Duluth.Talk

By Lily Toad

March 24, 2008 4:16 PM | Link to this

Reading is always good — especially looking at a candidate’s website. Most of them have detailed policy positions that are not entertaining enough to include in rallies. I want to know what the candidates intend to do about the sagging economy, dropping value of the dollar, health care, discrimination against gays and transgendered persons, woman’s right to choose, the death penalty, and foreign relations with Hamas, Iran, China, and Korea.

By Gandalf, the Grey

March 24, 2008 4:19 PM | Link to this

If my preacher started speaking that hate filled stuff, I would stand up and confront him in church, but then I am a man of principle and have moral courage. Too bad that other guy isn’t.

By Roger

March 24, 2008 4:36 PM | Link to this

Senator Obama’s membership in this church is just not acceptable for a President of the United States. Now he does not have to leave the United Church of Christ faith, just choose another place of worship in that same faith. I here this argument that people don’t agree with everything there priest says but you don’t stop being a catholic. That may be true but you should choose another Catholic church if your church and priest is saying anti American beliefs and statements, If it supports Hamas and is anti Semitic. If racism is promoted and preached. If your priest is a pedophile would you not at least change churches but not faiths? So should Senator Obama and his refusal for years speaks volumes about his judgment. Looks like he has more in common with Bush then just admiring Chaney.

By Stella

March 24, 2008 4:36 PM | Link to this

Sorry, but “God damn America” means “damn America” no matter the context!!!

By Frank

March 24, 2008 4:36 PM | Link to this

So Gandalf, you neither read this article nor did you listen to Obama’s speech. You just want to carry on your merry ignorant way. Very well. In the meantime, I’ll use my brain.

By Shiloh

March 24, 2008 4:38 PM | Link to this

I was feeling very proud of the candidate and very proud that our country had finally transcended race and looked only to the quality of the candidate.

Now I am scared to death. I have awful misgivings of who might be spending the night in the Lincoln bedroom; who might be Obama’s advisors and what their motives might be. It occurs to me that the motive could be the annihilation of the white race. Very scary.

By Shiloh

March 24, 2008 4:39 PM | Link to this

I was feeling very proud of the candidate and very proud that our country had finally transcended race and looked only to the quality of the candidate.

Now I am scared to death. I have awful misgivings of who might be spending the night in the Lincoln bedroom; who might be Obama’s advisors and what their motives might be. It occurs to me that the motive could be the annihilation of the white race. Very scary.

By Jason

March 24, 2008 4:47 PM | Link to this

Obama is getting such a free ride in this campaign. I’m sick of hearing of how he can unite this nation when it is so clear that he will only more deeply divide it. Let me ask you this. If the preacher was white, the sermons were about minorities and crime, and the preacher said aids was a plague sent from god to punish them, would we not be up in arms about the personal beliefs of the white candidate? Obama gets a pass. I don’t think so. I’ll vote for McCain (the first time I’ll have ever voted for a Republican) before I put my country in Obama’s untrustworthy and unexperienced hands.

By Frank

March 24, 2008 4:47 PM | Link to this

You folks are kidding, right?

I’m going to remind everybody that Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell have made similarly ridiculously comments as to the cause of 9/11, Religious Right founder Francis Schaeffer often called for the violent overthrow of the US government, and McCain-supporter John Hagee thinks Catholicism is a cult.

Perhaps we should dismiss everyone who listens to these Christian “leaders”. Or, we can simply acknowledge that people have independent thoughts.

Obama asked if we were going to keep focusing on this non-issue, or say “Not This Time” and move on. It’s clear that many people have already made the wrong choice.

By Brain-User

March 24, 2008 4:56 PM | Link to this

I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU MADE GOOGLE NEWS! Insulting your “friends and neighbors” for not having a brain ISN’T NEWS. You’re detached objective stance ISN’T NEWS.

All-Knowing Bill: Why don’t you try telling us “scarecrows” what you discovered in your “readings.” That might be news; but you didn’t write about that because it’s probably no different that what is already on the news.

By Tom

March 24, 2008 4:58 PM | Link to this

Ronald Reagan declared his support for “states’ rights” in Philadelphia, MS in 1980 - everyone knows that’s code for segregation. Jesse Helms was a race-baiter for decades and not just at blacks. In 1988, he declared that reparations to imprisoned Japanese-Americans in World War II shouldn’t be compensated until Japan paid for Pearl Harbor. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson said gays deserved AIDS, America deserved 9/11 because of abortion, and Katrina was God’s punishment. Should John McCain be held accountable for not denouncing Helms, Falwell, and Robertson? Should Reagan be lionized without noting his embrace of racists?

The fact is that Obama has never uttered a word that one could construe as racist - unlike Jesse Jackson, Cynthia McKinney, and the aforementioned Republicans. If he was somebody to fear, don’t you think that would have slipped out?

By Hans

March 24, 2008 5:00 PM | Link to this

Guilt by association. Obama’s views are clear in his books and record. He will not lose any votes that he was going to get. He may be the best thing that happened to this country for a long time! VOTE OBAMA, be part of history!

By joseph pierre

March 24, 2008 5:05 PM | Link to this

I wonder if some of you’d worry much about the annihilation of the black race when Jim Crow laws were in full force,which your fathers and grandfathers have benefited from.It’s also interesting to note that when white ring preachers damn America about homosexuality and abortion, no one seems to call it America-hating. No one calls for the candidates they support to disown those preachers. How hypocritical!

By Salt

March 24, 2008 5:08 PM | Link to this

There are the souls of 4,000 fallen young Americans looking down on us right now, no doubt shocked that THIS - whether a man who attended Rev. Wright’s services can be president - is the issue that will determine who decides the fate of the remaining 140,000 young Americans serving their country. Can we please get back to the real issues please and leave the lunatic fringe to debate Rev. Wright and whether the candidates like broccoli or not?

By TJ Weldy

March 24, 2008 5:14 PM | Link to this

Hillary’s membership in “The Fellowship” an ostensibly religious, extremely elitist, absolutely totalitarian organization of ‘cells’ is completely passed up by the media. These people make Rev. Wright look like a boy scout saying the pledge of allegiance by comparison. Clinton supporters complaining of bias are as wrong as they could possibly be.

By Jeff

March 24, 2008 5:14 PM | Link to this

Shiloh, YOU scare me. I’ve lived in a country where annihilation of the “white race” was an option on the table. But that was South Africa, not the USA. I’m a middle aged white male who continues to donate to the Obama campaign.

