Rev. Wright and the Trinity Church do not embody the political tradition of the African American church. Rev. Wright and Trinity Church does not represent the Black Church or any preacher I've ever known. I've been a member of Predominantly African American Churches and never has a preacher gone to extent of Wright's profanity as a Man of God, the level of outlandish fabrications of the truth and utter Unamericanism. Never.
My pastors have certainly spoken to the congregation as a family and could have made white church goers bristle at the mention of white racism faced by Blacks. My pastors have certainly called on America to be the America defined in the Constitution...but never has a Pastor stated that Aids was created to genocide African Americans. Never has a pastor made statements about 9/11 like the ones stated by Wright. Never has a Paster writhed in the pulpit while disgracefully commenting on sex acts. Never has a Pastor used foul mouth profanity s*hit, bulls*hit, God Damn America in the pulpit.
Rev. Wright may be radical politically and he may harken to a 1960's movement against oppression, however his wrong beliefs do not represent by any means the majority of African American churches and what they believe. Rev. Wright is as far as you can get on the spectrum of "radicalism." I wouldn't call it radicalism because it gives a bad name to being radical. It borders on fanaticism.
Martin Luther King used love to drive out hate. Martin Luther King used light to drive out darkness. You can not preach hate and expect to stop hatred. Martin Luther King would not preach in a church that forwarded the type of messages that Rev. Wright is preaching and he would not be a member of a church like that either. That is not the legacy of Martin Luther King. The very nature of MLK's message is for America to be the America described in the Constitution...to live up to those words Obama loves to quote. If America claims every man is created equal then abolish Jim Crowe laws. Martin Luther King was not screaming God Damn America. Martin Luther King was screaming I have a dream of what America can be...and it involved Blacks and Whites, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics holding hands.
To answer some questions: Yes. If Obama is who he claims to be he would have to explain that not leaving the church was either a mistake or admit he that should have spoken up and made a difference to show his Mentor and the high-fiving congregation the way they should go to transcend race. Either way, I couldn't vote for him for President. It shows a lack of judgment. I do not believe he is ready. It shows he wants to be President and has everything down pat that he should say, but doesn't know who he really is. Will it affect his ability to govern? Yes, it will affect Obama's ability to govern. Obama already states he wants to sit down with our enemies. I have little faith in his ability to read important situations and I little faith that he possesses the commonsense to know how,when or what to do in reaction to them. Does Obama share his pastor's views? Yes, to some extent he does. By Obama's own admission he states his Grandmother represents "the typical white person." Obama seems to have absorbed some of Wrights view of race. If you are asking whether Obama believes the conspiracy theories on 9/11 and Aids or the distasteful remarks about his opponent? It is not for the Voter to try and use ESP to learn or to even guess...It is for Obama to first actually be who he says he is and prove that to the American People. This relationship with Wright and membership in the church and subsequent speech and answers only cause voters to have more questions about Obama.
This debate is not here solely to divide us. Racism was already here. Obama asserted that race through his candidancy could be transcended and was brought back to earth when we saw the reality of a smudge evident in his own political image.
As for examining the true realities of Race Relations...we have yet to do that in this election and particularly with Obama. It has been clouded by nonsense with Rev. Wright and Obama's image. We have not truly talked about what African Americans face and how many are embarassed by the filth that Wright would wish to associate with them. This is not about Obama. This is about the people.
Whites do not need to swallow something clearly wrong to begin to understand African American discontent. The American people do not need to give Obama a pass for his lack of judgment in order to understand Race Relations in this country. That is an insult to Martin Luther King, a man who marched and died to stand for something else.
If Obama cared so much about and understood so well about African Americans and Race Relations in this Country then Obama would have attended the State of the Black Union last month instead of choosing not to attend. Every important Black intellectual, political or otherwise was in attendance except for him. Obama was formally asked to attend as a Presidential Candidate. Obama declined. Hillary Clinton attended.
