Rev. Jeremiah Wright

[dtotire]

We hear a lot about Rev. Wright from right wing circles. One of his sermons, taken out of context, he made an unfortunate statement. The real Rev. Wright is quite different, who has had several years of military experience, and was trained as a cardiopulmonary technician. He attended former President Johnson when Johnson had a heart attack. Part of his history, from Wikipedia:


From 1959 to 1961, Wright attended Virginia Union University,<2> in Richmond and is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated, Zeta Chapter. In 1961 Wright left college and joined the United States Marine Corps and became part of the 2nd Marine Division attaining the rank of private first class. In 1963, after two years of service, Wright joined the United States Navy and entered the Corpsman School at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center.<8><13> Wright was then trained as a cardiopulmonary technician at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Wright was assigned as part of the medical team charged with care of President Lyndon B. Johnson (see photo of Wright caring for Johnson after his 1966 surgery). Before leaving the position in 1967, the White House Physician, Vice Admiral Burkley, personally wrote Wright a letter of thanks on behalf of the United States President.<14><15><16>

In 1967 Wright enrolled at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1968 and a master’s degree in English in 1969. He also earned a master's degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School.<8> Wright holds a Doctor of Ministry degree (1990) from the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, where he studied under Samuel DeWitt Proctor, a mentor to Martin Luther King,


Note that he was given a letter of thanks on behalf of President Johnson.

[Dreamer Tatum]

1. You left out that he's an asshole nt

[katandmoon]

2. He was good enough to marry the Obamas and baptize their daughters

[Captain Hilts]

4. Then there's Rick Warren.....nt

[EFerrari]

89. Let's compare and contrast. When Wright was running his church

he worked hard for not only his black congregants but also for women, for the poor and for the gay community.

Rick Warren. none of the above. Instead, Warren has tried at every point to enrich himself by preaching the subjugation of women and hatred toward gays. In fact, he's spread his poison to other nations.

How anyone can compare them is totally beyond me.

[katandmoon]

97. Another one of Obama's most shining moments.

[Dreamer Tatum]

12. And when was the last time you saw Obama and Wright walking together, talking?

If he's so great, why did Obama condemn him?

[sabrina 1]

21. Because rightwingers on Fox News condemned him.

Because he's a Liberal. Because it was politically expedient. Because he seems to have a habit of 'not walking' with the people who helped get him to where he is.

He walked with the Rev. Wright for 20 years. But that was when the Rev. Wright was 'in'. With the Clintons eg.

He's a politician and we should never trust politicians. I'm sure Van Jones and the Rev. Wright, both tireless workers for the poor and for liberal causes, have learned that the hard way. ACORN also. But Fox News didn't like any of them, and so, sadly, they had to go.

[Stinky The Clown]

50. Why? Politics over loyalty

[safeinOhio]

7. I'm sure your resume is outstanding

By the way your byline quote from Jefferson leaves out the next few words. " It is it's natural manure." Tim McVeigh left it out also.

[Dreamer Tatum]

10. Obama has yet to distance himself from me, however nt

[Bjorn Against]

15. Do you have a close personal relationship with Obama or are you already distant from him?

[sabrina 1]

23. Lucky you. He's distanced himself from a lot of his old friends.

Ask Van Jones eg. There's a pattern to who he decides to distance himself from, like the Rev. Wright, Van Jones and ACORN eg. Fox News didn't like them and kept up a drumbeat of hatred for them until Obama gave them what they wanted. He silenced them by walking away from old friends. He's a politician, that's what they do.

Funny how he didn't feel the same need to distance himself from those the progressive wing of his own party didn't like, like Rahm Emanuel and Geithner, Summers et al. I gues Fox's opinion is more important.

[CatWoman]

44. We should all be so lucky

[sabrina 1]

19. Maybe because he's not? n/t

[malaise]

20. Compared to who or what?

Rev Wright is an extremely intelligent man.

[Dreamer Tatum]

26. Would you like a list of extremely intelligent assholes? nt

[malaise]

30. I don't think he's an asshole

What has he said that wasn't correct?