By Lolis

March 24, 2008 5:22 PM | Link to this

Yes, Obama did something very brave. He spoke words in his speech that he knew would not pacify the white people who want to pretend that everything is equal in the US and who igmore the legacy of segregation.

Even Mike Huckabee said that he would probably be angrier than most Blacks are today because of the past.

As a white woman, I see the legacy of racism in this country. Wright said some wacky things, but a lot of the things he said were based in historical facts.

It is probably true that most of these people obsessed with this already held animosity toward Obama for some reason, but I find it scary when a person is not judged by her own actions and deeds, but is instead blamed for anothers.

We are all Americans and we all have the right to criticize our country with the hope that it will keep getting better.

By Mark

March 24, 2008 5:24 PM | Link to this

Jeff and anyone else who votes for Obama is a mindless fool. Blacks are voting for him simply because jhe’s half black. He’s also a Muslim, people. What idiots to let him get this far.

By vk

March 24, 2008 5:29 PM | Link to this

Hurrah for you! I am soooo SICK of the “big” radio and TV people having nothing better to talk about….that’s what we get for “slow news” time. All these white commentators are giving no history, content or justice to the black church. I am white but know enough to not compare my own church experience to the typical emotional, joyous and frequently political norm of black churches in America. Were not these church’s the source behind the activism of the Civil Rights Movement? Have any of these “commentators” listened to a complete sermon…God forbid all of us are judged in are own “sound bites” at the Pearly Gates! This entire media frenzy has “Clinton Hands” written all over it. I wish these same media folk would visit some of the Spanish speaking church’s along the Mexican border…Christianity complete with mariachi’s, a language other than English and at times, activism from the pulpit. Welcome to America where we do not do all things the same way….and that’s what Obama”s candidacy is celebrating.

By Cal

March 24, 2008 5:36 PM | Link to this

Wright’s comments are shocking and should not be apologized for as the understandable product of a groups’ history. Apart from the hate speech, what sane person believes that our government developed AIDs, or that the U.S. knew about Pearl Harbor in advance? We know a person by the company they keep, by their choice of friends (not grandmothers).

By Cal

March 24, 2008 5:38 PM | Link to this

Wright’s comments are shocking and should not be apologized for as the understandable product of a groups’ history. Apart from the hate speech, what sane person believes that our government developed AIDs, or that the U.S. knew about Pearl Harbor in advance? We know a person by the company they keep, by their choice of friends (not grandmothers).

By clikka

March 24, 2008 5:38 PM | Link to this

I don’t think it matters what the pastor preaches….. the next President of America might be a guy that sat on the pews of his ‘Mentors’ Church for 20 years yet did not know his views.

By V Racer

March 24, 2008 5:47 PM | Link to this

So, we now know that blacks are mad as hell. Well so are the rest of us. But the difference is that they meet in their churches of God and damn us and our country and support and make excuses for those who do because “whitey did it to us”. We turnout to volunteer to build them houses, we pay taxes to feed their irresponsible mothers of untold numbers of babies who are deserted by the irresponsible fathers, we suffer the crime, the degradation of our schools and neighborhoods, the filling of our streets with drug dealers and gangs. Yet, they hate us so we should vote for a black president or we are racist? Remember, it was black people who sold them into slavery in the first place and it was white people who fought to free them. Thanks to Obama and his church, their dirty little secret is out.

By Rc

March 24, 2008 5:49 PM | Link to this

Thank you for your post!

I too was amazed at the comments people make without doing research.

People ate up a 15 second clip(taken very much at of context I have found out). With stupid comments like,”how could he listen to such hateful comments for 20yrs. Are you people that stupid? If it was 20yrs of hateful sermons, the media would have bombarded you with clips!!! But NO, the same clips over & over.

I thought this interesting and did my homework. What an eye opener! In the 9/11 sermon, Rev. Wright is quoting Ambassador Edward Peck. That’s the clip about the “chickens coming home to roost”. He even says it in the sermon that he’s quoting Peck.

I think there is a story about on the Huffingtonpost.com “Meet the White Man in Rev. Wright’s Sermon”.

Take a look maybe you can learn something.

By Mark B

March 24, 2008 5:52 PM | Link to this

Why are Repubs pastors allowed to say crazy stuff and nobody holds them accountable for it?

Jerry Falwell~”.I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say ‘you helped 9/11 happen.”

Pat Robertson~“We have a Court that has essentially stuck its finger in God’s eye and said we’re going to legislate you out of the schools. We’re going to take your commandments from off the courthouse steps in various states. We’re not going to let little children read the commandments of God. We’re not going to let the Bible be read, no prayer in our schools. We have insulted God at the highest levels of our government. And, then we way, ‘Why does this happen?’ Well, why it’s happening is that God Almighty is lifting his protection from us.” (regarding 9/11)

John Hagee (Who’s endorsement John McCain accepted)~”All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they are — were recipients of the judgment of God for that. The newspaper carried the story in our local area that was not carried nationally that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other Gay Pride parades. So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know that there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment. And I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans.”

Keep in mind that GWB has private meetings with Pat Robertson to this day.

By Richard T. Nolan

March 24, 2008 5:53 PM | Link to this

Speaking in the biblical prophetic tradition of calling government to align itself with the will of God, Wright used a poor choice of words. He could have made his point with something like “God mend thine every flaw” from “America The Beautiful.”

By Richard T. Nolan

March 24, 2008 5:53 PM | Link to this

Speaking in the biblical prophetic tradition of calling government to align itself with the will of God, Wright used a poor choice of words. He could have made his point with something like “God mend thine every flaw” from “America The Beautiful.”

By Titus

March 24, 2008 5:56 PM | Link to this

Rev Wright said that god damned america on 9/11 because of its treatment of poor and brown people, while republican backers Falwell and Robertson blamed witches for god’s damning of america 9/11.

Shouldn’t this be a referendum on Religion!!!

By E. Duvert

March 24, 2008 5:59 PM | Link to this

Another thing one can do: listen to each speech, each sermon, in its entirety. They are all available online either at candidates’ web sites or on YouTube. To do so, requires a commitment of time; then thoughtfulness; then recognition of the depth and pertinence of what is being said. When thoughtful people speak, they are respecting their audience’s ability to respond in kind. The candidates are not entertainers. Listen to their words, their thoughts and ideas. Forget the pundits. Let’s respect ourselves and inform ourselves.

