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Contact this writerYES: Just when Senator Barack Obama seemed to be well on his way to winning the Democratic Presidential nomination, a major controversy has erupted. It is all about Rev. Wright and the fact that Obama has been a member of his church for the past 20 years. TV networks and internet sites showed excerpts of Rev. Wright's fiery sermons, which included many angry anti-White statements and implications that the United States deserved the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
The minister, who has been on the Obama campaign staff as spiritual advisor, has also made charges that the U.S. created the AIDs epidemic to destroy minorities. In his anger against what he considers America's wrongdoings against other nations, on one occasion, he said the words of "God Bless America" should be "God Damn America".
Although Rev. Wright's emotional sermons have been public knowledge for many years, the showing of the videos at this critical moment in the Presidential campaign has created a firestorm of negative publicity for Sen. Obama in just a few days. Attempting to repair the damage, Obama quickly appeared on many TV news and commentary programs and denounced Rev. Wright's rhetoric. The candidate publicly and quickly dropped the now-retired minister as one of his campaign advisors.
However, the controversy continues, and political opponents will be quick to take advantage of it. Sen. Obama denies that he knew anything of the anti-American nature of Rev. Wright's sermons. However, as a regular member of the minister's Trinity United Church of Christ for the past 20 years, he attended with his family hundreds of Sunday services there. He has to be well aware of the implications of what Rev. Wright calls his black liberationist theology.
The biography of Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. is an impressive one. He served a total of six years in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, where he was a hospital corpsman. He later studied at Howard University and the University of Chicago. He earned four academic degrees, including his doctorate, and during the 36 years he was pastor of the Trinity United Church, he received eight honorary doctorate degrees. His dynamic leadership is credited with bringing the attendee rolls of his church from an original flock of less than 90 members to its current membership of more than 6,000.
Another potentially damaging effect on Sen. Obama's campaign is that, although he has always denied any relationship with Louis Farrakhan, Dr. Wright has a record of enthusiastically praising the works of the controversial and anti-Semetic Black Muslim leader. Several years ago, Rev. Wright gave a Trumpeter Award to Farrakhan and said he "truly epitomized greatness". Although much of the charges against Rev. Wright is conjecture, the negative publicity created at this time can't help Sen. Obama's image as a fair and independent candidate.
Barack Obama keeps emphasizing his Christian faith and respects for all religions, and recently invited members of a South Carolina church to consider him "an instrument of God", and help create "a kingdom right here on Earth." That raises the question of whether he will address the realities of the Presidency or continue to be influenced by religion, especially the religion of Rev. Wright, the man who was his very controversial and racially divisive spiritual advisor for the past 20 years.
It is already evident that Sen. Obama's relationship with Rev. Wright has become highly damaging. As his battle with Hillary Clinton to earn the Democratic nomination heats up, there is no doubt that the Wright situation will be a major issue. Then, if Sen. Obama becomes the opponent of Sen. McCain for the Presidency, whatever restraint Mrs. Clinton may attempt to avoid bringing up racial issues with him will not apply to the Republicans.
Sen. Obama's bid for the Presidency has been severely hurt by the Rev. Wright publicity and ongoing controversy. Will it destroy his chances for the Democratic nomination? That is now a possibility. Then, if he manages to shake off the Wright situation and becomes the party's choice for President against the tough and outspoken Republican opponent, he will have to face a very steep uphill battle.
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Know something about US elections 2008: Will Rev. Wright's radical views harm Obama's chances?? We want to hear your view. Write now!
If you want to be a presidential candidate, you have to be ready for every little thing from your history to come into the limelight. And no candidate is exempt from this. There are people specifically hired to dig up dirt on politicians, presidential candidates, and anyone connected with them. Although all three candidates have had their past displayed before America, Barack Obama feels the brunt of the rumors and misinterpretations.
Rev. Jeremiah Wright's comments from his south side Chicago church were controversial in itself. But since when do the comments of the people whom you know dictate your own ideas? And I think this shows that there is a deeper point to be made: media manipulation.
If you listen to the comments that were aired on the major news programs, there are only a few sound bites. I've counted repeatedly the sound bite, "God doesn't bless America; God damns America!" but there is no explanation to the context that it's taken out of. They just want to call him anti-American, and are quick to associate Obama with anti-Americans. If you do your research, he was talking about how even though this country in involved with Muslim extremists, it doesn't even compare to the atrocities that this country does to its own people: homelessness, the foreclosure crisis, inequality in the workplace, the treatment of Katrina victims, people with no health insurance (or even worse, no health coverage for those who do pay). He was talking about the hypocrisy that runs rampant when Americans want to claim we're the best in the world, yet these issues still go unanswered. But there is no explanation, just a sound bite that labels him an anti-American. No one wanted to listen to the whole speech.
Another speech that led to some controversy was his "attacks" on whites. But, this is another example of the media taking his speech out of context. Rev. Wright merely said that Hilary Clinton will never know what it's like to have a cab pass her by on the street, because she is a white woman. He was merely stating the obvious fact that this country is owned and ran by rich, white men, and if you have a problem with it, then you're probably one of them. It doesn't take a genius with a doctoral degree to look around and see that 99% of all banks, government and Fortune 500 companies are owned by rich, white men. So, in essence, it wasn't an "attack" on whites; he was merely stating facts.
Yesterday, on Air America Radio, there was an interview with Phil Donohue, talk show guru whose show Donahue aired for 29 years, who basically said the same thing that Rev. Wright said, but not in so many words. However, the message was the same about the state of this country concerning the economic recession and the Iraq War. But Donohue is revered by his words, and Rev. Wright is anti-American. Where do we draw the line? Is it the enthusiasm and means that is behind the message? Or the message itself? Or is it because Donohue is white and Rev. Wright is black?
People have their first amendment right to free speech and freedom of religion, just as we have been granted many other freedoms. I, as a white woman married to a black man, am sincerely grateful to that. But when people start dictating to me my own thoughts and feelings based on those around me or our leaders, then we need to draw the line somewhere. That's like saying that because the governor of New York was caught in a prostitution ring, then all the elected officials in New York, and especially those who knew of him, condoned his behavior if they aren't involved themselves. It sounds ridiculous when said in those terms, but the same logic applies with Rev. Wright and Obama. Luckily, Obama came back with an exceptional speech and defended himself eloquently. I truly hope these race issues and petty high-school politics are over, so we can focus more on what's at stake here: the American future.
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