Rev Jeremiah Wright Had No Choice... (written April 30, 2008)

I am a strong Obama supporter and have donated to his campaign. A first for me for any political campaign. I am not saying that Wright SHOULD have come now or that I disagree that he may hurt Obama in the eyes of power hungry or fear-filled whites. Or that I don't see how the "game" of politics is played. I see it quite clearly. But as an Obama supporter it strikes me as weird that WE have accepted the talking points of the Right and Hil herself. WE are blaming Wright for an attack that he did NOT start nor will he finish. It didn't matter if Wright came out now or later...the damage to Obama had already been done by the Right and Hil as evidenced by soundbites they created, the month long controversy that did not go away and was not going away as evidenced by the RNC in NC and the statements that the Right was making as to how they were going to use Wright in the general election against Obama. And this was BEFORE Wright came out to defend himself. And WE have no righteous indignation against the starters of this controversy rather WE would instead blame the Black man for defending himself. I call that self-hate. What about you? I guess they got us playing their game...on their terms. And by definition we can't win that game...they won't let us!Why is it that the Black man (Wright) has to make some political calculation when he is not a politician. He is a Pastor motivated and held accountable by God. Why should the Black man (Obama) have to cajole and equivocate to appease the masses of "fear-driven" whites by distancing himself from Wright when this country does not ask its white presidential candidates to do the same (ie McCain & Hagee or Clinton and her pastor who has publicly supported Wright). I laugh when I hear these commentators now (both Right wing zealots and proposed Left wing progressives who played those out of context loops of Wright's sermon ad nauseum for the last month constantly) ask what is Wright’s motivation for coming out now and speaking. As if he enjoys the spotlight or is trying to get sales for a proposed book deal, as if MONEY is this guys motivation or as if he is jealous of Obama's standing in the world and wants to ruin his campaign like we as Black folk can't be happy for one of our own's success. No... Why isn't Wright's motivation based on the media's incessant playing of those sound bites and their ability to stir up the fear-filled white electorate? Or that Wright felt the need to "defend" his church, his character, OUR religious traditions and our community. Instead of speaking to Wright's points (which most agree are based in TRUTH) we have Black pundits (Johnathon Capehart, Eugene Robinson, Juan Williams and the like) making nice (shuckin' & jivin') with the white-owned media that pays their salaries and is outside the purview, and therefore cannot be held accountable by, the Black community that they speak on behalf of. No Black person in the media, that I have seen, makes a case for the truths that Wright speaks. Rather they discuss his motives, or his ARROGANCE (white folk hate arrogant Black folk...I call it confidence) or his showmanship or the political fallout as it relates to white fears. Another reason why we need our own media outlets including TV, newspaper, internet and radio and why we should be supporting Black owned media with our advertising dollars. Our analysis can't stop at "why is he coming out now...he should wait til after NC and IND" because it really doesn't matter. Obama is ahead in delegates and Hil has muddied the waters by switching the debate from issues to his electability which again is code for white folk will not vote for a Black man. She and the Right wing pundits started us down this road, not Wright...so who is really to blame here?We, as a country, are talking about white fears (swing voters) as it relates to Wright, but I don't hear this critique for McCain as it relates to Hagee and Catholics. Or Clinton and her pastor that publicly supported Wright. The double standard is mind-boggling!!!! Shouldn't there be a big media storm surrounding Clinton and whether she should denounce and reject her pastor for supporting Wright (ie.. Wright and Farrakhan)? These issues stick to Obama for one reason....He Is Black. Period. By pointing out this double standard with fierce virility we as Blacks could help Obama. Instead we (shuck & jive) get paid by towing the company line. Is this why we have degrees from Howard? So we can just assimilate into the dominant culture devoid of our Blackness? Is this what we are teaching our boys? We complain about what others aren't doing....but WE are doing it EVERYDAY!!!!! Where are the real BLACK MEN? I don't mean that in a separatist way. I mean why do WE have to associate Blackness with "deficient"? My culture is just as good, just as learned, just as wholesome as the dominant white culture. Why can't we just be us? That’s what true diversity is...isn't it?This media firestorm is purposefully done to rev up fear-stricken whites. Obama had already said that Wright does not speak for him or the campaign. Why is his name sticking to Obama other than that Obama is Black and racism is at play. No firestorm with McCain & Hagee. No Firestorm with Clinton and her pastor that supported Wright. What's up here? I blame us too. Our self-hatred is so complete that we can't even see ourselves. We have no idea where our center is or where a Black man in his "righteous mind", devoid of a society that hates and has marginalized him for 400 years via racism and white supremacy, should stand on our issues.How many elected officials have we had since Reconstruction? How many elected mayors, governors or presidential cabinet members do we have currently? Has it changed the construct of how white political power has viewed Blacks as a whole in this country? The answer is an emphatic NO! My eyes are wide open here. This myth about changing things from the inside is a fairy tale. The only real civil rights advancements were made after non-political figures teamed with political figures to change the laws but changing laws has not done anything to change the minds of fear-stricken white folk. What some of us are saying is that this Black man has to pull a bait and switch on people. Tell them one thing to make them comfortable and then do another. Do you really think that having a Black man as President will change the construct that is America? That is a myth too. If only we had a Black mayor, or Black alderman, or Black congressmen or Black supreme court justices or black journalists or Black pundits. These guys are being paid inside of a construct that says you have to deny your Blackness in order to elevate yourself. And we buy it hook line and sinker. Why is it that Barack has to, as the pundits put it, find a way to reach out to white working class voters or he won't win the nomination but Hil doesn't have to explain how by being given the nomination by superdelegates Black voters will feel disenfranchised and will not vote for her and thus she will lose the nomination? Unless our vote and our opinion and our candidate have been so marginalized that the Dems take our vote for granted. We keep acting like Wright started this. He didn't. Hil and the Right wing pundits and some Left wing racist pundits did this by looping those out of context soundbites for well over a month prior. Now a Black man can't even defend his honor? I have a problem with that. We sit here blaming the Black man (Wright) when he didn't throw the first punch. They did. That's like blaming the innocent victim of a shooting for the shooting itself and letting the guilty gunmen off. Ooooh...I guess that did just happen in NY... Where is our outrage?I don't mean this skeptically but do we believe that God's truth only applies to those topics unrelated to politics? Is truth not truth as it relates to politics? You see, I believe that true character resides where your spiritual self and your secular self are as one. There is no, or thereshould be no, gap between your stances inside or outside of the church. My point is...Truth should not, and I assert, will not hurt Obama's candidacy. Wright strikes me as an uncompromised man (like King) who will not hesitate to speak truth-to-power. This type of advocacy should be supported in our community.