By john

March 24, 2008 6:03 PM | Link to this

The good book says, “its not what goes into your mouth that comdemns you, but what comes out of it, and that minister condemned himself by his words. It seems that its okay for a black minister to say racist comments and God Damn American from the pulpit, but when that radio commentator said, “nappy headed ho’s” The black community went ballistic.

By Rose

March 24, 2008 6:04 PM | Link to this

Why is it just discounted that Obama said he never heard his minister make those remarks? Or that Wright is retired, so there’s no reason for Obama to leave the church. Some GOP or Clinton supporter went through hundreds of hours of Wright tapes to find the few where he made inflammatory comments, and Obama is supposed to be responsible for that? All you bloggers spewing hatred, check your own history and ask yourselves if you’ve ever said anything intemperate in anger. Have you atoned? I take the measure of the man, Obama, and I judge him to be a person of integrity, a great leader, an inspiration, a person who will change the mindset in Washington, and that’s who I want in the White House. If you have a different, informed and well-thought out opinion, I respect that. But please leave all the anger, hatred, divisiveness and bigotry behind. It can only be regarded for what it is.

By John Ragsdale

March 24, 2008 6:06 PM | Link to this

Amen

If I were black, I would be furious about our Ameircan history. In context with Rev. Wright how many conservative commentators mentiioned the Poll Tax. Most Americans wouldn’t know what it was. And white only drinking fountains, restrooms, train waiting rooms, even train coaches, etc..

Let’s face it many of us are still arrogant and self righteous. Many throughtout the world see this. Many of us do not.

We’ve still a way to go in democracy before we try to ram it down another country’s throat with a gun.

John Ragsdale

By Steve Salo

March 24, 2008 6:08 PM | Link to this

Exellent article.

Some of the people posting comments sure don’t seem to have a problem ranting.

Some of them sound as scary as Rev. Wright to me.

None of their associates will ever be elected president.

By Matthew Whitcomb

March 24, 2008 6:09 PM | Link to this

It is NOT about race - it’s about Patriotism and JUDGMENT. Why is everyone allowing Obama to skate on race, when race is NOT the issue. Belonging to a church that for 20 years officially and quite obviously preached an unpatriotic and un-American message is poor judgment pure and simple.

By Ceasar

March 24, 2008 6:15 PM | Link to this

My brother and sisters ..white, black, red, or yellow…here is my question to you: Has Obama made any decisions in Congress or made any political impact during his political term to give you an impression that he has carry out beliefs of hatred, anti-american, prejudice, etc…. In any church, a minister may say something that you make not always agree with but that doesn’t mean the words of your minister should represent who you are or be apart of your beliefs.. Besides, I think it’s important that we go back and listen to the entire speech of Rev Jermiah Wright because I heard the whole speech and being a spiritual person, I understand his message and it makes a whole alot of sense.

By Mark

March 24, 2008 6:17 PM | Link to this

Rev. Wright has a long history of making deflamatory, rascism comments. His objectionable sermons are not limited to the few instances that have popped up on the Internet.

Obama was aware of his Rev Wright problem a year ago when he removed the reverend from the ceremony to annouce his candidacy in Springfield.

Rev. Wright’s race baiting is standard fare in the world of Chicago politics. It does not play well to a national audience.

We have seen before where Obama refuses to turn his back on a controversial supporter. He refused to remove a homophobic supporter from his South Carolina campaign tour.

Since Obama has so little history on a national platform we have to judge him in part by the company he keeps.

By Keith

March 24, 2008 6:19 PM | Link to this

I hear the same hateful rhetoric that Reverand Wright said on Move-on ,Daily Kos and The Huffington Post. All are Obama supporters.20 years at this church with this pastor tells me that Obama is comfortable with those views. That is indefensable.

By Matthew of Marietta

March 24, 2008 6:20 PM | Link to this

I am glad that Obama is getting nailed because of his pastor. Because of all of this, it’s helping the McCain Cause. I don’t understand why would anyone would vote for an anti-american. I will tell you why, the word “CHANGE”. Many people White and Black alike voted for him. Whites voted for Obama because they either were Liberal or doing what everyone else is doing. Blacks voted for Obama because he is half Black. That is the main reason. I say we all need to read about the candidates before voting. I voted for Romney. My motive, he was going to fix the economy, do something about immigration, and keep taxes lower. I will vote for McCain in November. I also have a feeling that McCain will beat any Democrat this year.

By JWE

March 24, 2008 6:27 PM | Link to this

There are many times I say “Damn America”, especially since the Iraq invasion. 4000 Americans dead and still counting. Some people believe it’s our god given right to kill who ever we want, whenever we want, however we want. Just nuke em, right McCain? “Bomb, bomb, bomb, Bomb Iran” Hagee calls Catholics “w*******” but he’s a white minister. Makes all the difference in the world. McCain agrees to disagree just as long as he can keep the money from him. I disagree. Obama is my candidate.

52 y/o/white male

By DavyJ

March 24, 2008 6:31 PM | Link to this

So far my vote resides not with Clinton, Obama, or McCain, but with the ITP (INCONVENIENT TRUTH PARTY) and its fearlessly honest spokesperson Jeremiah Wright.

By Ellison

March 24, 2008 6:35 PM | Link to this

As a bi-racial, Black/White, person, I’m so happy to see this topic come out into the open. Everyday, both Blacks and Whites are doing remarkable things to improve life in this country, this includes Rev. Wright.

However Blacks and Whites, in general, have very different experiences in America based on their heritage and skin color. It’s time to invite each other into their respective camps with open minds and hearts, to explore and discover the true differences between the races. Maybe they will find they have many more things in common than they had known before.

It may well be that by September of this year, after the conventions, America will finally face the complex issues of race as never before. Rev. Wright has stepped down, but his words still resonate with truth as they have for many decades.

We have only to review the entire PBS series, “Eyes on the Prize” to realize the vast lack of understanding that still plagues and torments the soul of our country. Yes, there have been many strides in bridging the divides between Blacks and Whites. Yet we continue relentlessly forward, failing to address the deeper context that Blacks in America are still haunted by a legacy from their forefathers, who were forced to lay down their freedoms and their very lives to establish the foundation on which commerce could grow and democracy be defined. (I have relatives who still live under the thundercloud of slavery’s reign, which exists even today—in little shack houses, with no electricity or plumbing—still living the terror-based custom of never making eye contact when addressing a White person for fear of harm, or even death.)

