WRIGHT IS NOT WRONG, AMERICA IS WRONG

By Thirman Milner and Cornell Lewis

The media assassination of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright underscores the true message of what Rev. Wright was bringing out in his sermons, the racial divide that is not only damning this country but making an all-out effort to defeat the candidacy of Barack Obama. If words were not distorted from his sermons, preached years ago, the truth would clearly show that he was not damning America as a country but damning the injustices and racism that exist in this country as well as an unjust war. White media and ministers have done the same thing without any outcry. “One of this week’s hysterical press scandals was that Minister Louis Farrakhan praised Barack Obama’s candidacy even though Obama had previously denounced numerous Farrakhan remarks and the Obama campaign did nothing to seek out the Farrakhan praise. Nonetheless, Tim Russert demanded that Obama jump through multiple hoops to prove that he has no connection to — and, in fact, “rejects” — the ideas espoused by Farrakhan deemed to be radical and hateful.
The equally fringe, radical and hateful (at least) Rev. John Hagee — a white evangelical who is the pastor of a sprawling “mega-church” in Texas — enthusiastically endorsed John McCain. Did McCain have to jump through the same hoops which Russert and others set up for Obama and “denounce” Hagee’s extremism and “reject” his support? No; quite the opposite. McCain said he was “very honored” to receive this endorsement and, when asked about some of Hagee’s more twisted views, responded: “all I can tell you is that I am very proud to have Pastor John Hagee’s support.”

Do we, as Christians, abandon our church because we may disagree with some portions of a sermon from out pastor? No. Did someone demand that the Catholics abandon the Catholic Church because of the more serious crimes of many of its priest? No. Reverend Wright is not wrong in what he says. America is wrong for how she continues to portray people of color as bitter or evil just because they have a different worldview. America is wrong for racist crimes against members of the Black Diaspora. In my lifetime the endemic racism manifesting itself in this so called cradle of democracy is more hideous than the Gorgon Medusa.

Some even have tried to call Rev. Wright un-American. Consider these facts. In 1961 a young African American man, after hearing President Kennedy’s challenge to “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country”, gave up his student deferment, left college and joined the Marines. In 1963 this man, having completed his two years of service, volunteered to became a Navy Corpsman. He did so well in corpsman school that he was valedictorian and assigned to the Navy’s premier medical facility, Bethesda Navy Hospital, as a member of the Commander-in-Chief’s medical team and helped care for President Lyndon Johnson after his 1966 surgery. For his service the White House awarded him three letters of commendation. While this young man served six years of active duty Vice President Cheney received five deferments from serving in the military. Bill Clinton and George Bush used student deferments to stay in college. Both avoided active duty through family connections. Now, who is the real patriot in the American tradition, the young man who interrupted his studies to serve our country for six years or the three so-called political leaders who beat the system? After leaving the military this young man finished college, entered the seminary, was ordained as a minister and became pastor of a large church in one of America’s biggest cities. This man is the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, retired pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Detroit.

The goal now is to stop the election of another young American patriot of color, Barack Obama, by using any means including attacking one of America’s proven patriots who dares to speak out and to damn the injustices that are real and still alive in these United States. Unfortunately, not only the white media but some of us are buying into this new style of lynching. Wright is not wrong and Obama is right for America today.