Letters to the Editor
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That Isn't The Point, Gary
The Rev Wright didn't just blame the US for the ills of the world in general and black people specifically, he cursed the US vehemently and he cursed white people quite specifically. Where I come from, thats anti-Americanism and racism...no matter how pretty a face you want to put on it.
For Barack Obama to remain silent over the twenty-some years that he sat listening to Rev Wright, speaking up only when caught, says volumes about Mr. Obama's claimed love for this country and his disingenuous claim to be non-divisive racially.
No, Gary, it doesn't take a Harvard education to know that the time to speak out on anti-Americanism and racism is when it occurs, not years later. Mr. Obama's speech on race was only a paliative designed to cover his butt with whites and patriots.
I'm not buying it, and, neither are most voters.
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Dangerous knee-jerk patriotism
Thank you Gary Kamiya for an excellent article.
It's about time we not only have a discussion about race but also about knee-jerk patriotism.
It is ignorant and extremely dangerous for all of humanity.
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"Chickens coming home to roost"
I waited in vain through all the stupid media frenzy and mock-analysis for one, just one s-called pundit to mention Chalmers Johnson and the concept of "blowback." Nobody did. When Ron Paul talked about our "American Empire," not a single news nimrod said a word about respectable critics feeling the same way. Hell, even Senator Byrd has written about the death of our Republic and the sordid rise of our Empire. All those high-paid talking heads seem utterly unfamiliar with the world of real thought, of analysis, of writing and observation.
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Silence about Clinton
Salon today leads with the Dali Lama, a Girl who can't get laid, and some more Wright stuff. The BIG story all over the net however is Clinton's lie about her 1996 arrival in Bosnia. Yet not a word anywhere in Salon. Silence is bias. No, actually you are so past bias... you are becomeing a joke.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/24/145341/201/815/483295
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@AnaHadWolves, you're a terribly dishonest person
AnaHadWolves, what's your agenda? Are you even capable of making an honest argument?
AnaHadWolves: "The Rev Wright didn't just blame the US for the ills of the world in general and black people specifically, he cursed the US vehemently and he cursed white people quite specifically."
Actually, you should watch the whole sermon. I did. You'll find that he wasn't "cursing" the U.S. but cursing hypocritical language and hypocritical moral relativism. He also didn't curse modern white people at all, he cursed the government's historical abuses in the name of white-centric policies. You'd know this if you watched the sermons. Viewed in context they're not that big of a deal, just a preacher trying to open people's eyes to something wider than the usual "us versus them" mentality that was pervading the country after 9/11.
AnaHadWolves: "Where I come from, thats anti-Americanism and racism...no matter how pretty a face you want to put on it."
Where do you come from? Oh yeah, a world of willful ignorance and agenda-trumps-all pseudo-reality.
AnaHadWolves: "For Barack Obama to remain silent over the twenty-some years that he sat listening to Rev Wright, speaking up only when caught, says volumes about Mr. Obama's claimed love for this country and his disingenuous claim to be non-divisive racially."
How do you know the Rev. Wright was saying anything horrible during every sermon of the past 20 years? Why do you assume that a sermon given during the heated post-9/11 days is representative of every sermon given prior to that?
As for Obama's love of the U.S., why do you think he doesn't love the U.S.? Obama repeatedly speaks of the promise of the U.S., how he wouldn't have gotten this far in any other country, and so on. His speech on race makes his views explicitly clear. Furthermore, Obama is a scholar of the U.S. Constitution and his voting record demonstrates that he takes the country's guiding principles very seriously. Much, much more seriously, in fact, than Hillary Clinton does, since she didn't hesistate to back a flag-burning amendment that is a complete affront to the First Amendment.
AnaHadWolves: "I'm not buying it, and, neither are most voters."
Funny, there hasn't been a vote since the Wright controversy. But play Nostradamus all you like. I am sure the Wright controversy will cost Obama a few vote among the bigot crowd. Then again, Hillary Clinton's outright lies about her trip to Bosnia will probably cost her a few botes among the reality-based crowd.
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Thank you Gary
Your piece is brilliant, expresses the views of many marginalized white and black Americans, and is right in line with what I admire about Obama: he's willing to take the chance that at least some Americans can handle complexity and reject "America, love it or leave it" thinking.
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The Audacity of Truth
I found Pastor Wright's comment's distasteful and his embrace of Louis Farrakhan abhorrent. That said, trying to belittle the anger of black Americans is not only misguided, it is wrong. The worst evil the world has faced was the Nazis in World War II. Black soldiers fought and gave their lives but were not allowed to stay in the same barracks with white soldiers and were treated like third-class citizens at best. Yet, when they died, their blood was no different from their white counterparts'. They returned home to water fountains they were not allowed to drink from, restaurants they were not allowed to eat in, and had to sit in the back of the bus.
The Tuskegee episode had the American government using blacks as experimental guinea pigs. While I, too, find accusations of the government manufacturing the HIV virus to murder blacks outrageous, any black American that was taught about the Tuskegee disgrace has reason to doubt their government. Voter suppression of blacks was rampant and even as recently as the 2000 election for President there were allegations of attempts to turn away black voters. The entire world saw black bodies floating down the flooded streets of New Orleans as the federal government stood by and did nothing while the Black neighborhoods of New Orleans were destroyed. Today, in 2008, black men are still stopped at random by policemen for the sole reason they are black. A black man trying to catch a taxi in most major cities in America has a less than 50 percent chance the taxi will stop for him.
Yes, I abhor what Reverend Wright says. I am white and I am Jewish, but I still can understand his anger and the anger and doubts of most black Americans. We can criticize him all we want for hating us, but history shows his animosity is most definitely not make believe. There were wrongs that were righted and wrongs and injustice that still must be righted, but we do our country a great disservice by dismissing everything the man said as ranting and raving. We cannot move forward if we cannot understand our past, and we must embrace one another as equals and treat one another as we would like others to treat us.