Verdict on Rev. Wright - Not as simple as Black and White

When I originally planned to opine on the subject of Rev. Wright, all I knew about him was the sound bites I'd seen on TV. That, and the anger I felt towards him for causing Senator Obama such difficulty in the Pennsylvania primary and beyond. I even wondered why Obama had not made a clean break with Wright after the initial revelations concerning Wright's views on 9/11, AIDS, et cetera were made public. The title I'd chosen for today's post was, "Who will benefit most from an Obama loss?". My answer was to have been: Rev. Wright, as an Obama loss would have added fuel to Wright's fire and given him greater publicity than he already was enjoying. This was going to be an easy post...a simple rant against someone who was so obviously two-dimensionally evil. But then...

I saw Wright on TV this week challenge someone who had asked him a question concerning his opinion that the USA brought 9/11 upon itself by its prior actions. He asked her if she had read the entire sermon from which his quote had been taken. She admitted that she had not. He then dismissed the question. That was rude of him, but it made me think. I had to find the sermon. My initial search came up short. I did not find the text of the sermon. However, I did find the web site of Wright's church, the Trinity United Church of Christ: click here to read more

After perusing the site, I learned that his church is about a mile from where I grew up. It is not a wealthy neighborhood (see the Village Keepers ministry on the web site's Ministries tab). The area was all white when I grew up there, and it is now virtually all African-American. Chicago was, and possibly still is, the most segregated big city in the USA. But that's the subject of a future blog. When Wright came to the church in 1972, there were 87 members. There are now over 6000. But what really impressed me were the ministries (outreach programs) that Wright organized to help: senior citizens, students, cancer survivors, the unemployed, victims of domestic violence, drug and alcohol abusers, HIV/AIDS sufferers, those in need of legal aid, and young men and women are provided "Coming Into Manhood" and "Coming Into Womanhood" rites of passage counseling. Note that these are just some of the Ministries listed.

Reading about this on the internet gave me pause in my condemnation of Wright. How could a man who spent over 30 years building a church that ministered to not only spiritual, but also very down-to-earth daily struggles, be all bad? How could I pass such harsh judgment on him? I haven't walked a mile in Rev. Wright's shoes. Then I realized that neither had Senator Obama. And Obama has the wisdom to recognize that. And THAT is why he did not sever his ties with Wright and the Trinity United Church of Christ in the very beginning. It took Rev. Wright's comments earlier this week to finally push Obama over the precipice, resulting in his eventual denunciation of Wright.

I still have not read the full 9/11 sermon so I'll reserve judgment on that. However, I do find Wright guilty of mistreating a friend and using him to garner publicity of a most tawdry type. Wright should have withheld his speech defending himself until after the Democratic primaries were over. He was aware that his appearance on national TV a week before the crucial Indiana and North Carolina primaries would have a negative effect on Obama's campaign. We will see on Tuesday, May 6 exactly how much damage was caused.