[cali]

31. How about this?

On June 9, 2009, in an interview with the Daily Press of Newport News, Wright indicated that he hadn't had contact with Obama up to that point because "Them Jews aren't going to let him talk to me. I told my baby daughter, that he'll talk to me in five years when he's a lame duck, or in eight years when he's out of office." Wright also suggested that Obama did not send a delegation to the Durban Review Conference in Geneva, a conference "that had devolved into an anti-Jewish free-for-all" according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency,<34> because of Jewish pressure saying: "he Jewish vote, the A-I-P-A-C vote, that’s controlling him, that would not let him send representation to the Darfur Review Conference, that’s talking this craziness on this trip, cause they’re Zionists, they would not let him talk to someone who calls a spade what it is."<7> Writing for The Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates characterized Wright's remarks as "crude conspiratorial antisemitism."<3[br />

[Warren Stupidity]

62. -1

[Raineyb]

76. Compared to whom? You? Don't be so sure. n/t

[Captain Hilts]

3. He's still a hate monger. nt

[Bluerthanblue]

14. he's not a hate monger- people who make this claim

are responding just the way the media and the right wing slur machine programed them to.

I hope you'll take the time to actually find out for yourself rather than relying on the media telling you how to think.

You might be surprised at what you find.

[cali]

25. no, sorry he's a hate monger

from wiki:

On June 9, 2009, in an interview with the Daily Press of Newport News, Wright indicated that he hadn't had contact with Obama up to that point because "Them Jews aren't going to let him talk to me. I told my baby daughter, that he'll talk to me in five years when he's a lame duck, or in eight years when he's out of office." Wright also suggested that Obama did not send a delegation to the Durban Review Conference in Geneva, a conference "that had devolved into an anti-Jewish free-for-all" according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency,<34> because of Jewish pressure saying: "he Jewish vote, the A-I-P-A-C vote, that’s controlling him, that would not let him send representation to the Darfur Review Conference, that’s talking this craziness on this trip, cause they’re Zionists, they would not let him talk to someone who calls a spade what it is."<7> Writing for The Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates characterized Wright's remarks as "crude conspiratorial antisemitism."<3[br />
More:

Dr. Wright asserts that HIV was invented by the U.S. government as a tool of genocide. A national survey in 2002 and 2003 by researchers at Rand Corp. and Oregon State University indicated that about half of African-Americans believe the virus was created on purpose; and a quarter said the virus was first brewed in a government laboratory.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/040808dnmetwrightchasm.442a11fb.html

Then there were the repugnant comments he made in a sermon about Hillary and Bill Clinton

This shit is not justifiable

[leftynyc]

103. Thank you, Cali

I'm glad I went through the posts before I searched for that exact story. Pres Obama did the right thing in distancing himself from this man.

[jaysunb]

37. Thank you...

that needed to be said. :thumbsup:

[Captain Hilts]

54. I don't tolerate that kind of hate speech from Falwell, Robertson, etc. I don't take it from him. nt

[cali]

39. bullshit. I posted quotes from him.

interesting how no one fawning all over him wants to deal with the flat out ugly bigotry that came out of his mouth.

And sickening.

[Captain Hilts]

55. Ain't that the truth. nt

[bridgit]

68. Wright is BLT, and he preaches from within a more incendiary wing of it...

So does Farrakhan and so - such leaders - and Wright & Farrakhan aren't the only ones; but such leaders are able to negate the tenets of christianity & islam and in *that* process rend them hate filled and mush less than forgiving

In that BLT sings to a rather specified choir, and so less applicable in a universal way: it is possible for BLT to infringe upon itself with its inflammatory language and that was and remains provable in the recollection of Obama walking away from its divisive effects, but hey...

That's what fills the pews in Wright's church and so I say God Bless

[EFerrari]

29. Nope. And his congregation is a rainbow.

[Skip Intro]

36. You're damn right he his.

[izzybeans]

59. And howard Dean is completely unhinged. I have the video to prove it. He's screaming and everything.

;)

[Warren Stupidity]

63. The OP is a honey pot.

[KittyWampus]

87. No kidding. Some Opening Poster throws in red meat and DU'er take the bait.

Obvious flamebait is obvious.

Opening Poster hasn't bothered to post anything further.

