Rev. Wright: "..., BUT WE CAN MAKE IT."

Posted by Minni

It was a strange and rather refreshing feeling to see CNN braodcasting live from progressive black paster Jeremiah Wright with a big tag on the screen "Wright: I've been running for jesus a long, long time." This is hilarious and ironic and I think this is history in the making.

The fact is, I went to church Sunday and it was all black. I’m sure a lot of whites went to churches that were nearly all white. Now I know that they mean when they say 11 a.m on Sunday us the most segregated hour in the country. And we all worshipped the same god (mostly), just under different cultural contexts. The content of Wright’s speech attempts to bridge those divides in ways we rarely hear.


I hate to say it, but if there was not a black man about to be president there would not be a bunch of white people watching Morning Joe discuss a black paster's address to the NAACP. How many of those people ever attended a black church, be it the Church of Christ or a Baptist service, or any for that matter? This is groundbreaking for many and I hope it isn't taken out of context again. Remember, Dr. Wright was standing in front of the NAACP at a dinner called FIGHT FOR FREEDOM. This is the context of this speech. For those who say hes racist, maybe they forgot that this is country heaviliy divided racially and though we've come a long way, it was only 40 years ago that segreagation was legal. Remember that. An now this is history in the making as whites tune into black culture (black religious culture at that). Many don't realize Dr. Wrght has ben the #1 black preacher in America since the early eighties. This is nothing new. The only diference is we're all tuning in, and it's wonderful. Let's use this chance to talk about race, about accepting people, rather than griping over whether it was racist, becasue it was not. Speaking of racist ..., um, nevermind.

I think a lot of the problem is white guilt, and the feeling of whites having to defend themselves, of feeling all catagorized as being racist or suffering from stereotyping becuase of things their forefathers did. But just because their forefathers admitted to being racist, and they cant doesn't mean racisim no longer exists. Worse, it thrives behind closed doors and closed mouths and festers in the minds of people because if they bring it up, they'll be labelled a racist. Many people, including black people are prejudiced against black people. Just because people listen to hip-hop and identify with bits and scraps of hip-hop's popular culture does not mean they are not racist. Even today, the issue of biracial families if taboo. I have heard my white and black friend say. "My parents aren't raist but they just would kick me out if I started dating black guy." or "My parent's aren't racist they just would disown me if i dated a white girl. UM... let's all get over our PC cleanliness and admit we're all a little racist. Once we admitt it, we can start trying to change. Until then it will be a game of "not I, said the chicken"