The Problem With Rev. Wright & his supporters is that they don't tell the whole story

[journalist3072]

I posted the following op/ed about Rev. Wright many weeks ago here on DU. And in light of his current all-out media tour, I thought I would repost. Also, I wanted to add some new thoughts on the controversy surrounding Wright.


The problem I have with Rev. Wright is that he didn't tell the whole story.

I was thinking earlier today about how thankfully, I, as an African-American, never had to endure going to water fountains or restrooms that said Colored Only. I've never been forced to the back of a bus or had tear gas poured on me.

The fact that I've never had those experiences is not because of anything I've did. It's because I had brave ancestors who paved the way for me, so that I might enjoy a better life than they did.

But for the people of my parents and grandparents generation who did have those experiences, I think there is still a lot of pain. And I think Rev. Wright is an example of someone who still carries that pain.

However, his comments, specifically the one he made from the pulpit about "Hillary's never been called a (racial expletive)" trouble me becaue they don't tell the whole story.

Does she know what it's like to be an African-American? Of course not.

But Hillary Rodham Clinton certainly knows what it is like to have your government make judgements on you based NOT on the quality of your character or how hard you've worked...but to make judgements on you based solely on your outside appearance.

As a young girl, Hillary Rodham wanted to become an astronaut. And she wrote to NASA to ask them what she needed to do to prepare to become an astronaut. NASA replied and told her they weren't interested in female astronauts, so she need not apply.

So, don't tell me she doesn't know what it's like to have your country devalue you based on how you look.

Even more still, he didn't tell the story of how Hillary Rodham had a youth minister who taught her (and the other youth in the church) that there was a whole other world out there than the one they had been exposed to.

Hillary Rodham's youth minister, Rev. Don Jones, took her and other youth to hear Rev. Martin Luther King speak, and she got to shake his hand.

And as author Judith Warner states so eloquently in her book "Hillary Clinton: The Inside Story"--

"A great deal happened in the world during the last six months of her senior year in high school. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had the led march on Selma, Alabama. For the first time northerners had seen fire hoses and police dogs raining hate on African Americans down South. Hillary Rodham, who only two years before had shook Dr. King's hand, saw white policeman in storm trooper boots using cattle prods on peaceful black and white demonstrators, saw federal troops called in to keep the peace. Such images did not fail to make a mark on her."


Update 4/29/08- Some new thoughts on Rev. Wright:

In the weeks since the Rev. Wright controvery broke, one of the things that has most astonished me is how his supporters compare him to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., saying in effect 'well Rev. King critized the U.S. government too.'

That much is true. As we all know, Dr. King was not shy about calling out the shortcomings of his country. He was of course an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War. And no American, I believe, spoke more eloquently and with more moral authority than Dr. King, on the United State government's failure to put into practice what it professed in the U.S. Constitution.

But again, supporters of Rev. Wright don't tell the whole story.

Dr. King never condemned the U.S. government to hell, which is in effect what Rev. Wright did when he said ...."No, no, no...not God Bless America. God damn America." If Rev. Wright is truly the man of God he professes to be (and I will leave that up to someone much higher than me to decide) then he surely knows that we, as human beings, don't have a heaven or hell to put anyone in. That is not our job.

As a man of God, he should know that his obligation is to pray for his country, not condemn it to hell.

[DJ13]

1. Pray for Saint Hillary, she needs it

:rofl:

[journalist3072]

3. Seriously, grow up and respond to what I've actually posted.eom

[Mezzo]

18. I think I'll pray for you instead.

:popcorn:

[Two Americas]

19. I object to that

We have a handful of people here including the OP who are trying to elevate the discussion out of the cesspool we have all been forced to wade through recently. You may disagree with someone's opinions, but forcing the discussion back into a juvenile and simple-minded feud serves no one and gains us nothing.

[journalist3072]

27. Thank you so much for that. Very much appreciated! eom

[Jamastiene]

51. I wish I could recommend this post. n/t

[QC]

22. How old are you? n/t

[FrenchieCat]

2. Like all men and women, Rev. Wright is a sinner; an imperfect man......

however.....




















He is not running for public office.

