Assalamu alaikum/greetings… I’m referring to the video that’s been showing, well, at least it was Friday Night of Obama’s former? pastor Jeremiah Wright saying things like “G*d D*mn America”, how Obama knows what it’s like to be a black man, and other things. I thought about linking to the comments, however, I’m sure if you want to find this on YouTube or some other blog it’s probably there.
When I heard the comments, my first thought was “ya know, I understand why Rev. Wright is saying this”, although I didn’t like the profanity (in a church? no less). Then my second thought was that this isn’t going to be a good thing, as Obama is trying to campaign on the fact that he can bring many different kinds of people together. Even if Obama doesn’t agree with what Rev Wright has said, how can you say that you can bring so many different kinds of people, including a substantial number of white voaters, together when you have a close friend/advisor of yours who has a history of saying things that could upset a good portion of the people you’re trying to get to vote for you?
A good portion of white middle America, for example, isn’t going to like hearing “g*d d*mn America”, and all of the “white people/Americans are evil” talk, and I’m not debating the truthfulness or lack thereof of the statements. I’m just saying, they’re not going to like to hear that kind of rhetoric. They’d rather listen to, and probably agree with, Geraldine Ferraro, whose comments were not quite as explicit as Rev. Wright’s comments, and thus, are easier to explain away, and also, unfortunately, probably have a wider appeal among likely (white) voters. Sad fact, but that’s just the way it is. As they say, racism is still alive and well, even if in most cases it only manifests itself secretly, like in the privacy of the voting booth.
I saw Barack’s response on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and I just didn’t think it was sufficient enough, yeah he might have known about this a year ago, but some would say, why didn’t he do something about it then? He kinda sorta distanced himself from Rev. Wright but wasn’t Rev. Wright still on his campaign or something? At least before he left the campaign once his comments, on video anyway, became public.
I also find it hard to believe that Obama had never heard Rev. Wright make these sort of statements before, as Obama seems to be a fairly regular churchgoer, or that he wasn’t aware of these statements being made. And even if he knew about them, what could he have done? He says he would have done something, but what would that have been? It just seems strange to me that Obama was not aware of these kinds of statements until a year ago!
I have to be honest and say my first impulse was to try to defend Obama and Rev. Wright, because Mr. Wright said many things that I could at least find myself sympathizing with Mr. Wright on. However, I’m not the average white voter either.
And I also can’t in good conscience disagree with Geraldine Ferraro’s comments, and at the same time defend the Rev. Wright’s comments. Because for me, you can debate the “truth” of the comments, however, I’m not sure they, especially with the profanity, were appropriate for a Sunday morning service, and especially being made *while* Obama was campaigning.
And though I may have many issues with my government, saying “G*d d*mn America” and “Amerikkka” etc., is just beyond the pale. Because that implies that all of America, and in particular, all of white America, are part of the “evils” that the Rev. Wright was talking about in his sermons. And that offends me.
I can and do as a white person, speak openly about the wrongs that other white people have done, but I don’t want to be held responsible for those wrongs, or branded as guilty for committing those same wrongs, just because I’m the same color as the people who, for example, have lynched people, have enslaved people, or who hold racist and prejudiced views today. Yes, navigating “white privilege” and speaking out against the wrongs of white people can be really tricky, but that’s another post for another day. But anyway… I also can’t in good conscience say it’s OK to associate Ferraro’s comments with Hillary Clinton, while at the same time, want to separate Reverend Wright’s comments from Obama, because that would be hypocritical. If I want to say that Rev. Wright’s comments shouldn’t reflect negatively against Obama, then, I can’t then turn around and say that Geraldine Ferraro’s comments should at the same time, as it turns out, reflect badly on Hillary.
All of this could unfortunately leave a lot of questions in voters’ minds, i.e., either Obama is supposedly a Muslim, or if he’s not, he goes to a racist church, and thus he doesn’t really want to represent “me” (meaning white voter), and so they vote for Hillary. Because even though Hillary may be many things, and they may not much like Hillary, I think people have the sense that at least they know what they’re getting from her, even if it means she stabs them in the back after she’s elected.
At least as a white candidate, who’s “racist in the right way”, meaning against minorities, they feel safe with her. Obama? No, because there’s too many unknowns as voiced in a previous post by mr. “Ohio voter”, “he might be a Muslim”, “he doesn’t have the experience” “oh and he’s racist”, and in the “wrong” sorta way, meaning, against white people. So in short, there’s just too many “unknowns” and the kinds of unknowns that would scare off most “white” Americans, or at least those who perceive themselves to be “white” or “Middle-class” or anything not minority.
It’s sad, but that’s just the way things are. And I’m not sure if all the “hope and change”rhetoric can overcome this, and even if Obama gets the nomination, Fox News, Sean Hannity, and yes perhaps even Hillary, among others, will be right there throwing the Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s comments right back in Obama’s face.