With a clarion call to unite, neighbor to neighbor, we face a new opportunity standing squarely before us, the American people—an opportunity ready to embrace us with arms of acceptance and forgiveness, knowing we will do better, that we will be better, together. “Yes we can!”

Ellison Horne

By Dhanna

March 24, 2008 6:41 PM | Link to this

I suspect the reason so many people (white) are so up in arms about what Rev. Wright says is because his statements challenge the status-quo.

Why is that the U.S. is free from accountability while the rest of the world is terrorized by us and our righteousness?

Read your history books boys and girls. Better still, read history books from other countries - get a broad view of just how much the U.S. has terrorized the world.

It is insane and ignorant to disregard context. Context, is afterall, where truth is found. Context is where compassion and dialog are created. With out context, we have nothing but sound bites.

I actually agree wholeheartedly with Rev. Wright. I am a white, 32 year old woman born and raised in an upper-middle class family with a multitude of opportunity. I am also not Christian and consider myself one who practices the wisdom of Buddhism. I beleive that the U.S. still activly practices racism and strives to keep black communities oppressed. I beleive the Bush Admin. is accountable for 9/11 and I beleive it was used (and planned) as a way to get into Iraq (not where Bin Laden is) to steal oil and colonize. I beleive that the government is corrupt and that the people who are “proud to be American” are part of the problem.

This soil was stolen by Europeans from the Natives. And finally… America is a contenent, NOT a country.

By Dhanna

March 24, 2008 6:51 PM | Link to this

Ellison Horne,

Your comments gave me chills. Elloquant, perfect and truthful.

This situation will turn out to be historic, I think. It has brought the conversation to light - a conversation that needs to be had so the country and its people can heal.

Bless you for your wisdom!

By JTS

March 24, 2008 6:58 PM | Link to this

Wright did not say “God damn America”. What he said is “God damn America for killing innocent people”.

Well what should God do, BLESS America for killing innocent people?

Or maybe you think your country is infallible and everyone who it has killed was not innocent. That would be heresy, as God alone is supposed to be perfect.

One can love one’s country and, in hopes of improvement, call out the mistakes it may have made or may be in the midst of making.

By Robert L. Bufkin

March 24, 2008 6:59 PM | Link to this

It is heart rending to know Obama had to grow up longing to know his dad, who, for whatever reason, was missing from his life. He is gifted in logic and speech. But for him to try to justify his pastor’s hate-America,hate-whites sermons by comparing that to his white grandmother’s remarks about being afraid of passing a black man while walking down a sidewalk..is inexcusable in the extreme. Obama engaged in the same (insane) racist logic used by his pastor (surrougate father) for 20 years. Obama is a racist. Now he should show us his white side. But he isn’t white in his mind and persona. He made that abundantly clear. He proved that he will not hesitate to sacrifice all the progress made in race relations in the USA for the past century in the service of his popularity and self-seeking ambitions. Obama puts the spotlight on the things that divide Americans. Then he steps into the middle of that fray and makes a speech castigating his own grandmother who raised him and paid for Harvard and Law School. Mr. Wright’s insane remark about Pearl Harber and Aids et al, are not snippets or soundbits.. THEY are the subject and the object and the whole purpose and context of his sermons. They are the ethos of the black world. Obama’s message is, elect me and we blacks together will put the whites in their place at last. I will take the money from the Iraq war and give it to my black brothers and sisters where it belongs. His outlandish impossible promises and “mis-statements” (lies) are.. 1. He didn’t know his pastor was saying those things. 2. His pastor and all blacks have been so mistreated that they deserve a pass to say such things and make such insane charges against white America. 3. His white grandmother’s remarks made in private to him..makes her no different that his pastor’s anti-American insane charges against whites. 4. He will stop the war immediately and use the money he saves to fund programs for the poor…and solve all the problems of the economy.

This man is dangerous in the extreme. He has no idea of what America is really all about or how to lead a nation like ours.

Never in history has one nation enslaved another nation, then set them free and lifted them from slavery right in that same nation and given them freedoms and financial help and free education. Never before in history.

But Obama via his pastor damned those people that set those slaves free. Obama cursed the blood of white American’s shed on American soil to set those slaves free. Every black soul in Africa wishes they could come to the USA. Just ask them. I have been to Kenya nine times. Everyone wants to come to the USA. I love my country. I risked my life in war for my country. I can’t stand those America haters talking like they do. Is that illegal now to love your country. Right or wrong, my country is light years ahead of every other country on this earth. If you don’t think so, you are free to live somewhere else. Just try it. You’ll be back asking for forgiveness.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt……..Barack Obama…OH! you have got to be kidding.

P.S. Just because a group calls themselves Christians, doesn’t make them Christians by any means. Jesus taught people to forgive their enemies or he would not forgive them their sins. Something to think about. Jesus went about doing good..not damning people.

By Robert L. Bufkin

March 24, 2008 7:00 PM | Link to this

It is heart rending to know Obama had to grow up longing to know his dad, who, for whatever reason, was missing from his life. He is gifted in logic and speech. But for him to try to justify his pastor’s hate-America,hate-whites sermons by comparing that to his white grandmother’s remarks about being afraid of passing a black man while walking down a sidewalk..is inexcusable in the extreme. Obama engaged in the same (insane) racist logic used by his pastor (surrougate father) for 20 years. Obama is a racist. Now he should show us his white side. But he isn’t white in his mind and persona. He made that abundantly clear. He proved that he will not hesitate to sacrifice all the progress made in race relations in the USA for the past century in the service of his popularity and self-seeking ambitions. Obama puts the spotlight on the things that divide Americans. Then he steps into the middle of that fray and makes a speech castigating his own grandmother who raised him and paid for Harvard and Law School. Mr. Wright’s insane remark about Pearl Harber and Aids et al, are not snippets or soundbits.. THEY are the subject and the object and the whole purpose and context of his sermons. They are the ethos of the black world. Obama’s message is, elect me and we blacks together will put the whites in their place at last. I will take the money from the Iraq war and give it to my black brothers and sisters where it belongs. His outlandish impossible promises and “mis-statements” (lies) are.. 1. He didn’t know his pastor was saying those things. 2. His pastor and all blacks have been so mistreated that they deserve a pass to say such things and make such insane charges against white America. 3. His white grandmother’s remarks made in private to him..makes her no different that his pastor’s anti-American insane charges against whites. 4. He will stop the war immediately and use the money he saves to fund programs for the poor…and solve all the problems of the economy.