And that is why there is a double standard being applied here.

[journalist3072]

5. He may not be running for public office, but he chose to insert himself into this election and

support someone who IS running for THE highest public office.

What's more, the candidate that Rev. Wright supports is trying to have it both ways.

Obama did not invite Rev. Wright to his campaign kick-off because he knew of the controvery surrounding those sermons.

He has disavowed Rev. Wrights' comments.

However, I even heard today that he's still been on the phone with Rev. Wright.

So my question is: what is Obama saying to Rev. Wright during these recent conversations with him?

[FrenchieCat]

7. I think that you are being nosey.......

and again, holding Barack to a different standard, no matter the color of your skin.

But We'll live with it, 10% percenter.

[Doityourself]

10. "However, I even heard today that he's still been on the phone with Rev. Wright"

I heard he was on the phone with E.T. too...trying to get the space alien votes!

Damn him.

[journalist3072]

11. This was what was being reported today on places like the Today show...that Obama still has

conversations with Wright.

Obama has a habit of playing it both ways.

[Doityourself]

13. Yeah, I know and Hillary doesn't.

[Window]

12. Rev. Wright did not insert himself into the election, Sen. Obama's enemies and the media did.

[journalist3072]

14. Wrong! He stood up in the pulpit and endorsed Obama . eom

[pberq]

20. Nevertheless, if Obama's enemies hadn't decided

to make a big deal about Wright, we wouldn't be having this conversation

[JoFerret]

33. Obama brought Wright to the conversation

the media turned on the klieg lights.

[pecwae]

37. And Wright keeps the conversation alive.

[JoFerret]

48. That is accurate

Wright seems to be relishing his moment in the sun and Obama be damned.
This is not a humble man.

[Window]

31. Wrong my ass. Are you seriously trying to tell me Rev. Wright is the first pastor to

ever endorse a candidate in a church???

[JoFerret]

32. True

.

[graycem]

42. How many preachers

and pastors stood at their pulpits and urged their congregation to vote for Bush, on the Defense of Marriage, or Roe v. Wade, or the war with Iraq (because in their mind, it would be protecting Israel) that directly relates to their teachings of the Apocalypse? Is that ok? Where is the persecution of those men who regularly teach that God is going to destroy the earth with fire and brimstone? Is it because he said it "loud"? Is it because he said "damn"? Nobody can justify the logic in this. Nobody.

You think that white pastors don't regularly preach that same garbage in a fiery voice, as Hagee does? I can vouch for at least 4 that do! Many more if you flip on TBN anytime, day or night. The same ideology that Bush belongs to. Why do you think he received the support of all those fundies? Why is it that that actually HELPED his run for office, and this Rev. Wright stands to harm Obama's chances? No reasonable person can explain the inconsistencies.

[BeyondGeography]

4. It's a mostly thoughtful post, even if I disagree with the MLK point

he called our government the greatest purveyor of violence on the planet. That would seem to earn you a ticket to hell.

But the bigger issue re. Wright is why does the media care so much? Would a white candidate whose pastor embraced what some would consider to be extreme conservative views be subject to this repeated abuse after giving a speech such as Obama made on March 18, which, in addition to being a landmark treatment of race in this country, repudiated Wright's more divisive comments and should have put this issue to bed for good? Of course not.

[EFerrari]

24. It's not thoughtful at all. Her post says Wright lied

and then never said how, let alone, documented how.

That's not thoughtful. That's simply misleading.

And, as anyone who can read knows, Wright's sermon was not about damning America. In any way. This chestnut has been debunked a Brazillion times.

There was nothing *divisive* in Wright's sermon. That was the media, doing what they always do. The man's whole tradition is built around reconciliation.

Christ on a trailer hitch.

[journalist3072]

25. I didn't say he lied. I said he didn't tell the whole story....he omitted some things. That was my

point.

[EFerrari]

28. Bullshit. n/t

[journalist3072]

30. You would know......eom

[Tatiana]

39. What did he omit? And how much time did he have, btw? n/t

[CTyankee]

52. When white ministers do it, the MSM treats them a bit like a funny uncle.

They aren't frightened by it because the minister is white. But a black minister saying essentially the same thing scares the living crap out of the white MSM. They lose it. No objectivity is left.

