Between The Blogs

The news and the blogs are abuzz with the Reverend Wright’s ‘fiery’ remarks to his congregation. Remarks that some deride as racist.. remarks that some insist must color [no pun intended] the world viewpoints of both Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle.

I have a few remarks of my own… and a question or two of you, dear reader.

Have you actually taken the time to read the Reverend’s remarks? Not just watch the snippets thrown at you by mass media, but the words themselves. Not the ‘fiery’ delivery of a skilled orator who knows how to rile up his congregation, but the words themselves.

Here are some as printed in today’s Washington Post. Let’s play a game. Let’s see if we can be honest with ourselves and make a decision as to whether or not what the Reverend says is true.

Here goes:

#1: “We [the USA] bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye…. America’s chicken’s are coming home to roost.” — Sermon, September 2001

First off, I don’t know about you, but I’m always curious as to what was actually said in the space that’s left out and simply referred to as ‘….’. But leaving that aside, what about the remark itself. True — or False.

I say that it’s mostly TRUE. We DID bomb those cities and we have nuked a LOT more people than those who died in NY and the Pentagon. No disputing that, no matter how you feel about the USA. Fact is, after all, fact.

I would take some exception to the part about us not having batted an eye at those deaths. America, when it does evil, does have a conscience. Maybe not our leaders so much, as evidenced by our sitting President, but certainly the people themselves do.

As for American’s ‘chickens coming home to roost,’ I would have to say, by and by, that this too is, regrettably, true.

#2: “We [African Americans] are descendants of Africa, not England…. We have a culture that is African in origin — not European. The Bible we preach from came from a culture that was not English or European.” — from the 2005 book, “Blow the Trumpet in Zion”

This one goes to the Reverend. Jesus was not a European. Neither were the Apostles. The New Testament does not have it’s roots in European culture. It is much more African… Mediterranean… in its roots.

That said, I guess this one is: TRUE.

#3: “The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America.’ No, no, no; God damn America! That’s in the Bible for killing innocent people.” — Sermon, 2003

Obviously, I would have no first-hand knowledge as to whether or not the government gives drugs to the black community. That’s been alleged for years. I would, however, ask the Reverend to be a bit more specific on this charge. Perhaps it’s something that should be investigated. As for building bigger prisons, I guess that’s true. There are a lot of folk in prison these days. The Reverend did, however, most probably make a mistake when he said ‘God damn America!’ Some of you may agree with him. Others may not. There are many things that America has done for which it should be damned… and is, obviously, damned by many throughout the world. As for whether God will damn America, I guess that’s up to God to decide.

Evaluation of this remark: May be TRUE. May be FALSE. I don’t know, but I’d sure like to find out, wouldn’t you?

#4: “Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run.” — Sermon, 2006, delivered at Howard University

Sorry folks, but America is as racist as they come. That, unfortunately, was true in the days when it was first founded and, for the most part, is still true today. I’d have to agree with the Reverend on this one.

#5: “Hillary is married to Bill, and Bill has been good to us. No, he ain’t. Bill did us just like he did Monica Lewinsky.”. — Sermon, January 2008

Once again, I’d like to have heard a little bit more. I always thought that Bill Clinton was a strong supporter of the African American community. Perhaps Bill Clinton has done things that have offended that community. If anyone has any input here, it would be appreciated.

I’d put this remark in the UNDECIDED category. Regardless, I wouldn’t exactly classify this remark as anti-American.

I’m going to take a stab at figuring out what’s going on here? I’m thinking that the Republican Party’s incredibly efficient Public Relations machine has decided that the best way to get John McCain elected is to give white America a reason to FEAR Obama. Going after remarks made by Obama’s reverend, then implying that white America should FEAR Obama — that years of listening to this rhetoric must have made some impression on him — is simply the Republican’s way of trying to turn Democrats away from Obama and, knowing that they won’t vote for McCain, instead get them to endorse Hillary Clinton.

The Republicans know that McCain will beat Clinton. They FEAR what might happen if McCain is forced to go head-to-head with Obama.

I say we give the Republicans reason to fear.

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