This man is dangerous in the extreme. He has no idea of what America is really all about or how to lead a nation like ours.

Never in history has one nation enslaved another nation, then set them free and lifted them from slavery right in that same nation and given them freedoms and financial help and free education. Never before in history.

But Obama via his pastor damned those people that set those slaves free. Obama cursed the blood of white American’s shed on American soil to set those slaves free. Every black soul in Africa wishes they could come to the USA. Just ask them. I have been to Kenya nine times. Everyone wants to come to the USA. I love my country. I risked my life in war for my country. I can’t stand those America haters talking like they do. Is that illegal now to love your country. Right or wrong, my country is light years ahead of every other country on this earth. If you don’t think so, you are free to live somewhere else. Just try it. You’ll be back asking for forgiveness.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt……..Barack Obama…OH! you have got to be kidding.

P.S. Just because a group calls themselves Christians, doesn’t make them Christians by any means. Jesus taught people to forgive their enemies or he would not forgive them their sins. Something to think about. Jesus went about doing good..not damning people.

By Dhanna

March 24, 2008 7:27 PM | Link to this

Mr. Bufkin,

PLease post 1 original post.

Also… your post merely proves that you have not done any investigation and have simply been sucked in by the Fox vaccume. It is lazy, easily convinced people who are the problem with this country. People who take things at face value and battle for a cause that, at its core, is full of holes.

Turn off your TV and read. Watch FULL sermons and speeches.

I suppose you are a representative of the people in the country (and world) who think that peace is gained by force and that equality is gained by ignoring oppression.

Dialog is the only way PEACE will ever happen. Peace between races, sexes, countries… conversation - not violence.

Please read and stop watching FOX

By JTS

March 24, 2008 7:43 PM | Link to this

Mr. Lufkin, you are an idiot.

“elect me and we blacks together will put the whites in their place at last” — so Obama is goin to put half of himself, and half of his family “in their place”?

“Obama is a racist” — So what race does he hate? White? then he hates half of himself, his mother, his grandparents, his colleagues, teachers, and friends. Black? Well, he hates his wife and half of himself.

“insane charges against whites” — what are you talking about? His statement that America is run by rich white people? That’s 100% truth, f***. According to you, truth is insane.

You obviously have an agenda that is independent of reason, but your extremism undermines your intent. America knows the likes of you, and we’ll stomp you down wherever you dare show yourself in public.

By Tim

March 24, 2008 8:45 PM | Link to this

JTS,

You are a dumbass. Funny, but still a total dumbass. When will you learn that making threats while hiding in the safety of the web just makes you more of a coward. Notice that no one is getting “stomped down” anywhere. You are a Clown.

By Keith

March 24, 2008 9:31 PM | Link to this

Gandalf, Roger, Stella, Shiloh, Jason, Mark, Cal, Clikka, V Race, Titus,John, Matthew Whitcomb and Keith:

Your rants above expose you as shallow, uninformed, lazy and unamerican. You have no business voting when you don’t take the time to know the truth…I am not going to waste time in showing you the links as obviously you don’t care. If you are for Clinton or McCain then say so and state your case, I can respect that but what each of you have written is hateful an dmakes you out to be what you are calling Rev. Wright and Obama.

By Elizabeth

March 24, 2008 10:00 PM | Link to this

Obama’s church and personal affiliation with Reverend Wright, in conjunction with Louis Farrakhan, is beyond concerning.

By Mark

March 24, 2008 10:04 PM | Link to this

I wonder how Obama supporters would have reacted if Hillary only gave a speech on why Whites hate/distrust Blacks instead of denouncing and distancing herself from racist and un-Ameican comments from her preacher and/or close friend(s)? It should never be acceptable to be a racist and un-American if you are black, white, red, yellow or purple!

By Vince

March 24, 2008 10:09 PM | Link to this

To all those who are upset or frightened by Reverend Wright’s association with Obama, you should read the recent article by Bloomberg’s political correspondent, Albert Hunt. Here is an excerpt:

‘The perverse irony here is that whatever the Reverend Wright’s failings, there is nothing — nothing — in Obama’s adult life to even remotely link him to racially divisive sentiments. Quite the contrary.

Talk to conservatives who attended Harvard Law School with him, like former Republican Party Chairman Ken Mehlman or current Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin; or Republicans in the Illinois state legislature, or U.S. senators; or look at his campaign staff. There is not a more inclusive politician in America.”

This is informed comment by a person in a position to know — and who writes for a very establishment, financial website.

By treetracker

March 24, 2008 10:13 PM | Link to this

Yes, folks, use your brain. Below are links to two of the complete sermons of Rev. Wright. One is entitled Governments Are Not God http://essence.typepad.com/news/2008/03/listen-to-rev-1.html

and the other is “The Day Jerusalem Fell” http://community.livejournal.com/dark_christian/1036261.html

Before you condemn the Rev. Wright and Sen. Obama, listen, learn, think! The media has hyped this for their own ends. Do not depend on them for your facts.

By History Teacher

March 24, 2008 10:20 PM | Link to this

I am going to have trouble voting for any of the candidates and do not support any of them. I do worry about the infatuation of the Obama supporters based on almost nothing except his facile ability to talk his way out of trouble. Yes, he may indeed hate part of himself. The malice exhibited by his supporters is a poor representation of a politician whose principle claim is that he will bring us together.

By Mark

March 24, 2008 10:21 PM | Link to this

Vince posted an article by Bloomberg’s political correspondent, Albert Hunt:

“The perverse irony here is that whatever the Reverend Wright’s failings, there is nothing — nothing — in Obama’s adult life to even remotely link him to racially divisive sentiments. Quite the contrary”

The Link that Obama could or has “racially divisive sentiments” IS REV. WRIGHT. What other link(s) do you need?

I don’t know about others, but I do not associate with anyone that is a outright and proud racist and anti-American as the Rev. Wright and will never in the future, because I do not want to!

By History Teacher

March 24, 2008 10:21 PM | Link to this

I am going to have trouble voting for any of the candidates and do not support any of them. I do worry about the infatuation of the Obama supporters based on almost nothing except his facile ability to talk his way out of trouble. Yes, he may indeed hate part of himself. The malice exhibited by his supporters is a poor representation of a politician whose principle claim is that he will bring us together.

