Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Part 2 of 3: Dallas South on the media lynching of Dr. Jeremiah Wright
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Do I think HIV was an experiment created to destroy black folks? I don’t.
Do I see how one might think such a thing? I do.
How can one fathom the U.S. Government conspiring against a race people, its own citizens no doubt? I believe these words can at least paint the picture.
For forty years between 1932 and 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) conducted an experiment on 399 black men in the late stages of syphilis. These men, for the most part illiterate sharecroppers from one of the poorest counties in Alabama, were never told what disease they were suffering from or of its seriousness. Informed that they were being treated for “bad blood,” their doctors had no intention of curing them of syphilis at all.
Infoplease.com
The prevalent thought in America is that racism is a bad thing that happened very long ago. But the reality is that racism is a horrible thing that continues to exist today. It is woven into the very fibers of our country’s institution and in its purest form continues unnoticed.
In the days since the media has targeted Dr. Wright, many have argued that personal responsibility is the answer, not pointing fingers crying racism. They point to a time in segregated America when black folks worried about their own problems and less about those perpetuated by the majority population. When folks went to work, raised their children and paid their taxes.
That sounds good when you take out the fact that black boys and girls were learning from text books that were marked in and with pages torn our by students at the “city school.”
It sounds good if you forget that black fathers were put in jail for trumped up crimes like vagrancy with very little recourse in the courts.
It sound good if you forget the fact that black men and women weren’t allowed to vote or be represented in government.
It sounds good if you forget that black men feared themselves our their sons being victims of mob violence at the whim of a heated citizenry.
On second thought, it doesn’t sound so good to me.
If America would just take a moment to recognize the way the rest of the world looks at us as a walking contradiction. As a country that can be so generous during the tsunami, and be so callous after the levies broke. A country who would crush the hope of an audacious generation, in order that the same old folks do the same old thing. A country that for that for nearly 200 years celebrated “Independence Day” while simultaneous forbidding independence to a large portion of its population.
I’ll make a confession here. After the New Hampshire Primary, I had prepared to write a book called “5 Days of Hope.” The book was going to be about the time between Barack Obama’s speech after his victory in the Iowa caucuses and his “defeat” in the New Hampshire Primaries. I was going to chronicle how inspired the country was for those 5 days and how we would return to the status quo after New Hampshire.
Little did I know that hope would last into April. I surprisingly put aside my own skepticism and give America the benefit of the doubt. What’s frustrating for me is to know this country as well as it does, and to think that America would not pass the buck again and blame the group that
None of us have a monopoly on right, but in the media game that just won’t do. They have always fallen on the opposite side of those with an interest in the uplift of African-Americans. Contemporary media lambasted Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X in their day. Now Americans think Ali is cool, King is inspirational, and Malcolm is at least worthy of having a street named after him.
So I’m left to wonder how I will explain this to my 6 year old son, if all this ends the excitement he’s enjoyed during the campaign. My son, a self proclaimed George W. Bush supporter (what a terrible parent I must be) who has watched debates, election returns and even attended an Obama rally.
I’ve seen the joy he’s taken in viewing Sen. Obama on a T.V. that’s gone silent since the media attacks began. How will I explain that going to church is what could ultimately cost the junior senator from Illinois? Being introduced to Christ by the “wrong man” could save his soul but lose an election.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
In spite of that I accept the challenge made by Senator Obama on Tuesday. I was willing to go back to my corner, hunker down, and disengage from the entire process. But I will once again have faith in the promise of America. A promise, like it or not, that has not been kept to little black boys and girls across the country and across the generations. I’ll give it another shot.
Part 3 - The Fox News Crowd
Pegasus News content partner - Dallas South
Shawn Williams publishes Dallas South Blog; his e-mail address is shawn@dallasouthblog.com.
