Posted on 01/21/2009 10:23:22 AM PST by foutsc
Reverend Joseph Lowery gave an uplifting inauguration benediction that was marred by a racist snipe at white people:
Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around -- (laughter) -- when yellow will be mellow -- (laughter) -- when the red man can get ahead, man -- (laughter) -- and when white will embrace what is right.So the "white" have not yet embraced "right"? This is racist and divisive, and worse, it was met with laughter and official embrace, not the opprobrium it deserved.
Reverend Lowery has been jailed, shot at, fire hosed and dog-bitten, among other things, all in the noble pursuit of civil rights (human rights!).
This great, brave man, basking in that glorious day on a dais of pomp and glory, with the whole world watching, crouched down and stuck chewing gum under the seat of American consciousness.
He obviously paid no heed to the new president's words:
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.Beautiful words, but difficult to accomplish when citizens are aiming racist jibes at one another. No one should understand that better than Reverend Lowery, and the president who laughed at his words.
Time to set aside childish things. Yeah...
Just to bring this into perspective, you are exactly correct. If it had been a Republican inauguration, and some white preacher got up there and incoherently rattled off some uhhhhh..."prayer"....about nappy headed ho's being sent to the back of the bus, the whole country would be on fire. Whoever uttered the words would be flogged and fired and the snickering "president" would be impeached, all within three hours after the utterances.
We forget, however, it ain't about race, remember? What race its not about, who knows.
From what I’ve read Rev. Lowery walked the walk and took his lumps back in the civil rights days. He lived it and now he’s getting fairly old. He has a right to his feelings and a reason for them. But Zer0 picked him for this historic moment just like he picked Wright to be his pastor for twenty years. The buck stops with 0.
You never really thought that, did you?
It was obvious before he died that MLK was just another man of the left.
Not that his opponents were all that great, themselves. But he was no saint, personally or politically.
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