[emilyg]

83. Yes he is.

[ThomWV]

5. I often wonder how many people have actually listened to "the sermon"

You are correct to note that it is the right wing's harping on a statement - not even unfortunate by my understanding of the context - in one sermon but do you want to guess how many people have ever bothered to listen to the whole thing to try and understand what he was actually saying and how it was said in context? I've listened to it, and to tell the truth there is very very little in it I disagree with, and I'm an old white fart originally from about as deep in the south as you can get.

[rcrush]

8. His speech at the NAACP award dinner he gave was edited to make him look like a fool

He gets really colorful when he talks but his speech actually made sense.

[HipChick]

13. Taken out of context...and I wonder how many of people have actually visited black churches..

and heard sermons given?..They won't not even be bothered by what Wright said...

[cali]

28. I'm sorry, but blaming Jews for his break with Obama

and the crap about AIDS being developed by the U.S. gov't to wipe out blacks, is just crap

[HipChick]

46. Maybe..Maybe...some of that was borne out of what the US govt did to the Tuskegee Airmen

[cali]

47. uh, no. he's an

educated man and spreading rumors that AIDS was invented by the U.S. government to kill minorities is sick shit.

And so are his anti-semitic comments.

[Number23]

53. You mean the Tuskegee Syphillis Experiment, not the Tuskegee Airmen

Two completely different issues. COMPLETELY different.

[JonLP24]

64. I agree

that AIDS developed by the government is against scientific consensus but he is far from the first person to come up with that and the point of that sermon was "governments lie". Out of everything he said in that whole speech that is the one thing he gets all the flak for which is unfortunate because the speech is very good and there is little he gets wrong here.

“ government lied about their belief that all men were created equal. The truth is they believed that all white men were created equal. The truth is they did not even believe that white women were created equal, in creation nor civilization. The government had to pass an amendment to the Constitution to get white women the vote. Then the government had to pass an equal rights amendment to get equal protection under the law for women. The government still thinks a woman has no rights over her own body, and between Uncle Clarence who sexually harassed Anita Hill, and a closeted Klan court, that is a throwback to the 19th century, handpicked by Daddy Bush, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, between Clarence and that stacked court, they are about to undo Roe vs. Wade, just like they are about to un-do affirmative action. The government lied in its founding documents and the government is still lying today. Governments lie.”

“The government lied about Pearl Harbor too. They knew the Japanese were going to attack. Governments lie. The government lied about the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. They wanted that resolution to get us in the Vietnam War. Governments lie. The government lied about Nelson Mandela and our CIA helped put him in prison and keep him there for 27 years. The South African government lied on Nelson Mandela. Governments lie."

"The government lied about the Tuskegee experiment. They purposely infected African American men with syphilis. Governments lie. The government lied about bombing Cambodia and Richard Nixon stood in front of the camera, ‘Let me make myself perfectly clear…’ Governments lie. The government lied about the drugs for arms Contra scheme orchestrated by Oliver North, and then the government pardoned all the perpetrators so they could get better jobs in the government. Governments lie.... The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color. Governments lie. The government lied about a connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein and a connection between 9.11.01 and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Governments lie.”

“The government lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq being a threat to the United States peace. And guess what else? If they don’t find them some weapons of mass destruction, they gonna do just like the LAPD, and plant the some weapons of mass destruction. Governments lie.”

"And the United States of America government, when it came to treating her citizens of Indian descent fairly, she failed. She put them on reservations. When it came to treating her citizens of Japanese descent fairly, she failed. She put them in internment prison camps. When it came to treating her citizens of African descent fairly, America failed. She put them in chains, the government put them on slave quarters, put them on auction blocks, put them in cotton field, put them in inferior schools, put them in substandard housing, put them in scientific experiments, put them in the lowest paying jobs, put them outside the equal protection of the law, kept them out of their racist bastions of higher education and locked them into positions of hopelessness and helplessness. The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, not God Bless America. God damn America — that's in the Bible — for killing innocent people. God damn America, for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America, as long as she tries to act like she is God, and she is supreme. The United States government has failed the vast majority of her citizens of African descent.."

