Wright and Wrong

I have some issues with what has been playing out on the national stage over the past few months. I know I am not alone because CNN, MSNBC, FOX, Headline News, and any other news outlet has been covering the story non stop since it broke. That is, the story of Jeremiah Wright and his links to Presidential Candidate Barack Obama. More than just his ties, it has been the opinions and rhetoric that Wright has been speaking for years that has many Americans concerned or even confused.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright has a right to say whatever he would like to say from his pulpit, his doorstep, or anywhere he can gather a listening ear. I would never want to deny someone their constitutional right of free speech. That does not mean that I have to agree with or listen to it. The comments, Sermons, and message that i have heard from Rev. Wright are nothing new to me. I have been around like minded people my whole life, in fact I have shared some of his opinions at times. Many people in the African American community share feelings of mistrust, and disgust for our government and the people who have historically run it. African Americans aren't the only one's either. Many minorities have felt slighted, unheard, and disenginuinely "included". Just go to some politically rally in the southwest part of our country and listen to some politician attempt to mumble some hacked version of Spanish to appear connected to their Spanish speaking constituents. The thing is, no group of people have been systematically oppressed as a people group by the government of this country like the Native Americans and the African Americans. The former of which has been almost wiped out as people in this nation! To say from a human perspective that you cannot understand some one's anger or frustration at a government that seems to constantly fail a people group would be naive at least.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama no doubt understands that people have both freedom of speech and assembly. It is a fundamental right in this country. President George W. Bush has said some insanely idiotic things over the past 8 years. Does that mean by association of my nationality that I too must agree with his ideology, his policies, his leadership? After all, he is the elected leader of our country, by the popular vote mind you! If you are Catholic and your Spiritual leader the Pope has an opinion about birth control that you do not personally agree with, should you leave the Catholic Church? These statements sound ridiculous, and for good reason. Under normal circumstances it is easy to see that one does not have to agree with someone on all issues or beliefs in order to befriend, admire, or listen to that person. A Argentinian student of mine once told me that the most disturbing nuance to this country for him was the inability to disagree with some one and remain friends.

Recently Senator Barack Obama has tried tirelessly to distance himself from his retired and former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The senator from Illinois has gone so far as to publicly denounce Rev. Wright and sever his ties to him even as a friend. This because the news media and Wright himself have been somehow trying to cast the opinions of the Rev. as Obama's own. Making the great leap that if you are associated to an individual that you are somehow bound to their ideology. This is unfortunate for Senator Obama, but more so for the American people as a whole. If we subscribe to the line of thinking that the media would have us believe we are, then we are saying we do not have a true freedom of speech. We are saying that the only one with that freedom is the one that shouts the most inflammatory remarks, and the rest of us (if we know that person) just have to be associated with those comments. In my opinion that is ridiculous, unfair, and unAmerican.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright was recent the guest and keynote speaker at an NAACP event here in Detroit. I like many of you stayed up late to watch a broadcast of the speech in its entirety on CNN. I was hoping to see a Pastor, a preacher from the inner city of Chicago that would address a very unique African American audience with some serious issues and Biblical basis. What i saw was a typical sermon that I have heard and witness countless number of times. It was at times uplifting, humorous, and informational. It was not however, very Biblical nor very serious. The title or theme of the event was that "A Change is Going to Come", what a great title. What a great theme! African Americans stand on the eve of some of the greatest change ever, the possibility of an African American President! Unheard of, unbelievable, unimaginable would have been words said by just about any African American just 12mos ago! The Rev. Wrights comments were more about the differences that exists culturally between the European American and African American communities...... wait how long have we been talking about that? That is not change, that is more of the same nonsensical, useless information that we have been hearing for the past 40 years! Wright himself stated over and over again that the studies he was referencing were from almost half a century ago.

Detroit, Michigan is my home town. I was born and raised here. I have lived here for over 30 years. I am not speaking about Detroit from the outside but from the perspective of one who has grown up within the borders of the city limits all my life. I have kept my wife and children here by choice to show others in the neighborhood what we can be with our lives outside of the stereotypes that we are so often associated with. That being said, Detroit is a unique city with a very unique situation.

Detroit is the nations 11th largest city with a population just under 1Million. 81.2% of that nearly 1Million people are African American. The Mayor and the majority of his staff are African American, the City Council is majority African American, The police chief is African American, The school board is majority African American, etc. All of the major branches of Detroit's government are African American. Detroit is essentially the largest African American owned and operated city in the country. With these facts you would think that this city is a virtual African American mecca. A city in which black folk would feel the most immense pride and freedom to express and share their culture with the world.

This is not new news in Detroit. Detroit has been largely under African American leader ship for nearly 30yrs. This is our unique situation. We have control over so many aspects of our government here in Detroit that there should be no better place to live and raise a family for black folk in this country than Detroit. Yet, Detroit has the highest murder rate in the country, a drop out rate of nearly 75%, there are TV shows exploiting the drug trade amongst the citizens of Detroit (DEA www.spike.com/show/26319). This is a far cry from the Black utopia one would imagine.

These are real issues. These are the issues that matter to black folk, these are the issues that are shaping our present and our future. This is the reason I am disappointed with Rev. Wright's message to the NAACP. In his sermon/lecture, he chose to ignore the very real issues of this unique city. He chose not to speak to the very serious issues facing this city and its people, but instead to focus on the differences in the way black folk learn and dance. This inability to address core African American issues and to focus on the weak and sometimes outdated and antiquated superficial issues, are the failure of our leaders and the prime reason for the plight of our people. We cannot be fixed if we do not take responsibility and address our brokenness. We have a tendency that seems to be supported by our leaders to hold everyone else accountable but ourselves. We want to point to so many outside issues as to why we are in the state we are in, yet refuse to look inwardly. These are hard issues, painful topics, issues that do not make us comfortable, and that is good. The issues of Black America are not simple ones, they are complex and often do involve outside influence or antagonists. So lets start with Detroit. Lets start where the influences are limited and the people in desperate need of real leadership with the courage to confront ourselves, the courage to hold ourselves accountable, the courage to stand up to the face looking back at you in the mirror.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright, should not be looked down upon for his views or opinions, that is a very American right. He should be looked down upon for failing his people like so many pastors, politicians, and people do everyday by not taking the opportunity to bring us together and talk openly and honestly about our very unique situation. For that Mr. Wright is very wrong

D