Monday, March 31, 2008

When you compare them...

This is of course not actually about Reverend Jeremiah Wright. This is our reaction to specific soundbites that got YouTubed for mass political effect. The hopes that we could simply destroy the Senator Barack Obama campaign for presidency by creating this guilt by association with a pastor who has certainly spouted some hateful things. The A Matter of Opinion Blog and one of the regular commenters there, Casey King; decided that he could throw out onto the Spokesman-Review blog everything that he thought could only spell "racism" as coming from the Trinity United Church of Christ. Well, to the best of my understanding, the TUCC services a generally African-American community. The pastor there of 20 years, bought into a number of conspiracy theories about the Federal Gvt inventing HIV/AIDS that has decimated a percentage of the African-American populace. From the Kathleen Parker editorial republished in the Opinion Pages of 31 March 2008 Spokesman-Review, it actually would not be hard to make such a leap into conspiracy style thinking because: "After all, the 40-year Tuskegee syphilis study, in which about 400 black men with syphilis were left untreated and uninformed as part of an experiment, was conducted under the auspices of the U.S. Public Health Service." Yeah, I could definitely have no problem respecting Black Anger under the circumstances. Look how far 400 African-American males would spread syphilis to women and the detrimental effects such an STD would have on the kids. And institutional racism was certainly behind such an experiment. White people who got experimented on in such a fashion would have mobilized ferociously against such bureaucracies once they began to realize what was going on.

And Ms. Parker further comments that she couldn't begin to imagine how African-Americans truly think because of the literal differences between their world and hers. I couldn't imagine how they think either. But I am prepared to respect what they voice in public. And knowing what Senator Obama has voiced, prior to Rev. Wright, his speech post Wright and back on the campaign trail to offer what he would do for the American public as president; I am certainly prepared to respect what he says. It is the Casey Kings of this world who do not, will not and can not. I can finally get the picture that Ms. Parker isn't prepared to be scared of that "alien other" the black man. Nor of his pastor, however inflammatory he may be. On the other hand, if you are a Casey King prepared to be scared of an inflammatory black pastor, shouldn't you be just as prepared to be scared of inflammatory white pastors as well? I would be. If what Rev. Wright said was unjustifiable, then Rev. Falwell in his time couldn't be justified either. No more than Pat Robertson, Rev. Haggee, Jim Bakker, and etc. And just how much influence does Rev. Wright have beyond his own church servicing his own community anyway? As compared to Rev. Falwell, Robertson, Haggee and etc.? These white pastors have and did have a national following. These white pastors guaranteed the morals vote for the GOP. These white pastors initiated the anti-abortion movements that also had their consequences of very real violence against clinics and their staffs and intimidating patients. These white pastors demanded whom the GOP should have running for Congress. These white pastors demanded special considerations from government as to their canons, creeds and general special agendas. But, Rev. Wright has not proven to be a powerful influence in Congress or in the office of the presidency. Nor has anyone argued that he is such an influence. Instead, let us insist on being "scared of him" for another reason. He is a minority with a big mouth. A minority saying scary things about us whites. A minority who accuses us whites of standing by while "his people" suffer. Or who actively participate to cause "his people" to suffer. A pastor who "Damns America" for his own reasons. Wooooo! That is scary! But is it any scarier than anti-abortionists gathering around Terry Schiavo's home and insisting that a blind and brain dead woman be kept artificially alive. As though "suffering" as long as the heart is kept beating is a more moral act than allowing someone who is already dead to finally physically die in peace. Yeah, and guys like Casey King don't mind associating with people like that? Curious. We just don't want a Rev. Wright (that scary black man) to speak and act like us.

How about that.

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