[cali]

74. heaven's. the inaccuracies in your post are, well, numerous.

first of all the gov't did not inject the men in the Tuskegee Experiment with anything. It was loathsome alright, but facts matter. Here:

The Tuskegee syphilis experiment<1> (also known as the Tuskegee syphilis study or Public Health Service syphilis study) was a clinical study conducted between 1932 and 1972 in Tuskegee, Alabama, by the U.S. Public Health Service. Investigators recruited 399 impoverished African-American sharecroppers with syphilis for research related to the natural progression of the untreated disease, in hopes of justifying treatment programs for blacks.<1>

The 40-year study was controversial for reasons related to ethical standards, primarily because researchers failed to treat patients appropriately after the 1940s validation of penicillin as an effective cure for the disease. Revelation of study failures led to major changes in U.S. law and regulation on the protection of participants in clinical studies. Now studies require informed consent (with exceptions possible for U.S. Federal agencies which can be kept secret by Executive Order.<2>) , communication of diagnosis, and accurate reporting of test results.<3>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_syphilis_experiment

Secondly, there are very few WWII historians who believe that the gov't knew in advance about Pearl Harbor, and no definitive evidence has ever been presented.


Yes, the gov't has a history of lying. Let's not lie about what they lie about.

[JonLP24]

96. United States Public Health Service

Your wiki link which you can click on who performed the experiments lists jurisdiction as "Federal government of the United States".

[Cid_B]

98. Yeah....

Imagine it this way...

You are going to meet your girlfriends parents for the first time. You have a lovely dinner, explore a host of interesting topics, go through the baby books and play fetch with the family dog. You also proceed to take a dump on the dining table.

Everything else may have been lovely and nice but guess what is going to overshadow the evening.

[rcrush]

6. Most everything that anyone has seen him say has been edited by Fox News

His sermon after 9/11 that was shown all over TV. Cut to shit by Fox News.

His speech at that NAACP awards dinner. Edited by Fox News.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. pic of Rev Wright attending to LBJ

Jeremiah Wright (behind the I.V. pole) as a Navy Corpsman Tending to President Lyndon B. Johnson. Bill Moyers was the President's Press Secretary at the time, and is behind Wright. Identity of two men standing at center needed. A letter of thanks on behalf of the President is superimposed on photo.

[CBR]

11. Thanks. I hadn't seen that.

I have no beef with Rev. Wright. None whatsoever.

[Bluerthanblue]

16. I agree! If people actually took the time and effort to listen to the

sermons in their entirety, or dug a little deeper into the quotes that people like to crucify him with, they'd be surprised at what fools they've allowed themselves to become.

It's sad that the pressure from the media caused Rev. Wright and the Obama's so much trouble.

[eleny]

17. I've come to believe that he's a good man who got carried away somehow...

...and didn't know how to reel himself in.

A mistake in phrasing that got carried by the flying monkey right wing to all four corners. It all got magnified and out of control. Stir in a spoon of major ego and a pinch of resentment to make a foul smelling stew that had a life of its own.

A sad affair as he probably did a lot of good in is life.

[sabrina 1]

27. He did more good than most of our current members of Congress

will ever do in their lifetimes. Fox News was allowed to destroy him. Democrats as always, rather than fight back fiercely as they should, caved.

What is sad is that he got dragged into Obama's affairs in the first place. He was a friend to several Democratic president, including Bill Clinton who he visited at the WH during the worst period in his presidency. Democrats, including Obama, liked to be seen with him as his work among the poor and minorities was highly respected. He was open to all people, including gays and he was good enough for Obama until Fox News said he wasn't.

I hope one day Obama will apologize to him, at least privately. But sadly, even in this thread, it is clear that the rightwing smear machine took its toll on his reputation. It works, the Rightwing Noise Machine, because Democrats quake when it starts gearing up and they cave, without a fight, every time, to the bullies.

[jaysunb]

40. +1 n/t

[cali]

43. he may have done good. He's also done a harm.

I posted ugly quotes from him that you're ignoring.

And he owes Obama an apology.

Right wing smear machine aside, he said bigoted crap on multiple occasions.

I don't accept that rancid shit from anyone.

Pathetic that you and so many others do.

Make that disgusting.

[Liberation Angel]

58. Calling Rahm Emanuel a Jew or a Zionist is Racist now?

Frankly, if Rahm Emanuel replaced me as Obama's advisor I might want to talk shit too.

As for the AIDS quote, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that AIDS is a bioweapon. There is actually some pretty smart people who believe that and bioweapons with genetic markers to target minorities or ethnic groups is also not science fiction.

Get a grip, Cali.