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Comments
lauriek6 Anonymous
his speech was music to my ears. for too long we as americans have ignored this topic in hopes the issue will quietly go away.both sides have issues that he brought to light like no other person has spoke of so powerfully in my lifetime. I have a new renewed spirit about our country.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
bobdon000 Anonymous
Wright was "lynched" by his own outrageous words and actions he delivered from the pulpit, not the media.
Obama's clever speech was an attempt to deflect criticism from his own actions (inactions) on to ourselves.
Obama could have easily found another church to attend (I understand Oparh Winfrey left that church). He could have easily counseled Wright not to make incindiary and hateful statements. But he didn't. Instead, he and his wife and kids sat in the pews and listened to the racists rantings of his pastor.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
lauriek6 Anonymous
have you left every time you have heard words that make you uneasy? Im not defending his actions, but until you walk a mile in his life, then you should at least understand the message he delivered as one that is viable and is real. His clever speech was different than everything that has been spoon fed to us in the past 8 years. Do you remember Katrina?
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
xdavidwattsx Anonymous
Bobdonoo,
You speak as if you listened to him preach for the last 30 years and every single sermon was a hate filled rant. I'm interested in knowing more about the 30 years of those speeches since you seem so confident that Obama should have left that church. All I have seen were a few youtube clips of sermons and Obama wasn't even in attendance for those. It seems rather unlikely that Rev. Wright said game the same speech for 30 straight years.
Please enlighten us with your inside knowledge of Rev. Wrights career.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
jtmbls Anonymous
Um, exactly how many racist comments does a person get to make before they are considered racist? I didn't realize we were graded on a curve...hmmm...
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
xdavidwattsx Anonymous
My grandfather made occasional racist comments, so did my dad. So did my boss/mentor.
That wasn't why I knew them/respected them/or spent time with them.
It's all about perspective. I don't think Wright's comments were half as racist or denigrating as comments we hear from our friends and families. Do we disown them?
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
bobdon000 Anonymous
It is not about "disowning."
That is a false choice.
It is about standing up and saying "stop" when Wright was preaching 9/11 hatred, or mocking Bill Clinton in a sexual manner.
Obama didn't stand up. He just sat there in the pew.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
jtmbls Anonymous
You are absolutely correct that it is all a matter of perspective. If the script were flipped and that had been a white preacher saying anything nearly as inflammatory as Wright, this would be an entirely different conversation. Let's just call this what it is and say, it's okay to be racist, as long as your not a white racist.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
xdavidwattsx Anonymous
bobdonoo:
Rev Wright retired a year ago. What exactly what he supposed to do? Again, I challenge you to clarify the rest of the dialogue Rev Wright was preaching for the last 30 years.
Me thinks that you really know nothing of Wright other than the few sound bites you have hard and are running with it. Obama clearly explained his position yesterday quire well. There's nothing more he should have done.
Jtmbls:
There has been hatred preached in the halls of white churches for decades. Hellfire and damnation is nothing new and those preachers have been in the White House with Bush, Reagan and the rest of them. Give me a break with your hypocrisy and blind eye to reality.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
jtmbls Anonymous
Then I would have to challenge you to clarify and give specific examples of this so called hatred preached in white churches, or anywhere for that matter ~ preferably from this decade ~ which managed to sneak by without some form of hysterical response by one very opportunistic camera clown and the slow pokes that follow him around doing his bidding. You do see that we are on a two way street, my friend? I'm not the blind one here.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Rawlins Gilliland Verified
Obama explained that Sunday morning is the 'most segregated hour in America'. But I have attended many black churches throughout my life and the appalling way people are reacting to Rev. Wright in general is as indicative of their own isolated experience with and from the black community church world, as much or more than it speaks to the over-the-top statements Wright wrongly espouses in his excerpted (got that? edited clip) sermon passages.
Obama tried to condemn the words of those edited passages while attempting to make us aware of Rev. Wright having been a marine, a patriot activist community force for good. So what happened? The Obama speech was then reduced to the ever popular 'sound bite' clips with those same Wright sermon clips preceding...and what did we have? More clueless knee-jerk carping and misunderstanding.
