So how could my hero say he agreed with this nut case? It defies logic. Then it dawned on me. Logic, reason or truth did not enter into the equation. Dad's response to Wright was purely emotional. It is all about his deep hurt feelings.
I remembered dad telling me about an incident while serving in the Merchant Marines. Whites in Florida tried to hang him simply for getting off of the ship. His fellow white seamen rescued him.
Racial progress in 2008 America makes Wright's rant absurd. Dad's response to his remarks is in essence a racial persecution flashback; similar to a hippie having an LSD flashback or a vet suffering a war flashback. I suspect there are many black seniors, though loving and kind to all, still carry deep emotional scares from a long since by gone era.
So, while I am a proud black conservative Republican who loves his country and dad, I will give him a pass. I respectfully forgive my dad for being wrong about Wright.
Lloyd Marcus
You were fortunate to have such a good father, anyone can be wrong sometimes.
Dad mistakes race for Judeo-Christian values. It’s a real shame.
Lloyd, I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. And it’s not just blacks, but most people who support liberals, regretfully, do the same thing.
I’m sure your Dad is a fine man and it’s obvious that he’s been a great father to you - so you did the right thing to forgive him.
Let’s hope though, that the younger generations can “wake up” before it’s too late.
Bless you, Lloyd. Lots of water under that bridge. Lots of healing yet to do. BTT.
man that age is long gone.
Your Dad has a good excuse. Few of the members of Wright’s church do, and especially not Obama. Tell your Dad thanks for fighting a hard fight that he shouldn’t have to fight. It’s because of people like him that the nation changed, and rendered Wright’s hate-filled rants just a pack of lies.
My nephew’s other aunt was, as a young teenager, serially raped, beaten, and left for dead by a gang of black men in Oklahoma many years ago. To this day she is not trusting of black folk.
An elderly friend of my father’s was a POW of the Japanese during WWII. A merchant marine who was caught on the China Sea the day after Pearl Harbor, he was severely abused in Korea for the duration of the war until liberated. Not surprisingly, he detests all Asians.
Our expectations and attitudes are often cast by our life experiences. It takes exceptional people to realize that it is individuals, not an entire race or ethnic group, who commit crimes and vicious acts. You sound like that kind of exceptional person, Lloyd.
The current presidential campaign is shining light into places we normally avoid talking about. Yhere's a lot going on at the personal level in the camps of all three candidates.
We can all learn from our fathers and those who have come before us, Lloyd. Your father is a great teacher because he created a son who is a great learner. Thanks for teaching us, Lloyd, how to be a great son.
Wright, Farakan, Jackson and Sharpton have set race relations back fifty years.
More interesting question to me is:
What does your father think of you being a conservative republican or does he know?
personally if he doesn't know at this point I wouldn't tell him.
I won’t say I can understand your father’s feelings because I have never been in his shoes. I will say that I am old enough to have seen people act very ugly out of racism, and can only imagine what that does to you when you are the target.
I know there is still racism in this country and likely there will always be. I do know it is not tolerated like it was when I was a child and for that I am greatful. I feel terrible that your father went through what he did, and I won’t question his feelings about Wright- he surely earned his right to an opinion. I hope at some point he realizes that racism is born of ignorance, and I believe most Americans are not racist. I hope he will also realize that people like Wright do not have the answers to these issues.
I admire your father for what he was able to achieve, and I know he struggled greatly in order to do so. I’m glad you are giving your father a pass- enjoy your time with him and I think you are wise to not let this come between you.
Virtually all of the other ethnic minorities that have come to the U.S. can share stories of persecution and the shame of being treated as someone who didn’t belong.
All but the African Americans have overcome those issues and have done pretty darn well in the U.S.
Blacks got stuck in LBJ’s and the Dimocratz’ poverty trap and now feel this massive sense of entitlement. Until they make a clean break with that thought pattern, they’ll never make any meaningful progress.
Lloyd, you could just as well be talking about the difference between myself and my 78 year old black father. In my case, dad is a retired Army Lt. Col. who did a couple of tours in Vietnam as a Green Beret.
Back in those days, he voted Republican, but some years after retirement, his liberal wife finally turned him to the dark side. I chalk it up to dad not being all that politically savvy, due to a lifetime of watching the alphabet MSM news.
Dad entered the military just as it was being desegregated. That change in policy made it possible for him to advance in his career, but it was never easy for him. Still, he was able to set aside his own hurt and find real kinship with his military brothers, and a deep love of country. This is what sustained him, and gave him the inner fortitude to give his very best to his country.