Wright made some pretty dumbass remarks but being angry that pro-Israel (read, Jewish) advisors in Obama's cabinet and white house influenced Obama on Durban or with respect to distancing himself from Wright and keeping that distance is denying reality.

Everyone makes stupid statements sometimes and some of Wright6's are pretty offensive, but to call them racist is a fail, imho.

Some of his comments are really solid and his church was a model of much progressive activism especially for the African American and women's community and or poor people.

To demonize him as you are. Cali, frankly, imho, seems racist.

Methinks thou dost protest too much.

Is it bigotry?

Or is it true that AIPAC and others DO in fact carry some weight in Obama's inner circle?

[cali]

60. what part of this eludes you , dear? He blamed his not being able to see Obama on "the Jews"

blatant in your face bigotry of the anti-semitic flavor. It doesn't come any balder than that, honeypie.


And sorry, but there is NOT ONE reputable scientist who agrees with your claim that it's not outside the realm of possibility that AIDS was developed as a bio weapon. Not one.

That you're excusing this crap is beyond pitiful. It's about as classic bit of antisemitic crap as one can find.

It says volumes about anyone that excuses this kind of blatant ugly bigotry. The kindest interpretation is that said person is blinded by adoration of the figure uttering that kind of crap.

Yes, it's bigotry, and I'm not protesting anything. If someone said that the "blacks kept them away from Obama, I'd be just as repulsed.

Your post is repulsive.

[Liberation Angel]

94. Wright was speaking about specific Jews not "the Jews" in general. The AIPAC thing

is also a factor in Obama's political calculation.

As Wright was someone who was Obama's spiritual advisor, friend and pastor for many years, I can see why he would be angry that a handful of Obama's Jewish handlers would totally block his access . Wright's error comes in not understanding that it was not just "them Jews" (Emanuel and Axelrod) but probably evryone around Obama, Jews and goys alike.

But he did not say "the Jews" he said "them Jews" referring specifically to, in my estimation, Emanuel and Axelrod.

Now, was it a dumbass thing to say? Yeah, undeer the circumstances.

But the unpleasant fact is that with respect to what is happening to the Palestinians (and to the Israeli as a result) is a very right wing element of secular Zionists in Israel and here in the US who do wield some pretty powerful chops in US politics.

Obama's political calculations do, to some degree, factor in this constituency and as a result of these sort of statements by Wright, who is known to speak out on the Palestinian questions critically of Israel. Wright was thrown under the bus.

Was it a smart move politically for Obama to do that?

Given opinions of folks like you, I guess it probably was (especially given the Fox-news-like propaganda that even some dems were swallowing like koolaid about Wright).

Was Wright correct that Obama's Jewish advisors/confidantes were keeping Obama away from Wright. I think that is probably correct too (but it was probably not only the Jewish ones, although i can't venture to guess who) who would stand between them (would Biden? Would Clinton? Probably). So Wright's tirade IS asinine and even probably unconsciously ant-Semitic because it neglects to recognize that Obama's advisors are not ONLY Jews and that some of the nonJews were advising Obama to throw Wright under the bus too. But Wright is identifying a POLITICAL reality: AIPAC and Obama's Jewish advisors influence Obama's political calculations, including severing his long standing friendship and spiritual connection to Wright.

For Wright to be pissed enough to blame those CLOSEST to Obama, Emanuel and Axelrod, though, explains his comment in a way that is not hardly as offensive as you make it out to be in my opinion no matter how poorly and offensively stated..

And it reflects Wright's PERCEPTION that the Jews around Obama want Wright out of his circle of friends.

As for the AIDS thing, I know some qualifiied/competent scientists who have not ruled out the possibility that AIDS is a mutant strain of bioweapon---bioweapons targetting Africans WERE developed in Southern Africa during the Apartheid regime for use in Guerilla war the same way swine flu was weaponized here by our government and used against Cuba (or attempted to be used, some of it blew back, I understand). It is neither racist nor looney to believe this. It IS a mutant strain of SOMETHING and what caused it originally to go full blown in Africa is not too well defined. Could it have been in part an escaped bioweapons virus/disease or a side effect of such weapons. Who knows?

