“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.” These words, the first in the United States Constitution, were likewise at the beginning of Senator Barack Obama’s (D-IL) recent speech regarding Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr.’s comments. It is fitting that Obama, the presidential candidate who is supposed to be above racial politics, and who abounds in good judgment to unite the American people, delivered a speech encouraging this idea of community and understanding between different cultures and ethnicities in America. What is ironic is the motive behind Obama’s choice to speak such inspirational words. A man with so much morality and the ability to draw voters from both sides of the aisle, and of every skin color, credits his ethics, strangely enough, to a minister with racist, skewed, and hateful views of our country. Because of Rev. Wright’s opinions, and because of his long association with Obama, the candidate was forced to deliver his most important speech to date.
For over twenty years Barack Obama has attended Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago and listened to Rev. Wright preach from the pulpit. Some of the inaccurate and more distasteful comments uttered by the church leader that have come to light recently include accusations that the United States invented HIV/AIDS to kill blacks, that the U.S. government has supported terrorism and as a result brought upon itself the attacks of 9/11, and that this same government has handed drugs to blacks. Infamously, he has also preached “God Damn America” rather than God Bless America. In his speech responding to these outrageous claims Obama was quick to mention that these comments are not “all that I know of the man.” However, such harsh statements coming from a pastor expected to be promoting God’s Will in God’s House leave many voters questioning whether Obama should follow a religious guide speaking these words at all. Surely a moral role model should not be falsely accusing others, spreading lies, or preaching derogatory remarks.
How then can voters be certain of Obama’s rectitude? One of Obama’s attractive qualities is that, as president, he would have the wisdom and honesty to lead our country in the right direction, when dealing with terrorist threats, a failing economy, or a deteriorating environment. These characteristics seem to come under scrutiny, however, after learning of Rev. Wright. It seems odd that while claiming to have the astuteness for making the right decisions, Obama chooses to stay in a church for over two decades under the leadership of a rabble-rouser.
At first, when Rev. Wright’s sermons began to leak into the public, Obama claimed that he had never heard his pastor say anything incendiary. Later, America finds out from Obama, as he addresses the nation, that he had in fact heard his reverend “make remarks that could be considered controversial while. . .in church.” Obama goes on to liken his minister’s statements to “remarks from [any of our] pastors, priests, or rabbis with which [we] strongly disagreed.” I personally do not appreciate Senator Obama’s accusing my pastor of making such comments as “God damn America” at any time, especially from the pulpit. I have never heard these words in my church and would leave the congregation shortly after if I did. And unlike Obama, I do not claim to have judgment befitting a President.
Last year, Obama was one of the first to reprimand Don Imus for his offensive comments on his MSNBC talk show, which were in reference to African American members of the Rutgers University women’s basketball team. Regarding Imus, Obama stated, “There’s nobody on my staff who would still be working for me if they made a comment like that about anybody of any ethnic group.” Well, Senator Obama, your minister has made similarly harsh comments and you have chosen to return to his church each Sunday. I wonder if a deceitful and hypocritical candidate is truly the best choice as president to lead our nation for the next four years, and possibly eight.
Another one of Obama’s appealing characteristics is his ability to rouse larger numbers, and a greater diversity, of Americans than any of the other candidates. One just needs to search YouTube to find countless videos of Americans, young and old, but mostly young, gushing over how great is Barack Obama. It seems this trend might take a turn for the worse in the upcoming months, though, following the Wright episode. Rev. Wright undoubtedly hurt Obama’s candidacy, but if there is one thing with which he helped Obama, it is with firmly establishing him as the “black candidate” – a label that Obama has tried to avoid. He has emphatically professed that he is a candidate for reconciliation who happens to be black, rather than the black candidate. This may be true, but Obama’s message appears insincere after we learn of his support of Rev. Wright.
With comments such as “Barack knows what it means living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich, white people,” and “Hillary has never had a people defined as a non-person,” Rev. Wright clearly equates Obama to a black liberator. Rev. Wright is attempting to lead other blacks to support Obama and reverse perceived inequities in our country. Obama had appeared not to object to this divisive view until the public learned of it.
Obama’s attractiveness to African Americans may continue to rise, but other important voting blocs will probably begin to withdraw their support. Already, division is forming around Obama, rather than union. Many middle-class, white Americans, who have never once heard their priest or rabbi degrade blacks, are shocked to learn some of the statements that echo in this Chicago black church, one that a potential president supports and attends regularly. Then Obama goes on record to say that his grandmother is “a typical white person” who fears black men when she passes them on the street. Obama would do better to attract white voters if he refrained from making offensive remarks such as this.
The Democratic Party has praised Obama for his potential to cut into one of the biggest supporters of the GOP, American evangelicals. With his openness about his faith in Jesus Christ, many analysts believed Obama would be able to attract a greater proportion of practicing Christians than other Democrats. However, with his already extremely liberal views on abortion, and now knowledge that the pastor who Obama said, “strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children,” is a hateful, close-minded man, many evangelicals are realizing that Obama’s ethics may not be as pure as previously believed.
With some middle-class whites, Christian evangelicals, and others growing skeptical of whether Obama is the correct candidate for their vote, it looks as if there could be another candidate more capable of bringing Americans together after eight years of what liberals call Bush blunderings — perhaps Senator John McCain (R-AZ). Though Obama claims he has the best judgment to lead our country to peace and prosperity, his assertions now seem to ring hollow after the public became aware of his unwise choice to be led by a racist reverend for over twenty years, and his dishonesty regarding the issue. Those loyal to Obama claimed his speech on race in America was both motivational and effective in responding to the attacks against him and his preacher, but the important swing voters quickly saw that Obama avoided the issue and still has not given an adequate response to why his morality and race-blind beliefs disappeared every time he stepped into Trinity United Church of Christ.