By History Teacher

March 24, 2008 10:23 PM | Link to this

I am going to have trouble voting for any of the candidates and do not support any of them. I do worry about the infatuation of the Obama supporters based on almost nothing except his facile ability to talk his way out of trouble. Yes, he may indeed hate part of himself. The malice exhibited by his supporters is a poor representation of a politician whose principle claim is that he will bring us together.

By Angela

March 24, 2008 10:28 PM | Link to this

I am amazed at some of the comments on this blog. It seems as if some of us are content to live 40 years ago. Let me make the following points:

1) What Rev.Wright said is suprising and offensive to many people. 2) There is indeed anger in the black community over our historical past and for some, present realities. 3) There is indeed guilt in the white community over our historical past and for some, present realities. 4) Race is one of the most troubling aspects of American history. 5) White people’s belief that racism is over doesn’t make it true. 6) White people’s surprise that the hurt of slavery and segregation has not disappeared in roughly 45 years isn’t new information! It is clear that we haven’t gotten over it! My mother went to a segregated school. This is still real in the black community.

The key to solving this issue is not continuing to fight about it. Acknowledge and discuss it openly. Do you see the progress made in South Africa with the Reconciliation Talks? Americans need to be honest about racism and stop telling black people to get over it!

By Mandelay

March 24, 2008 10:28 PM | Link to this

Let’s put Obama, the whole enchelada, in context. He’s an opportunist who will do anything, say anything to reach the White House. This is why he joined the Wright church in the first place … to give himself context as “a black man.” But who is Obama? What does he stand for? To see how Obamadama made his bones in Illinois, go to: http://www.dallasobserver.com/2008-02-28/news/obama-and-me/ AND, for today’s update on his behavior, go to the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/23/AR2008032301706.html

By njs

March 24, 2008 10:28 PM | Link to this

When Senator Obama’s preacher thundered about racism and injustice Obama suffered smear-by-association. But when my late father — Religious Right leader Francis Schaeffer — denounced America and even called for the violent overthrow of the US government, he was invited to lunch with presidents Ford, Reagan and Bush, Sr.

Every Sunday thousands of right wing white preachers (following in my father’s footsteps) rail against America’s sins from tens of thousands of pulpits. They tell us that America is complicit in the “murder of the unborn,” has become “Sodom” by coddling gays, and that our public schools are sinful places full of evolutionists and sex educators hell-bent on corrupting children. They say, as my dad often did, that we are, “under the judgment of God.” They call America evil and warn of immanent destruction. By comparison Obama’s minister’s shouted “controversial” comments were mild. All he said was that God should damn America for our racism and violence and that no one had ever used the N-word about Hillary Clinton.

Dad and I were amongst the founders of the Religious right. In the 1970s and 1980s, while Dad and I crisscrossed America denouncing our nation’s sins instead of getting in trouble we became darlings of the Republican Party. (This was while I was my father’s sidekick before I dropped out of the evangelical movement altogether.) We were rewarded for our “stand” by people such as Congressman Jack Kemp, the Fords, Reagan and the Bush family. The top Republican leadership depended on preachers and agitators like us to energize their rank and file. No one called us un-American.

Consider a few passages from my father’s immensely influential America-bashing book A Christian Manifesto. It sailed under the radar of the major media who, back when it was published in 1980, were not paying particular attention to best-selling religious books. Nevertheless it sold more than a million copies.

Here’s Dad writing in his chapter on civil disobedience:

If there is a legitimate reason for the use of force [against the US government]… then at a certain point force is justifiable.

And this:

In the United States the materialistic, humanistic world view is being taught exclusively in most state schools… There is an obvious parallel between this and the situation in Russia [the USSR]. And we really must not be blind to the fact that indeed in the public schools in the United States all religious influence is as forcibly forbidden as in the Soviet Union….

Then this:

There does come a time when force, even physical force, is appropriate… A true Christian in Hitler’s Germany and in the occupied countries should have defied the false and counterfeit state. This brings us to a current issue that is crucial for the future of the church in the United States, the issue of abortion… It is time we consciously realize that when any office commands what is contrary to God’s law it abrogates it’s authority. And our loyalty to the God who gave this law then requires that we make the appropriate response in that situation…

Was any conservative political leader associated with Dad running for cover? Far from it. Dad was a frequent guest of the Kemps, had lunch with the Fords, stayed in the White House as their guest, he met with Reagan, helped Dr. C. Everett Koop become Surgeon General. (I went on the 700 Club several times to generate support for Koop).

Dad became a hero to the evangelical community and a leading political instigator. When Dad died in 1984 everyone from Reagan to Kemp to Billy Graham lamented his passing publicly as the loss of a great American. Not one Republican leader was ever asked to denounce my dad or distanced himself from Dad’s statements.

Take Dad’s words and put them in the mouth of Obama’s preacher (or in the mouth of any black American preacher) and people would be accusing that preacher of treason. Yet when we of the white Religious Right denounced America white conservative Americans and top political leaders, called our words “godly” and “prophetic” and a “call to repentance.”

We Republican agitators of the mid 1970s to the late 1980s were genuinely anti-American in the same spirit that later Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson (both followers of my father) were anti-American when they said God had removed his blessing from America on 9/11, because America accepted gays. Falwell and Robertson recanted but we never did.

My dad’s books denouncing America and comparing the USA to Hitler are still best sellers in the “respectable” evangelical community and he’s still hailed as a prophet by many Republican leaders. When Mike Huckabee was recently asked by Katie Couric to name one book he’d take with him to a desert island, besides the Bible, he named Dad’s Whatever Happened to the Human Race? a book where Dad also compared America to Hitler’s Germany.

The hypocrisy of the right denouncing Obama, because of his minister’s words, is staggering. They are the same people who argue for the right to “bear arms” as “insurance” to limit government power. They are the same people that (in the early 1980s roared and cheered when I called down damnation on America as “fallen away from God” at their national meetings where I was keynote speaker, including the annual meeting of the ultraconservative Southern Baptist convention, and the religious broadcasters that I addressed.

