votes... but no one takes her to task about her blatant lies. If there are problems between Wright and Obama, it's their personal business as much as Chelsea refused to answer about Bill's blue dress, uh, Lewinsky's. While do the media kept on digging into Obama's while ignored more serious things of Bill's and Hill's own makings? Obama had won most pledge delegates due to the voters' fairness to judge him, not his skin color, yet, the media still followed the Clintons' spin to say he is unelectable because of his blackness!
Who has fallen from the inevitable to the unelectable? Who lost despite her 35 years of experience, being a woman, being white, being an ex-co-president? Obviously, the majority of voters had decided that Clinton is not to be trusted but the Clintons, spinmaster as they are, worked hard to raise fear, division, to undermine Obama. It is so disgusting to hear her now still spreading her lies just like the snake oil saleman, uh, salewoman.

[margoharris]

Bravo!
Great Post!

[sand252]

This post is speculation and conjecture. Racism exists -- not to the extent sometimes that people say it does. Racism is certainly something that will go away with generations and integration, but S. Obama's accomplishments are not something that will put Rev Wright or other leaders specifically challenging the treatment of the AA & urban communities out of business. While many people do not believe it was racially based, other racially (and socio-economic) based policies exist that affect a high percentage of minorities that S. Obama does acknowledge and would likely promote healing.

Furthermore, it is a concern when politics forces a person to disassociate with anyone for nonthreatening political views; and for the AA community, to distance oneself from someone of your community to gain the acceptance of the general polulation (white persons) is generally frowned upon and met with great scrutiny. Similar to the reaction that many voters had when S. Obama invoked his grandmother in his race speech.

[katefranklin]

Wright is also cynical enough to think that Barack Obama has gone to the other side. "He's just being a politician", he says. It was both a disrespectful thing to say to Obama and to the campaign at large that so many have worked tirelessly move forward. Wright is wrong indeed, and his time to command the stage is over. Obama represents many aspects of change, and America got to see another of these yesterday.

[imapundittoo]

Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. was not slandering Obama by calling him a politician. He was stating fact: Obama is a politician.

Maybe I missed it - "it" being the big deal-, but when I heard Wright say "Obama did not distance himself from me, but from comments I made that media said were unpatriotic and anti-America" I did not hear an accusation of political posturing. I heard him saying that because Obama is a politician, Obama had to denounce comments made by his former pastor because were Obama not a politician, NOBOBY would care about Obama's pastor or what he said. (Mind you, Wright has been preaching across this nation for 40+ years and until about a month ago, tens of millions of Americans were not aware he existed.) What I heard was if Obama were not a politician, the personal and private relationship between him and his pastor would remain private and personal. I didn't hear Wright allude to the fact that Obama secretly agreed with him. That is what the media told you he was saying, what they read between the lines.

I'm very disturbed that the media has successfully destroyed the relationship between these two men. We - Americans - should ALL be disturbed by the increasing power of the media to mislead us. Examine the coverage of the Obama-Wright tragedy vs the coverage of the Pentagon Propoganda Campaign. One gets none, while the other one gets too much. Stop and think about why.

[wearyvoter]

They (the MSM) already assisted quite handily with misleading us into Iraq. And they're beating the drums more and more loudly for a move into Iran.

[gigi09]

I totaly agree with you!