I Won't Renounce Jeremiah Wright

Jeremiah Wright is the story that will not go away. We are told that he is racist, anti-american, and had the audacity to give an award to Minister Louis Farrakhan. And now, since Barak Obama has distanced himself from Rev. Wright, we are told, "certainly you don't support Rev. Wright, even Senator Obama distanced himself from him."

Is Wright the Only Pastor?

Well, I say a few things. First, Senator Obama should not have had to even answer anything about his pastor. Senator Obama is the only one who has to answer for the sermons of his pastor. No one else has to give a play by play review of a sermon that we are not even sure that Senator Obama or the media even listened to. No one else has to jump through the hoops of distancing himself from the parts of his background that the media found reprehensible. No one else has to answer why they sat and listened to a preacher preach a sermon.

But Hannity and others quickly add, "What would you say if I listened to David Duke?" It is interesting how we let the right get away with faulty comparisons. I have heard the NAACP compared to the KKK. As if fighting for equality is the same as stringing up minorities on a tree. But there is something deeper here. Hannity and the like don't want to face the reality that God will Damn America for her sins. Certainly Wright is not new in saying this. Evangelicals (white and black) have said for years that America would be condemned for abortion or homosexuality. But, if a Black man says that it will happen due to racism, suddenly that is the equivalent of David Duke.

The Press Club and Wright

Many question Rev. Wright's response at the press club. What many don't recognize is that while they were sleeping in the beginning of the speech, Rev. Wright gave the background of the black church and the tradition he was speaking in. I think Rev. Wright took this as an opportunity to teach the world about the black church. It was certainly a teaching moment. Our white brothers and sisters seem to think that the only difference between white churches and black ones is that we are a little louder and a little longer. But Wright put it in perspective. The Black Church is prophetic. The black church is abrasive to the status quo. And yes Obama is in a totally different role running for president.

The great shame of it all is that America has done what it has always done. The structure has separated Black men. It is too bad to survive in this country we have to publicly distance ourselves from that which has made us who we are. It was preaching like Wright's that got us through the dark days of slavery. It was preaching like Wright's that reminded us that a better day was coming. It was preaching like Wright's that reminded us that God was on the side of the downtrodden even though it didn't look like it.

Wright is not Racist

I am by no means a radical. Many who know me can testify to my evenhanded keel. But even though that is the truth, I must say that Wright is not an idiot. He is not racist (much of even that clip they play is defending white women). Wright is not anti-american. Wright is a Christian in the Black tradition. And if america doesn't wake up to its treatment of the least of these, then just as Wright said, God will Damn America! What many do not want to realize is that many if not most of us agree with that sentiment.