Having listened to Wright’s sermons, having listened to Obama’s speeches, and having lived in America for over 35 years, I believe I am as well-qualified as anyone to enter into this fray and offer my opinion.
It is my belief that there is far too much hanging-on to the past in the black community. Rather than seeing the limitless potential our country affords its citizens, there is a desire to remain focused on the inequities of the past. It isn’t helpful, and it certainly isn’t fair.
Comparing the current state of affairs in America with that which was experienced by minorities even 40 years ago is inane. We have come so far since the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. Blacks are equal to whites in most every conceivable way. So why the lingering mistrust and anger in much of the black community toward white America?
It is in large part due to people like Jeremiah Wright, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. They are heralded as black leaders and in many ways dictate the mindset of the black community. Their intentions have been made crystal clear – inject race into every facet of existence. Make blacks in America believe that they are still treated with inequality by whites and other minorities. Encourage blacks to remain separate from the rest of America because they are different. Stay in line with the prevailing wisdom of the community leaders. Shun blacks who do not do the same.
These leaders have scrambled to fill the void left by Martin Luther King, Jr. They have carved a niche for themselves in American society and have amassed incredible power over the decades. They are in many ways the very arbiters of black-ness. And these leaders have had a deleterious effect on blacks.
Until blacks decide to accept that they as individuals are capable of moving onwards and upwards in society, until they realize that they are not being held back or oppressed by their government or their country, they will find themselves enthralled – enslaved – by people like Jeremiah Wright.
These men need to be exposed as hateful, hurtful instigators who make a living perpetuating the notion that blacks continue to be victimized by institutional racism. Are there racists in America? Yes, unfortunately. But do they have the power to keep blacks and other racial minorities from achieving success in American life? The answer is a resounding “No”.
Barack Obama has shamefully hitched his wagon to Jeremiah Wright. He has lied about Wright’s influence on his campaign. And he has just as shamefully lied about the influence Wright has had on his world view, his mindset, his very character. And Obama is not alone. His wife Michelle appears to have fallen under the spell of Pastor Wright. Her remarks about how she is, for thew first time in her adult life, proud of America, speaks volumes about the type of influence Jeremiah Wright has had upon his congregation.
Unfortunately, many other black Americans have hitched their wagon to bad ideas perpetrated by bad men like Jeremiah Wright.
But a hitch by its very nature may be undone by merely pulling against the strain that holds it. It is temporary. Every black in America would do well to unhitch themselves from men like Jeremiah Wright, to pull themselves away from such a negative sphere of influence. It may be too late for Barack Obama, but surely it isn’t too late for everyone.