Today we have a marriage of convenience between the right wing fundamentalists who hate Obama, and the “progressive” Clintons who are playing the race card through their own smear machine. As Jane Smiley writes in the Huffington Post “[The Clinton’s] are, indeed, now part of the ‘vast right wing conspiracy.’ (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-smiley/im-already-against-the-nb90628. html )

Both the far right Republicans and the stop-at-nothing Clintons are using the “scandal” of Obama’s preacher to undermine the first black American candidate with a serious shot at the presidency. Funny thing is, the racist Clinton/Far Right smear machine proves that Obama’s minister had a valid point. There is plenty to yell about these days.

Frank Schaeffer is a writer and author of “CRAZY FOR GOD-How I Grew Up As One Of The Elect, Helped Found The Religious Right, And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It Back.

By Mark

March 24, 2008 10:34 PM | Link to this

Do we really want a possible racist and anti-American as the President of the United States?

By John

March 24, 2008 10:36 PM | Link to this

Does anyone know the figures on black-on-white murder? Black-on-white rape? Is murder of a white person by a black something for whites to be mad about? Is rape and murder of whites by blacks is this very year - somehow equal to the possibility that a black may have had a slave ancestor 150 years ago?

By Not This Time

March 24, 2008 10:54 PM | Link to this

Many of you poster were right to point out how John Hagee says crazy hateful anti-American things all the time—just as many on the religious right. Three additional points: 1) Unlike Rev. Wright who has been demonized, far-right religious conservative, like Hagee, have been rewarded and praised for their lunacy. They get invited to the White House, influence Supreme Court nominations, influence foreign policy and preach to arenas. 2) John McCain did not just accepted John Hagee’s nomination. Hagee recently reported that McCain actively sought him out.
3) Does anyone actually believe that Obama holds Wright’s more fringe views? It is clear from his record he doesn’t. I don’t think McCain holds Hagees more extreme views, but, unlike Obama, he has gotten almost no grief. Furthermore, Bush does likely hold some extreme views like Hagee.

So, why the double standard? The truth is the Republican party has counted on these far religious right to bring them votes ever since Regan. This IS the republicans base and they actually influence policy . Rev. Wright’s more extreme ideas will have (and can have) no effect on Obamas governance. Obama openly rejects these ideas—unlike Bush who embraces the ideas of the Falwells and Hagees and McCain who will be beholden to them.

By David

March 24, 2008 10:58 PM | Link to this

I want to know what a candidate thinks. Not what their preacher or schoolteacher or second cousin, great uncle, next-door-neighbor or sorority sister thinks. I know a frenzy when I see it, and I’m not going to let it decide my vote.

By KeShawn

March 24, 2008 11:14 PM | Link to this

I agreed with Wright’s racial critique. I did not agree with his saying “God Damn America” and that doesn’t belong in any American church and it certainly doesn’t need to come out of the mouth of a Pastor. As for Republicans, Democrats aren’t supposed to be like them. As for the nonsense Falwell and Robertson spouted, the WHITE HOUSE denounced it immediately. That’s what Obama didn’t and hasn’t done. He talked about race and blah blah. I am African-American and I do cringe a little about some comments above but I share their anger that a Pastor damned America from the pulpit. I think the AJC is intentionally missing the issue and talking about race. It’s not a race issue for me but with what I assume are many White posters, I share their anger over the damning of my country. That is offensive, that is outrageous. And no one should be president that can’t call it out. Tuesday was his time to do so. He didn’t. I voted for Obama in the primary. If he gets the nomination, I WILL NOT vote for him. I do not support damning the United States.

By Garth

March 24, 2008 11:15 PM | Link to this

I know postings such as this are politcal ploys you don’t know who is using this to put out their own agenda.

That said how can people view an experienced, educated, candidate as a ploy, how can people think one man can bring down our democracy, how can people continue to allow themselves to be used and manipulated by people who are laughing all the way to the bank and then caring more about their pockets than our constitution. I see why other Nations have caught us and are awaiting our fall for our hubris and our shortsightedness. We fail to see our strengths because of our racism on all sides and it for this reason more than any other that we will elect the same as we have done before and we will get what we have gotten before (insanity)

By lexicon

March 24, 2008 11:24 PM | Link to this

I am replying to give my great thanks to njs for their post. I am an educated middle aged black woman who initially supported John Edwards, but could not make up my mind after he dropped out, since I was voting on issues, not race or gender. After “The Speech” I am now an Obama supporter. Those of you still reading should be applauded for your open mind. I do not go to church to get political advice, and if I got some, I would still make up my own mind because I am a human being first. As a human being, Obama should be allowed to make up his own mind, unless of course, people are looking for him to adhere to the Program. Blacks have to all feel the same about everything, follow “african-american” leaders wherever they go, and never, ever, say anything bad about anyone of color. Yes, there is a dialogue going on in the black community. V-racer (and others) mentioned the terrible condition of that community , (crime, unwed mothers, etc.). I wonder, if Black people are human beings, why they would do such things on purpose? Could it be a legacy from their ancestors and how they were treated even after slavery? Or are black people just “naturally” bad? The answer is not clear, but I wonder if the answer is just to get mad that blacks seem to want some kind of “special” treatment and go on with my life dismissing an entire race, or should I try at a minimum to understand their issues at face value and seek a peaceful resolution. Thank you for listening.

By mark

March 24, 2008 11:34 PM | Link to this

the problem with Americans is that they are so in love with themselves that they can’t stand to hear anyone, even one of their own, offer criticism about where they stand as a nation.

It’s harsh language from Rev. Wright, but taken in context, it’s also a much needed conversation.

By Mark

March 24, 2008 11:38 PM | Link to this

the problem with many Americans is that they are so in love with themselves that they can’t stand to hear anyone, even one of their own, offer criticism about where they stand as a nation.

It’s harsh language from Rev. Wright, but taken in context, it’s also a much needed conversation.

By Wilford

March 24, 2008 11:45 PM | Link to this

Sensible people realize there is blood on the hands of America. Everything Reverend Wright said was true. Do any of you people know how AIDS started? I don’t, so I think anything is possible. The made up scandal of Reverend Wright does NOT hurt Obama. The folks who won’t vote for Obama were NEVER going to vote for Obama. Reading these posts remind me of the old, uneducated voters that support McBush and Hilldog. “Obama’s scary. I don’t think he’s ready to be President. TRANSLATION: Obama is black. I’m a white person, so I have to vote for a white President.” I hope I die before I get old. You idiots just want an excuse to NOT vote for Obama.

