In today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Eugene Kane defends black racists while he chastises white America for being racist.
He writes:
Jeremiah Wright is a "fire and brimstone" black preacher from Chicago, with a congregation filled with educated black professionals. Even Oprah Winfrey once attended Wright's church. It seems the part of the political divide still nervous over the prospect of Obama becoming the first African-American president has once again focused on his faith.
First, they suggested he was a closet Muslim, but he defused that by revealing he's been a regular churchgoing Christian for the past 20 years. Now it's all about his preacher; Wright is a religious black leader who has condemned white America for its racism and criticized the government's decision to get involved in a badly mismanaged war.
Oops! I guess a paragraph was omitted from Kane's column.
He left out the part of about Wright blaming the U.S. government for introducing HIV/AIDS into the black community. Kane left out the wild conspiracy theories about the U.S. being responsible for 9/11.
Of course, a black preacher named Martin Luther King Jr. condemned racism and a badly mismanaged war 40 years ago.
Wright is no Dr. King, and his association with Louis Farrakhan has drawn attention as well. But nothing jumped out as strongly as Wright's own words in recorded speeches flooding the Internet lately.
Kane is right. Wright is no Dr. King.
So why draw a parallel between the two men that he admits doesn't exist?
In Milwaukee, the Rev. John McVicker has been the well-respected pastor at Christ the King Baptist Church for more than 20 years. His congregation is filled with African-American professionals and working-class folks, including several elected black politicians. McVicker thinks Wright's sermons have been mischaracterized, mainly by white journalists looking for a headline.
"Historically, African-Americans expect their pastors to speak out as the conscience of the community," McVicker told me Monday. "What Jeremiah Wright is saying is no different than any other African-American pastor" in terms of criticizing injustice.
McVicker said black congregations expect their religious leaders to take stands on social issues, even if the opinions are controversial. McVicker said holding Obama accountable for Wright's words would be wrong.
What?
Wright's words are Wright's words.
He speaks for himself, loudly and clearly and divisively.
Over the years, I've heard many priests speak out about justice and social issues but absolutely never in the manner that Wright does.
I do not want to believe that black congregations expect their religious leaders to take "controversial" stands -- meaning racist, anti-Semitic, anti-American conspiratorial stands.
"They're trying to say that Obama is a clone (of Wright's)," said McVicker. "Let me tell you something; people don't always do what their pastor says."
In many ways, I think it's futile to try to educate anyone already convinced that Obama is unqualified to be president because of what his preacher said. People who have never attended a black church don't understand a black preacher's use of hyperbole - even outrageous hyperbole - to make a point. They also fail to understand how black preachers link their sermons to the black experience in America.
As someone "born and raised in the church" - for the uninformed, that means I attended a Baptist church every Sunday as a child because my mother made me - I know the experience as a deeply spiritual one that taps the well of African-American emotions.
Frankly, as long as Sunday morning remains the most segregated time in America, it doesn't seem fair for people to judge if they don't have a clue what's really going on.
Kane is making excuses. Hyperbole. Give me a break.
Hate is hate.
One would have to be clueless to not understand Wright's hate-filled rants for what they are.
It's not a matter of some Americans being unfamiliar with the nature of African-American churches. It's not a matter of being uninformed.
Hate is hate, not hyperbole.
2 comments:
It's interesting the many excuses that liberals will come up with when a black person is accused of being hateful and a racist.
I have a lot of trouble understanding how Kane makes the leap from Wright's awful sermons to all of a sudden claiming that all Wright was doing was simply talking about the injustices in America. People in power like Wright do so much damage as they convince their followers to believe such outwright lies.
Kane shows the weakness of his argument by glossing over the reality of what Wright was preaching. He doesn't address the level of vitriol spewed by Wright and what that says about Obama's character and judgment.
In terms of the wider community, beyond the congregation, there is no healing or uniting going on if that's the message coming from the pulpit. Disgraceful.
Preaching hate and promoting victimhood isn't Christ's message.
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