Posted on 03/14/2008 8:06:12 PM PDT by bahblahbah
So much controversy surrounds the church where Barack Obama has worshipped for two decades, the church whose retiring pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, has stirred a storm with his words about power in America -- words which Obama himself decried today as "appalling.''
So much of the racial divide that remains in America is reopened with debates over these words, followed by renunciations and demands for even greater repudiation, that it's refreshing to hear some words of common sense rising through clouds of polarizing venom.
These words come from the congregation tonight. As the torch passes at Trinity United Church of Christ -- with the Rev. Wright's retirement and the ascension of the Rev. Otis Moss III, and with Obama repudiating the harshest words of the outgoing pastor while insisting that he and his family will remain as members -- another longtime member writes to the Swamp this evening to offer another perspective on the controversy that has enveloped the church.
"I am an African American who is very proud to say that I am a member of Trinity United Church of Christ,'' writes "BLH,'' in a posting on Obama and the retiring pastor below. "I have been a member for 30 years.
"I was in church that Sunday after 9/11. Our church seats about 8,000 people and we have 3 services; 7:30 a.m., 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Non-blacks do attend our church. However, we are located in a predominantly African-American neighborhood.
"On that Sunday people were standing against the wall and in the halls. People were still scared and shocked by what happened. Rev Wright's words may seem rascist to people who look at this world through rose colored glasses. You are the same people who think that the USA is the superior country and for some of you that white America is the superior race. That is sad.
"The United States of America became a powerful nation on the backs of free labor; slavery. 400 years later the effects of that, Jim Crow laws and discrimination still exist. You can see it in the disparity between our public schools and the widening gap in this country between the haves and have nots.
"I am well educated. I have a BS in Accounting for the Univesity of Illinois and I have an MBA from Northwestern University. However, in this country the fact that I am not white and male will limit my opportunities. This is not racist. This is the truth.
"Trinity United Church of Christ promotes the positiveness of being black in this country because everyday we see images that say otherwise. White churches don't have to do that because being white in this country is already seen as being a plus.
"You might not agree with what Rev. Wright said. I rarely agree with anyone 100 percent of the time. However, the USA has not been an innocent. It has not been "right" all of the time. The minute someone points that out they are seen as being un-American.''
Say Amen.
<< ...from 1865 to 2007 is not 400 years. >>
The 400 years he speaks of are counted starting from well before the Revolutionary War. Not from the end of the Civil War.
And yes, this great nation was built by ALL its people.
Dear Rev: sorry I was born White with Blue eyes. I didn't make this decision. God did.
Too bad you blame all your problems on the fact that you are black. Doesn't bother me, or God.
I'm sick and tired of the blame America crowd. You have choices. Head back to Africa if you feel so disenfranchised and living in a Country that you don't respect.
BTW, I believe Obama’s mother is white. Can Senator Obama have it both ways?
Proud to be an American!
“However, in this country the fact that I am not white and male will limit my opportunities. This is not racist. This is the truth.”
Tell it to that other $300,000 a year black woman from your church.
Yes, we have been. We have been the most upright, well-meaning and selflessly-helpful country the world has ever known. Anyone who does not believe that cannot be the president of this country.
“Rev Wright’s words may seem rascist to people who look at this world through rose colored glasses. You are the same people who think that the USA is the superior country and for some of you that white America is the superior race. That is sad.”
The people of the world think the USA is a superior nation as attested by the millions trying to come here legally and illegally. What’s sad is a natural born citizen with a Bachelor’s and Master’s from well regarded universities whining as if he’s been denied every opportunity to achieve in the US. Go live in some of the wonderful nations where blacks are in the majority and you’ll learn what limited opportunity really is. Maybe what no opportunity is. Start you own accounting firm and stop whining. Your opportunities are being limited by your attitude, not by racism.
“White churches don’t have to do that because being white in this country is already seen as being a plus.”
That’s because whites created and founded this country. It’s a transplanted European civilization. You’re free to move and take advantage of greater opportunities elsewhere.
“The United States of America became a powerful nation on the backs of free labor; slavery. 400 years later the effects of that, Jim Crow laws and discrimination still exist.”
Complete nonsense. Slavery held the South and the US back with a reliance on slave labor rather than innovation nand invention. Strange how the industrial revolution hit its peak in the US after emancipation. And whatever wealth was built up in the South was largely destroyed during the Civil War.
Slavery benefited a few slaveholders (about 5% in the South) and few others. It pitted farmers who did their own work against slave labor, and a large majority of farmers did their own work on relatively small farms.
All this dude is doing is keeping his built in excuses well honed in case he fails.
Y’all...SAY HELLO TO PRESIDENT HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON...
Unadulterated BS.
Perhaps he should go for a Ph.D. in Grievance Studies. Sounds like he's in Chicago; now that Jeremiah Wright is retired, maybe he'd serve as external advisor to his dissertation committee.
Also, at the time whites were building hundreds of miles of stone walls over rocky mountain slopes in New England, there was no "govt. safety net," no welfare, no guarantee of anything. People worked 6 days a week as long as there was light to work. Illegitimacy was stigmatized. Theft would probably get you hanged. No drugs to escape into.
“I am well educated. I have a BS in Accounting for the Univesity of Illinois and I have an MBA from Northwestern University
How many black women did that fifty yers ago?
And the clips supposedly are taken from several DVD's issued by the Church itself and titled "The Best of Dr. Wright" - I'd hate to see the worst, and I hate to think this is the kind of gospel by which the Church wants to be known by the rest of the world........
This story has gotten so much traction that I’ll be surprised if Obama survives for much longer, politically. His ties to this “reverend” are too deep, too well-documented, and have such a long history. My prediction: his quest for the presidency is doomed.
I'll say it's "well before" the Revolutionary War. 400 years back is 1608, which is even well before the first Pilgrims arrived in the Mayflower, which was in 1620.
I wish we had a channel of this garbage running 24/7 so the rest of us could see the how the Obama’s of the world get to be so twisted.
This person may be well-educated, but they are still a fool.
Everything in life, even for white folk, is couched in alternatives....where else are they going to be 'more free' with 'more opportunity'?
What exactly do they require to 'make things right'....for things that they were NEVER subjected to (i.e. slavery)? Will they be satisfied only when they have a whip, we are on our knees, and they 'control' the machinations of society?
Do two wrongs make a right, or is revenge required to set things right?
Hate is hate...it is ugly to the core no matter who the preacher is. Some people fail to recognize it.
And not to forget the Cooleys that came from China, carried a large part of the burden of harsh labor... They don’t seem to be inflamed or passionately crying out for more assistance..
hellbender wrote: “there was no “govt. safety net,” no welfare, no guarantee of anything. People worked 6 days a week as long as there was light to work. Illegitimacy was stigmatized. Theft would probably get you hanged. No drugs to escape into.”
How true! And my Irish great grandfather came over here to work at building the railroads in the 1860s, and died of cholera. His son, born in the 1870s, got an education and became a representative from the state of Colorado. Nobody gave him affirmative action in those days!
Heh!
You’re right. I didn’t have any more choice about what race I was born than he did or you did.
I was picked on as a kid. I went through hell in junior high.
I learned not to care what people thought of me. It didn’t hold me back.
So, rev, quitcherbitchin’ and get on with life.
I keep on Fox News a lot of the day, and between not wanting to see the “G D America” footage and not able to stomach the violently pointing and gesturing female H&C had on to defend the guy, had to turn it off.
Honestly, her body language was so hostile that I guess being a black female is the only thing that excuses one from such behavior. Which makes ME racist, of course.
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