21 March 2008
International viewpoint of Obama
Posted by Roy Bischoff under: Presidential Election 2008 .
I thought it might be interesting to see what people from other countries are reading about the situation with Barack and his minister. Here is an article from New Zealand. Polls have shown a big negative impact on Obama this week.
Views of Obama’s pastor reflect black US tradition
Many US voters have been shocked by the sentiments expressed by the pastor of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama but they should not be surprised, say faith leaders with experience of black American churches.
Anger at discrimination, real or perceived, and strong memories of racial injustice is a common thread running through black American discourse and is reflected in religious life, they said.
Obama denounced the comments of his pastor Jeremiah Wright and articulated a broad vision of race in America on Tuesday in a speech that aimed to quell a controversy that threatened to engulf his bid for the Democratic nomination for president…
In one sermon he uses the phrase: “God damn America,” anathema to many in an intensely patriotic nation. The impact of his words is magnified by his raised voice and the grainy quality of much of the video.
Obama, an Illinois senator, attended Wright’s church for two decades. His association with the pastor poses a problem because it casts doubt on his judgment, raises questions about his patriotism and undermines his reputation for honesty, according to commentators.
It also strikes at one of his core themes, allowing voters to ask how Obama could be a candidate of racial healing and unity when for two decades he was deeply involved with a preacher whose views appear to contradict that message.
But frustration over race coupled with a desire to correct injustice fuels sermons in many black churches, said progressive evangelical leader Jim Wallis, who is white, in an interview.
“There is a great deal of. . . anger in the black community and in black churches and the elephant in the room here is that most white Americans would be very uncomfortable in most black churches on Sunday morning,” said Wallis, who founded the Sojourners community and magazine.
The Rev Martin Luther King stood in that tradition and many of his speeches made people uncomfortable, they noted, though some of Wright’s comments appeared to directly echo statements made by civil rights leader Malcolm X.
“What he is essentially doing is affirming a people who have historically been humiliated,” said Aaron Parker, pastor of the Zion Hill Baptist Church, an African-American church in Atlanta…
Estimates of how many black churches use this style of preaching vary but it might represent 25 per cent, said Harry Jackson, pastor of the 3000-member Hope Christian Church, a multiracial but mainly black church in Washington
Many blacks would tolerate the views expressed by Wright even if they did not agree with them, said Jackson, co-author of a book about personal faith and public policy.
But many black Christians who had chosen churches that eschewed the kind of language used by Wright would be shocked that Obama had stayed in the church so long and would question his judgment, said Jackson, who is neutral in the election.
“A lot of people are going to feel misled. It’s problematic and it’s not easy to explain. It looks very hypocritical,” he said.
20 Comments so far...
Mac Says:
21 March 2008 at 10:03 am.
This makes me think I’m right in thinking that the problems with prejudism in this country have been exaggerated so that the rest of the world thinks it is worse than it is. We are so much more open about things like this than other countries. They like to pretend it isn’t bad in other places but they sweep it under the table and like to pretend they don’t have any problems.
Things are a lot better here than they use to be but it does get tiring for the past to be constantly brought up and thrown in our face. It doesn’t help the situation. There needs to be forgiveness and we need to move on. Blacks might think that is easy for me to say since I don’t understand but us whites need to forgive to. We have to forgive angry blacks who get in our faces and treat us like we enslaved them and like they hate our guts. We have to forgive those people and move on so both sides need to take the higher road.
I have some great black buddies from when I was in the military so I know it isn’t everybody who feels that way.
Benjamin Says:
21 March 2008 at 10:34 am.
I like what Cameron wrote about this over on news and comments. Obama said yesterday that his grandmother was a typical white person. I couldn’t believe he would bring a woman who did so much for him into this and drag her through the dirt. I didn’t like his socialist politics but I thought he was a nice guy. Now I think he is a fake. Now I’m not so willing to overlook his not saluting the flag. I think the real Obama is being revealed and I don’t like what I’m seeing.
Angela Rogin Says:
21 March 2008 at 10:44 am.
It’s okay for African-Americans to say bad things about whites but if we say anything about not liking it then somehow we are labeled racist. I don’t get it. I really don’t. I have African-American friends and they don’t get it either. At least they say they don’t. I don’t even think about them being a different color any more than I stop and think that my best friend has red hair.
Terrie Soberg Says:
21 March 2008 at 11:04 am.
Bill O’Reilly spoke about the “typical white” comment and said that he knew Obama meant nothing racist by it. Then he went on a “Please come on my show and talk to me” plea. Greta did the same thing the night before talking to a person who knew him well, saying that she promised she would be fair to him. It’s kinda funny watching them grovel for an interview with Obama.
E.E. Says:
21 March 2008 at 11:13 am.
Rush is talking about this typical white comment too. He says it shows what Obama is really like. It is strange that he thinks only white people are nervous about strangers and blacks aren’t. Not a unifying remark, Barack.
T. Fan Says:
21 March 2008 at 11:44 am.
If this had happened two months ago Barack would be out by now. It may be too late but with a Clinton you never know.
Jesse Says:
21 March 2008 at 12:35 pm.
I think Obama wanted to make a really big deal over this, well and he was. His staff even was suggesting that Clinton’s camp did it. Now that it has happened to the other two he has to be really disappointed.
Joy Bischoff Says:
21 March 2008 at 1:06 pm.
I just read an op/ed piece by E.J. Dionne from the Washington Post. I agreed with a little of it but disagreed with most. He compared Reverend Wright to Martin Luther King Jr. because King spoke out against the Vietnam War and American aggression. Big deal. I was against the war too. I remember being just a little girl but thinking how stupid it was that we didn’t either get in and commit enough troops to win the thing or get out.