Obama's speech gets better every time I read it. It is so inclusive and insightful of us all. But because people have no desire to read it, or replay it on UTube, the 'debate' rages as if Obama never spoke. Or things like his words regarding his sainted grandmother taken out of context.
Bottom line. I am so proud of anyone doing what Mr. Obama did yesterday to open both wounds and dialog. But I am saddened that it poured gasoline on fiercely prejudicial racial resentment/ insensitive demagoguery.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
xdavidwattsx Anonymous
Are you kidding, jtmbls?
Homosexuality and gay people have been getting bashed and slandered in churches forever. Didn't Falwell blame 9/11 on America's homosexuals? Bush declared a day of mourning for him and had nothing but nice things to say about him.
Or did you conveniently forget?
Bottom line is that there is a lot of crap said in churches (which is why I don't attend) but to hold Presidents and politicians accountable for them is nonsense. In this case, it's blatant hypocrisy.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
jtmbls Anonymous
xdavidwattsx Idiocy is idiocy, regardless of which side of the fence it comes from. Racism is racism, regardless of the color of the person espousing it.
I wouldn’t give Falwell the time of day any more than I would this Wright character. Nor would I hold Bush any more accountable than I do Obama. My intent was to hold you accountable for your remarks. I simply asked the same of you that you were asking of someone else. Suddenly I’m the hypocrite.
There is nothing more disturbing than someone who claims to have all the answers, to speak “the word of God” and twist it, and abuse it to fit their own hate filled agenda. That’s when I tune out.
Rawlins
Appalling begets appalling.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
xdavidwattsx Anonymous
As mentioned, I don't go to church because I don't particularly agree with a lot of things said.
My contention is that this is part of the public debate for the presidency. I don't think it belongs there.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
leolawgirl1 Anonymous
I do not dispute any of Dr. South's assertions about institutionalized racism in America, past or present. I have neither the life experience nor factual knowledge necessary to judge the disadvantages of being black vs. white in 21st century America. I am 27, white, female, 3rd year law student. I can only authenticate what it's like to be a 27 year old white girl living in America. My question for you, Dr. South - what do you think I should do about it? I have always thought that basing a person's worth on an arbitrary characteristic like race or sex is stupid. But there are alot of stupid people in this world,always have been always will be. Since I can't change the inevitability of human stupidity or its results - cruel and unfair acts, and since I can't understand or change human stupidity and its past cruel and unfair acts, how should I act everyday so that one day, people will realize the futility of pitting an US race against a THEM race? Cause right now, I don't any idea what I can do. But what I do have, is the holy spirit inside of me, guiding my choices, my thoughts, to reflect the glory of God. And what I don't understand, is why you asked that white people come and worship at a black church? Do you really want me there, and if so, what's the real reason? Do you want to uplift my spirit and make me feel a closeness with my fellow worshipers? Or do you want me to listen until I understand that America is, always will be, hating you? Cause I don't know why I would benefit from going to a church that blames me for so many sins.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Rawlins Gilliland Verified
Consider: That the ‘issue’ here and elsewhere is not the issue at all; it is the excuse. The chance for the many who have long been silent, when Obama's candidacy was roundly perceived to be Quixotic at best, to now,… (as his chance of winning the nomination and possibly the presidency has become clearly viable)...rage about Obama’s audacity to possibly become the next President of the United States. Whereas many were reticent for fear of being perceived as (or revealed to be…whichever shoe fits) racist until the ‘Wright is Wrong’ ranting freed them from PC bondage, they could now vent under the guise of patriotism.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
DC Anonymous
Close. Very close. Overall, I would have to give the Obama speech about a 90%. Saw it live and read it again. He was so near to nailing it that in the end it was rather disappointing.
Not that I will be writing for any political types, but my comments:
Major content props: laying out the perceived interests and sides on America's racial problems. Well done.