Of course, it's crazy. And it's unfair.

This whole Wright thing has just proven me correct again. God, how I wish I were proven wrong!

[zabet]

6. Good post.

[DearAbby]

8. I am slowly going broke

trying to keep my head above water in this economy...But hey, don't sweat the small shit...There is an ANGRY BLACK MAN AFOOT!!

Thanks media, and by god, thank you journalist3072..keeping us on what is really important!

[jasmine621]

9. Believe me, Hillary has been called a "B_ _ _ _" more than Obama

has been called a "N" Right here on DU, too.

[cali]

36. I know the hillworlders will have a fit but I don't think bitch is even close

to being as bad as nigger. And c'mon, how man hillworlders here don't think of me as a bitch? I freely admit that at times I am a bitch. I don't have a particular problem being called that.

[graycem]

44. So is it fair now

to see who has been a bigger victim? Seriously? Funny that a black man back in the day, wouldn't have even been able to look Ms.Hillary in the eye because if he did, he might be accused of a crime on a whim. The black man was always "beneath" the whites, be it man or woman. Spare the "bigger victim" thing. It helps neither one of them.

[DevonRex]

15. No minister has the power to condemn ANYONE to hell. Just so

you know. But I believe God hates racism.

[journalist3072]

17. Agree....no minister has the power to condemn anyone to hell. And that's exactly why I have

problems with Wright's comments...because that's what he was doing. In effect, he was codemning our entire country to hell.

That's the issue I'm having with him.

[kwassa]

43. Wright wasn't damning the country to hell. Listen to the whole sermon.

here is the relevant excerpt, on the them that governments fail, but God does not. This is the concept most people don't get when the clip is taken out of context.

Wright's sermon:

When it came to putting the citizens of African descent fairly, America failed. She put them in chains. The government put them on slave quarters. Put them on auction blocks. Put them in cotton fields. Put them in inferior schools. Put them in substandard housing. Put them scientific experiments. Put them in the lower paying jobs. Put them outside the equal protection of the law. Kept them out of their racist bastions of higher education, and locked them into positions of hopelessness and helplessness.

The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three strike law and then wants us to sing God Bless America. Naw, naw, naw. Not God Bless America. God Damn America! That's in the Bible. For killing innocent people. God Damn America for treating us citizens as less than human. God Damn America as long as she tries to act like she is God and she is Supreme.

The United States government has failed the vast majority of her citizens of African descent. Think about this. Think about this. For every one Oprah, a billionaire, you've got 5 million blacks that are out of work. For every one Colin Powell, a millionaire, you've got 10 million blacks who cannot read. For every one Condi-Skeezer Rice, you've got 1 million in prison. For every one Tiger Woods, who needs to get beat at the Masters, with his Cablanasian hips, playing on a course that discriminates against women, God has this way of bringing you up short when you get too big for your Cablanasian britches. For every one Tiger Woods, we've got 10,000 black kids who will never see a golf course. The United States government has failed the vast majority of her citizens of African descent.

[graycem]

45. Have you ever

READ the book of Revelation? All Christians regularly condemn the world to hell, if you don't follow their specific set of rules, which they refer to as the right and proper religion.

[JoFerret]

16. Good stuff

Thanks

[EFerrari]

21. So twisted. Breathtaking, actually. n/t

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

23. does anyone think that Wright does NOT know he is knee capping Obama?

does anyone think Wright is naive?

maybe all the money and attention have turned his head,

all I know of the man is his actions, and he might as well take a knife and
stick it in Obama's back.

[hollowdweller]

26. It's like Rev Wright has never read the New Testament

He seems to be hung up on the vengeful God of the Old Testament not the loving God of the New.

"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"

He was on a roll with Moyers and the NAACP speech but by the time he got to the National Press Club he started showing his ass.

[GoldieAZ49]

29. Thank you!!!

and God Bless you for the courage to speak your views in this atmosphere

[Bolo Boffin]

34. Read the Bible again.

The prophets sent to Israel cursed her all the live long day, and for exactly the same reason.

