Okay, for once I’m not joking. I genuinely want to see this.
Ever since the Wright “scandal” broke, pundits have been screaming about how Rev. Jeremiah Wright is a racist minister. That’s the specific word they use, again and again. Racist.
Yes, he’s talked about how the American government has failed its black citizens. He’s vocally left wing to the point of kooky. Frankly, I agree with some of his points despite that, because I think that the government probably has failed black citizens in many ways. I’m not going to say that it created HIV or spread crack in inner cities to keep black people down, but again, those are kooky statements. They are not racist.
The closest I can find is him calling “white America” the “U.S. of KKK-A.” It draws a line between “black America” and “white America,” but it doesn’t make any statement of superiority or inferiority of whites or blacks. If you think there isn’t a pretty significant line still between “black America” and “white America,” you’re fooling yourself. Fortunately, crossing that line has become much easier and much more socially acceptable now, but the line is still there, and it’s still thick.
When has Wright rallied against white people? When has he talked about black superiority? Yes, he has spoken out vigorously and emphatically against a government that is dominated by white people. I can’t fault him that. But has he ever actually spoken out about lines between white men and black men, individuals and their inherent worth, compared to the significant and tangible social and economic lines between groups that still remains today?
Please give me some examples of Wright actually being racist. He might be a kook, but I don’t think he’s a racist.
As a bonus, here are some fun facts about the Trinity United Church of Christ and Rev. Wright, both of which have been dismissed and maligned as racists and extremists:
-TUCC is the largest black congregation in Chicago, with over 10,000 members
-TUCC is the largest congregation in the United Church of Chrust system.
-While Wright has been vocally against Israel’s actions, the ADL has found no evidence of antisemitism in his statements.
-Oprah Winfrey is a member of TUCC
-Wright spent six years serving in the USMC and Navy as a pulmonary technician.
-More prominent, more vocal white religious leaders with more connections to more people with more power have said far more horrible and crazy things. Just saying.
8 responses so far ↓
treewrestler // March 23, 2008 at 6:14 pm
“The white man’s greed, puts the world at need” (Barrack Obama, ie. The Audacity Of Hope) as taken from one of Jeremiah Wright’s sermons.
Will // March 23, 2008 at 6:16 pm
That’s a fair example, but would you kindly contextualize it? I mean, I’d appreciate the surrounding paragraph.
treewrestler // March 23, 2008 at 6:44 pm
That is the entire statement, it would help race relations enormously if more people would take time to study thier history, slavery, civil right, the civil war etc. and not take the words of radical people like Wright (white or black) as a history lesson. In total (high estimate) 650,000 African slaves were brought to America by Dutch ships and sold by African royalty. Any African American in the U.S.A. today has less than a 40% chance of comming from this lineage. in the deep south the primary slave crop was tobacco not cotton, 25% of the slaves involved were Native American and 5% were white (indentured servatude) for debts, crime, etc. PLEASE dont expect anyone asking for an offering or donations to be 100% truthfull,as soon as this issue is solved he’s out of a job.
Will // March 23, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Huh, that’s from Obama’s book? Color me impressed.
Will // March 23, 2008 at 6:48 pm
… wow, pun inappropriate and REALLY not intended.
JollyRoger // March 24, 2008 at 8:05 am
The Klanservatives have been groping for a way to blatantly inject race into this campaign, because their golden boy loses any other way. I guess well find out if the Republiklans have pulled it off yet again.
As far as it being easier to cross the divide these days-that’s true, but the Klanservatives are working furiously to change that.
Will // March 24, 2008 at 8:54 am
Um, JollyRoger? That whole thing you just said? Really not helping. It’s a lot easier (and actually possible) to open up a dialogue when you don’t pull cutesey crap like “Klanservatives” and “Republiklans.” No matter how much you might disagree with someone, disagree with their actions eloquently, not with some ridiculous, warped label that renders them dehumanized.
JollyRoger // March 27, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Sorry Will, I’m not buying that one for a minute. We sat around and sang “kumbaya” while they turned “liberal” into a swear word. I’m not planning on being nice to such reprehensible scum ever again.
I stand by my “Republiklan” and “Klanservative” labels without hesitation. From Harvey Gantt, to Willie Horton, to the subliminal call to bigotry in 2004, KLANservitism is precisely what they practice, and I don’t feel a damned bit bad about calling it exactly what it is.
If you need more proof than even this… go check out who Focus on the Family bought their mailing lists from. Klanservatism is the same old shit, draped with a thin veneer of politeness.
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