Style issues: I suppose he in some ways went after the Position-Example-Reason-Position sort of method, but lost the core message in the end.
The concluding anecdote was absolutely terrible. Honestly, if you didn't see that "I did it" line coming, you must have been 4 martinis in after lunch. It reminded me of those old Burger King commercials, when you just know that old lady is going to ask about the beef, just any second now!
No sense denigrating the media when it's the media sending the message. So, what to do?
To be prepared, one could consider that it might be best to prepare for it. Offer out those 8 second clips here and there.
Broadcast one's own HD feed and pull the 30s and 45s a la Che Guevera for the impact statements. The CNN Getty images get it, the ones with the mikes in the face don't - so lose the mikes. Consider the Gettys vs the AP photos. Control that to some degree.
Unfortunately, content alone doesn't cut it any more. Some style points and one more edit on the conclusion of that speech and it would have been killer, or maybe even killah.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Billusa99 Anonymous
Rawlins... well said!
DC... it was killer in the way it was supposed to be. Watch it again. it's not all about killah style.
No politician here in the past 30 years has ever addressed this issue as forthrightly and poignantly has he has -- from all sides of the card.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
DC Anonymous
As I said, 95% of the content was fantastic. The staging was poor and the conclusion was absolutely pathetic. Who needed that anecdote?
I felt as if we had this great speech that needed to be 'dumbed down' at the end so we could understand it. As a result, that part of it bordered on pandering.
I know it's being hard on the A student why they don't make A+, but this was an opportunity to completely crush the content and the style ruined it.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
xdavidwattsx Anonymous
Obama always likes to use the personal anecdotes to offset some of his more conceptual ideas. I don't have a real issue with that knowing that a lot of people respond to those things because they are easy to digest.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
bobdon000 Anonymous
It was a clever speech which shifted his own responsibility for tolerating the rantings of his pastor away from himself onto others.
When Don Imus made racists comments, Obama was out of the box immediately demanding that MSNBC fire (not suspend) Imus.
I wish he was as outraged over the comments by Wright.
Obama is just another political opportunitist that is gaming the system.
I thought he was a different kind of messenger, but he isn't.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Billusa99 Anonymous
Uuuum, Boberooo... he WAS outraged. He completely denounced the comments.
The whole gist of the speech was that you don't necessarily denounce the person too. Like his grandmother, for example. It's called learning and tolerance.
The way you are running this thing, you are directly responsible for anything untoward that was ever said by anyone you ever knew. Start apologizing, please.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
bobdon000 Anonymous
Ummm Billyboy....his denounciations came rather late.
Only after the media caught on to Wright's rantings and had the video to back it up.
And before he announced his outrage, he denied having heard them. Then he let on that he acutually was in attendance and heard such comments.
The gist of the speech was to turn the issue back on us - very clever.
But I am not taking the bait. The Wright rantings were wrong and hateful. Obama knew they were a problem and did nothing, said nothing, continued to attend such sermons, denied their existence, then tells me it's my problem.
And Americans seem to agree with me. His poll numbers are sinking.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
lauriek6 Anonymous
bobdonooo, not sure what community you live/work/associate with, however is it possible for you to understand that the govt. that might benefit you has not always addressed the issues of a community. For me I am speaking about residents south of 30 or on the 'other' side of the Trinity. Perhaps you should venture from your glasshouse and venture out into reality. I have to agree and sympathize with people who have worked their entire lives and yet fell marginalized by the government and the rest of Americans.
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Mike Orren Staff
Over on Dallas South, Shawn has posted two videos well worth watching.
The first is of a media-tracking study showing reactions of different types of people to the inflammatory clips:
http://dallassouthblog.com/2008/03/21...
The second is the full post-9/11 sermon that is considerably less inflammatory in context. In fact, much of the "objectionable" language was being quoted from former Ambassador to Iraq, Edward Peck:
http://dallassouthblog.com/2008/03/23...
4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
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