By Fred Moolten

March 24, 2008 11:45 PM | Link to this

It is too early to estimate how history will ultimately judge Barack Obama, but his growth from merely a skillful politician with good ideas to a potential leader of enormous stature, insight, and vision has been extraordinary, and may perhaps some day merit the term “great”. One hundred years from now, his speech on race is likely to stand with Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural address as among the greatest in the history of the American union. With that speech inviting all of us to share fairly in the benefits of our democracy, he now towers over the rest of the political landscape, much as the Statue Of Liberty towers over the NY harbor in welcoming newcomers to share in that democracy.

There are other parallels with Lincoln. Despite our current esteem, Lincoln in his day was derided and ridiculed by opponents as a dishonest manipulator, an “ape”, and an ignoramus, and was elected by only a minority of those voting. In addition, his religious affiliations, like Obama’s, were problematic. On several occasions, Lincoln stated that he was not a Christian, and this assertion caused no end of embarassment to some supporters. A number of clergy claimed that they had secretly converted him, but Lincoln never acknowledged any conversion, and his friends and family disavowed the claims.

Ultimately, history has forgotten the ridicule, and the condemnation Lincoln experienced as an “infidel”, and judged him on the basis of the greatness within rather than the externals that occupied public attention at the time.

I expect that the Wright controversy may perhaps prove to be a transforming moment in American history. Forced to face an issue he preferred to avoid, Barack Obama brought to it such candor, courage, understanding, and wisdom, that the accusations that preceded the speech will someday be forgotten, and the special moment in American history stand on its own. Whether that happens by November 2008 will depend on the wisdom of the American electorate, but I have some confidence that their wisdom will be up to the challenge.

By Tracy

March 25, 2008 12:02 AM | Link to this

I don’t understand why everyone is squealing about “why didn’t Obama leave his church”? Why should he when he knew his pastor was retiring anyway? The guy introduced him to the church, to his faith, and led him to a lot of people to share his ideals with helping in the community. He already said he doesn’t agree with some of these more controversial statements of the pastor, why can’t people believe him? The ability for Obama to understand different viewpoints is a strength that this country could definitly benefit from.

By America's Soapbox

March 25, 2008 12:07 AM | Link to this

Of National Lies and Racial Amnesia: Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama, and the Audacity of Truth

By Tim Wise

March 18, 2008

For most white folks, indignation just doesn’t wear well. Once affected or conjured up, it reminds one of a pudgy man, wearing a tie that may well have fit him when he was fifty pounds lighter, but which now cuts off somewhere above his navel and makes him look like an idiot.

Indignation doesn’t work for most whites, because having remained sanguine about, silent during, indeed often supportive of so much injustice over the years in this country—the theft of native land and genocide of indigenous persons, and the enslavement of Africans being only two of the best examples—we are just a bit late to get into the game of moral rectitude. And once we enter it, our efforts at righteousness tend to fail the test of sincerity.

But here we are, in 2008, fuming at the words of Pastor Jeremiah Wright, of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago—occasionally Barack Obama’s pastor, and the man whom Obama credits with having brought him to Christianity—for merely reminding us of those evils about which we have remained so quiet, so dismissive, so unconcerned. It is not the crime that bothers us, but the remembrance of it, the unwillingness to let it go—these last words being the first ones uttered by most whites it seems whenever anyone, least of all an “angry black man” like Jeremiah Wright, foists upon us the bill of particulars for several centuries of white supremacy.

But our collective indignation, no matter how loudly we announce it, cannot drown out the truth. And as much as white America may not be able to hear it (and as much as politics may require Obama to condemn it) let us be clear, Jeremiah Wright fundamentally told the truth.

Oh I know that for some such a comment will seem shocking. After all, didn’t he say that America “got what it deserved” on 9/11? And didn’t he say that black people should be singing “God Damn America” because of its treatment of the African American community throughout the years?

Well actually, no he didn’t.

Wright said not that the attacks of September 11th were justified, but that they were, in effect, predictable. Deploying the imagery of chickens coming home to roost is not to give thanks for the return of the poultry or to endorse such feathered homecoming as a positive good; rather, it is merely to note two things: first, that what goes around, indeed, comes around—a notion with longstanding theological grounding—and secondly, that the U.S. has indeed engaged in more than enough violence against innocent people to make it just a tad bit hypocritical for us to then evince shock and outrage about an attack on ourselves, as if the latter were unprecedented.

He noted that we killed far more people, far more innocent civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki than were killed on 9/11 and “never batted an eye.” That this statement is true is inarguable, at least amongst sane people. He is correct on the math, he is correct on the innocence of the dead (neither city was a military target), and he is most definitely correct on the lack of remorse or even self-doubt about the act: sixty-plus years later most Americans still believe those attacks were justified, that they were needed to end the war and “save American lives.”

But not only does such a calculus suggest that American lives are inherently worth more than the lives of Japanese civilians (or, one supposes, Vietnamese, Iraqi or Afghan civilians too), but it also ignores the long-declassified documents, and President Truman’s own war diaries, all of which indicate clearly that Japan had already signaled its desire to end the war, and that we knew they were going to surrender, even without the dropping of atomic weapons. The conclusion to which these truths then attest is simple, both in its basic veracity and it monstrousness: namely, that in those places we committed premeditated and deliberate mass murder, with no justification whatsoever; and yet for saying that I will receive more hate mail, more hostility, more dismissive and contemptuous responses than will those who suggest that no body count is too high when we’re the ones doing the killing. Jeremiah Wright becomes a pariah, because, you see, we much prefer the logic of George Bush the First, who once said that as President he would “never apologize for the United States of America. I don’t care what the facts are.”

And Wright didn’t say blacks should be singing “God Damn America.” He was suggesting that blacks owe little moral allegiance to a nation that has treated so many of them for so long as animals, as persons undeserving of dignity and respect, and which even now locks up hundreds of thousands of non-violent offenders (especially for drug possession), even while whites who do the same crimes (and according to the data, when it comes to drugs, more often in fact), are walking around free. His reference to God in that sermon was more about what God will do to such a nation, than it was about what should or shouldn’t happen. It was a comment derived from, and fully in keeping with, the black prophetic tradition, and although one can surely disagree with the theology (I do, actually, and don’t believe that any God either blesses or condemns nation states for their actions), the statement itself was no call for blacks to turn on America. If anything, it was a demand that America earn the respect of black people, something the evidence and history suggests it has yet to do.

Click here to read the rest of Tim’s column.

By Amer