Of course, what's being done to Reverend Wright was done to them too. A prophet is without honor in his own country, and that includes Jesus.

"God Damn America for acting like she is God." Pure boilerplate prophetic talk there. Nothing at all out of the ordinary.

People upset with Reverend Wright are upset with the Bible. Read it again!

[pecwae]

35. I read your first one, journalist

K&R for this one as well.

[Tatiana]

38. You don't get Rev. Wright. That's fine. You don't get Dr. King either, apparently.

The sun was about to set. On Thursday, April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. had retreated to room 306 of the Lorraine Motel, worrying about a sanitation strike in Memphis and working on his sermon for Sunday.

Its title: "Why America May Go to Hell." For King, whose focus had shifted from civil rights to antiwar agitation and populist economics, the Dream was turning dark. He had been depressed, sleeping little and suffering from migraines. In Washington, his plans for a massive Poor People's Campaign were in disarray. In Memphis, King's first march with striking garbage men had degenerated into riot when young black radicals--not, as in the glory days, angry state troopers--broke King's nonviolent ranks. By 5 p.m. he was hungry and looked forward to a soul-food supper. Always fastidious-a prince of the church--King shaved, splashed on cologne and stepped onto the balcony. He paused; a .30-06 rifle shot slammed King back against the wall, his arms stretched out to his sides as if he were being crucified.

(more...)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/mlk/legacy/legacy.htm

[graycem]

40. That has been said by a few people

but how do they reconcile that with their book of Revelation. Preachers of all religions regularly preach that God will destroy EARTH..the entire world, not just one country, for it's sin. And it does say that. So I guess if we're afraid of his "God damn America" we should be equally, if not more afraid of "God Damn the World" no matter how they phrase it. It is a huge part of their ideology. If it isn't, they're not Christians preaching the bible. What's the difference? :|

Does the word "damn" really truly offend so many people? GIVE ME A BREAK! Their religion should scare them if "God Damn America"
makes them uncomfortable. Hypocrites.


** I guess they better get busy editing their Bibles, particularly the last chapter of Revelation, to say "except America."

[Tatiana]

41. Dr. King wrote a sermon entitled "Why America May Go to Hell"

Unfortunately he murdered before he could preach it.

1968 to 2008. Forty years and we're still talking about the same shit.

Forty years and we're got the minute men at the border shooting at men, women, and children.

Forty years and every Cuban who sets foot on American soil becomes a citizen, but the Haitians better take their ass back to Haiti. We don't want them here.

Thank God we didn't have to rely upon apologists like you to get our civil rights. We'd still be swimming in the "colored pool."

I am so starting to see the error of my ways regarding this gay rights marriage thing. Your argument (against Rev. Wright) is the same. We've made progress. Just wait a while. Don't be threatening. Don't be loud or vociferous. Don't talk about embarrassing things. We don't want the majority to get mad at us.

[kevinbgoode]

46. So what happened when she grew up?

And why is it that my own journalism instincts tell me not to trust her?

[indimuse]

47. Thank you for a truly wonderful post.

K&R!

[blm]

49. YOU are so NOT RESPECTED by Bill Clinton he wouldn't tell YOU the full story on Marc Rich pardon

or that he was pardoning another BCCI and IranContra operative FOR Poppy Bush.

He didn't tell YOU the whole story about who Marc Rich was because he didn't respect YOUR intelligence.

He didn't write one word about BCCI in his entire book because he didn't believe you NEEDED to know why an event like 9-11 could happen and how a Bush2 was able to return to power.

You really want to talk about full stories and WHO doesn't tell them, journa?

[Avalux]

50. Who gives a fuck? Reverend Wright is NOT running for elected office.

Once you understand that simple fact, this all gets a whole lot easier. Rev. Wright is a pastor. That's it.

[CTyankee]

53. (sigh) I wish I had a dollar every time I've heard that sentence on DU!

Of course, you are right. But also, of course, it means nothing because the MSM are so freaked out by an angry black minister they obsess day and night over him.

We've either got to just ride this thing out or come up with a better antidote to the obsessive fear of blackness that the MSM has. I can't think of anything just now...I am just frustrated as hell over this whole thing.