Unlike your dad, I doubt that my father agrees with Jeremiah Wright, but at the same time Wright stirs a deep and terrible hurt within him. My dad just responds to it differently than your dad does, apparently. In his case, he simply doesn’t speak on it.
Like you, I’m a staunch conservative and very much the odd man out in my liberal family. In time, I hope to see many more like us in the black community.
My 89 year old uncle was in WWII for 3 years, marched across Europe and into Berlin. To this day he hates Asians and isn’t very fond of Germans. He was on the front lines so long and saw so much human destruction that he went blind for about 6 weeks...his brain just said I’ve seen enough. As soon as his sight came back, he was back on the front lines. As I can understand why my uncle has these feelings from what he went through, I can understand your dad’s feelings. But, he did raise a fine son!
I was raised by a prejudiced, bigoted father who would make Archie Bunker look like a flaming liberal.
I was younger than 5 years old. My dad and his friends used to congregate aroung his garage to shoot the bull. One day a black man came along, stopped and had to ask for permission to “speak to the white man.” He was given “permission”. He then looked at my dad and said, “Your shirt is on fire”, which it was from a cigarette.
As young as I was, I felt sorry for the black guy because he had to ask for permission to speak.
When I entered the military I quickly learned. I now treat all people I meet with dignity and respect until they show to me that they deserve neither.
However, just from that experience described above, I can understand the hurt that stays with one for a lifetime because it still hurts me when I think about it. Because hurt does last a lifetime then you should hold no ill will toward your father. He’s a good man and raised a good son.
I'm going to have to disagree with you here. At 80 years old your father lived half of his life in a shameful era of this country. One minor misstep on your fathers part and he could pay with his job, freedom or even his life. Biggots, being the cowards they are were difficult to distinguish from other whites, your father had no idea where the danger could come from so whites in general had to suffice. Even though not all whites were like that, not many stood up and disagreed with the status quo.
Your fathers response isn't emotional. It's a quite rational response, and it goes far beyond hurt feelings.
Your father needs no forgiveness. Demagogues like wright that fan the flames and continue to rub salt in the wound to shake down the flock in order to retire in million dollar mansions are the ones that should be seeking forgiveness.
Your father has a right to his anger. He just doesn't need it anymore.
Lloyd, there are some things that Wright addresses that I can accept. There are other things that he says that I cannot accept.
Where he addresses the issues your dad had to face, I have no problem with it. There were things that took place in our nation that mortify me. That being said, there comes a time when we have to move on. I realize that’s easy for me to say, but it is true.
You seem to have moved on. I’m sure you look at me and I look at you in the same way. You’re a human being and being a Conservative, I respect you and would be happy to have you as a friend, a neighbor or a co-worker. I don’t care what color you are, as long as you conduct yourself as a good citizen, you have my full support in anything that you elect to do, as if you needed it, but you know what I mean.
Now, while I do agree with Wrights comments about racism in the past and how bad it was, I cannot sign on to him continuing to race bait today. I agree with him that what took place in the past was wrong, that racism is wrong today, but by not forgiving whites, he is being somewhat of a racist himself.
I didn’t participate in racism. I was raised on a farm a couple of miles from George Washington Carvers birthplace, and toured the place a number of times as a kid. What happened to him both repulsed me, and impressed me, in that he overcame. My grandparents raised me to respect persons of every race, color, creed, or religion. They were born around the turn of the century, so I know there were good non-racist whites back in the day. Some folks were obviously racist. Many white folks were not.
Clear back to the underground railroad, some whites were helping blacks.
As for the United States being the same as Al Qaeda or other terrorists or terrorist states, I cannot sign on to Wrights rhetoric. And it really saddens me for anyone to be able to overlook this aspect of his preaching. That sort of thing is dead wrong. It is not just anti-American, but it serves to sell short what these terrorists are all about, killing innocent people on a whim.
Does Wright honestly think we do that? If so, the man is mental. And if other people believe we do that, I sadly have to think they aren’t playing with a full deck either.
I don’t say this to put down your dad at all. I just say it because I would say it about any white, asian, or any other ethic person who would buy into this.
I appreciate your comments. Hope you understand where I am coming from. Hope your dad is doing well. I am truly sorry for what he had to face in his life. Thankfully we’re mostly beyond that these days.