There is a huge difference in what King said and what Wright said. Wright is hateful and spreads a message of hate and divisiveness. King didn’t. Dionne also wrote that white people talk differently about blacks in front of other whites. I don’t buy it. No one in my family ever did. Here is that quote:
Yes, black people say things about our country and its injustices to each other that they don’t say to those of us who are white. Whites also say things about blacks privately that they don’t say in front of their black friends and associates.
Joy Bischoff Says:
21 March 2008 at 1:13 pm.
Here is another quote but one I agree with this time by Charles Krauthammer in another op/ed piece from Washington Post.
But Obama was supposed to be new. He flatters himself as a man of the future transcending the anger of the past as represented by his beloved pastor. Obama then waxes rhapsodic about the hope brought by the new consciousness of the young people in his campaign. Then answer this, Senator: If Wright is a man of the past, why would you expose your children to his vitriolic divisiveness? This is a man who curses America and who proclaimed moral satisfaction in the deaths of 3,000 innocents at a time when their bodies were still being sought at Ground Zero. It is not just the older congregants who stand and cheer and roar in wild approval of Wright’s rants, but young people as well. Why did you give $22,500 just two years ago to a church run by a man of the past who infects the younger generation with precisely the racial attitudes and animus you say you have come unto us to transcend?
Jeezer Says:
21 March 2008 at 1:17 pm.
The point about taking his kids there shows how he really feels about Wright. Actions speak louder than words. This guy is toast. I think Hillary will find a way to get by him. Probably with super delegates then all hell will break out between the races and it will be because Obama is a closet racist and won’t come clean.
Resident Liberal Says:
21 March 2008 at 1:20 pm.
Sometimes I read here for fun just to laugh at ignorance. Jeezer is case in point. You have never even listened to Barack if you think he is a racist. He is half white. He is anything but a racist and is the best hope to bring both sides together. If there was such a thing as destiny you could see it set up in a man who is half white and half black. It’s perfect. There is no way Hillary can win. Do this math. She would be all right but Barack is a unifier.
E.E. Says:
21 March 2008 at 1:31 pm.
Rush is talking about unity and how it is a bad thing. He said we can only have unity if we get the other side to join our side. That is so negative. He doesn’t understand young people to talk like that. Rush makes the problem worse. He needs to realize that we must find at least a few areas to agree on like letting go of old angers and hatred and working for mutual respect between the races. This can’t be done by supporting people who promote hatred. We have to love the country if we want to heal it. People who hate America should leave.
Resident Liberal Says:
21 March 2008 at 1:34 pm.
E.E. you were doing great until your last part. First, you can’t just the feelings of a person that has been through an experience you can’t even begin to imagine. Last, what gives you the right to decide who should live in America? That is very narrow minded. It doesn’t help breach the chasm of hate.
Carrie Says:
21 March 2008 at 1:42 pm.
Resident Liberal,
Who are you to judge what people have been through? Why do you get to decide that only black people have gone through hard things? What about the Mexicans, what about the Mormons, what about the Muslims? I am sick of hearing how bad it is out there for black people when I see them getting all the best chances. How many years are we suppose to pay? I hate racism but blacks who wont forgive are making it worse. Suck it up. I agree with E.E. People who hate America should leave. We aren’t saying they have to but if they think it is so dang bad then why don’t they go where it is better??? That’s because there isn’t anywhere better.
Pickles Says:
21 March 2008 at 2:22 pm.
I thought we were suppose to be patient in all our sufferings. I thought we were suppose to love our enemies and to do good to those who treat us bad. Maybe Jesus just didn’t know some people would be treated so bad that they wouldn’t have to listen to him. That his words didn’t apply to them because Jesus didn’t know how evil the Americans would be some day. Get real.
Bryon Says:
21 March 2008 at 3:43 pm.
I see nothing wrong with the comments on this page Resident Liberal. Minorities talk about how hard it is in this racist land but if you ever suggest that they leave then they automatically call you racist and are convinced they are the victims of intolerance.
Angela is right. The black community can call white people anything they want and then get slapped on the wrist. White people need only say that a black man is racist to get figuratively lynched by white and black people.
Matt Says:
21 March 2008 at 4:43 pm.
I would think it would be offensive to treat a race differently. If we try to stop seeing color at all then we will get things to where they need to be. Some blacks want the whites who are living now, even the ones who have always fought against prejudism to pay for what was done. Where will something like that end? Hate engenders hate. It has to end. I guess I thought that ignoring reverse discrimination would eventually help but now I don’t think it will. We have to speak out against racism of all kinds.
Bryon Says:
21 March 2008 at 4:47 pm.
Well said Matt, I agree one hundred percent.
CindyL. Says:
21 March 2008 at 4:53 pm.
You know, I’ve been kind of nervous about commenting about this subject because it is so sensitive but I guess we need to let African-Americans know how we feel about things or it may never change. I hope it doesn’t make it worse but I guess that being tolerant of reverse discrimination isn’t good either. I mean, we need to be loving and respond with patience and understanding but still be willing to say, no that isn’t right. And yes, white people are capable of feeling great pain and even discrimination for different reasons too. It looks like the kind of hatred some of the liberals feel towards Christians is kind of like that and probably will get worse.
Ghost Says:
21 March 2008 at 5:14 pm.
You guys have put a lot of my own thoughts down. Last of all and so perfect Cindy, you wrote about being nervous to chime in and that is how I have felt but we are ignoring the elephant in the room. Hate is wrong. I have problems with a lot of things America has done too but I love my country with all my heart. I don’t want God to damn America. I want Him to help Americans.
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