You can be outraged all you want - but the critique that we pretty much ignore the plight of human rights for the Palestinians due to a powerful Israeli lobby and the fear many politicians and others have of being labelled "anti-Semitic" if we address the imbalance of influence on politics comparing Israeli and/or Zionists to the "Palestinian lobby" which is practically nonexistent and has very few visible supporters in the media like Wright of any sort - if we look at this issue honestly we can see where Wright is coming from even if we believe he stated it stupidly and poorly and irresponsibly.

But the final bottom line here has to do not only with his critique of Israel but his critique of the United States and its oppressive and colonialist tendencies. Wright was attacked by the right wing here and the right wing who support Israel, among others. You have sadly bought in to the right wing attack on him and swallowed the whole bowl of their koolaid.

Wright made some mistakes and gaffs. He may even have been prompted to or provoked to. (That Nat Press club fiasco). But in his church he did MANY good works and his views reflect, for better or worse, what a LOT of African Americans feel. You cannot honestly be so dismissive of that and chalk it ALL up to antiSemitism and or racism (how is it even racism???)

But there are more important issues around today and the OP's point is that Wright is not just an angry antiSemtic black man. He is a an African American who speaks candidaly, he is a veteran and he even once helped save a President's life. He also was Obama's friend and spiritual advisor for years.

For Obama to chuck him under the bus was disturbing to say the least.

But that too was understandable.

[EFerrari]

70. Isn't he in his 80s now?

He sure has done a lot of good for a lot of people.

[Bluenorthwest]

18. Rev Wright and the Church he built, Trinity UCC

Have been and are actively inclusive, accepting, and affirming of GLBT people and our relationships. That man was there when few were.
I've been in churches where there is preaching of that style, prophetic some call it. I've heard a white minister preach to his white congregation condemnations of the racism of white America and the need for penance and redemption that would make Wright blush. He'd tell them it was up to them to make amends for all the wrongs, because they were white, and that was that. He meant it too. Built relationships with distant African American congregations, the churches visited each other, there was stuff going on. That preacher said stuff that would make FoxNews toes curl. And yet those words made for proactive changes in people's lives, new bridges between communities, people moving into the other's neighborhoods, all manner of rare things. Of course, Wright's church did all of that too.
So sound bites don't make a man. They just don't. And lots of righteously pissed off people get called crazy for being right instead of wrong.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

22. He's good man who became inconvenient to an ambitious politician. K&R

[sabrina 1]

24. He was good enough for Clinton to invite to the WH

The Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. and President Bill Clinton at a prayer breakfast at the White House in September 1998.

The Rev. Wright should have distanced himself from Obama. He was a very highly respected man until his old friend decided to run for the presidency.

[aikoaiko]

32. I don't care about him. I'm glad he's no longer indirectly causing trouble for the President.

[Skip Intro]

33. That sermon where he slammed Hillary for being white told me all I want to know about that racist nt

[cali]

42. I always wanted to respond to that

by saying, yep Hillary's never been called a "N*****" like Obama and Obama's never been called a "C**t" like HIllary.

[Skip Intro]

45. Excellent reply. nt

[Raineyb]

77. Not even the fucking same. Typical when that white feminists throw out that bit

while forgetting to even bother considering what black women have to say on the subject. Actually, they don't really forget they just assume to know how black women think then get surprised when black women's opinions don't mirror their own.

[cali]

82. oh of course. white women can';t possibly suffer from the patriarchal system or misogyny.

[Raineyb]

101. Didn't say that they didn't. But you damn sure act as though sexism is the biggest ill there is.

No doubt due to who suffers sexism vs who suffers racism.

[EFerrari]

85. Wright also named other powerful white people like the mayor of 9/11.

[Raineyb]

102. Funny how that got left out of the diatribe. Unless of course the agenda needs such a mention to be

ignored. Not really a surprise but I do like to see these things pointed out to be made obvious to those who refuse to see.

[EFerrari]

65. He wasn't talking about Hillary Clinton, he was talking about white privilege

of the type that incenses the tea baggers when they have to get up every morning to a black man in the White House. There was zero racism in his statement. He was describing, not prescribing.

[JonLP24]

67. Exactly

White privilege is what he was describing. I think he also said she never had to worry about a cab whiz past her because her skin was the wrong color or have to worry about being pulled over.

[cali]

75. oh, please. why use a woman who's been vilified horribly as an example of white privilege.

As I said, She may never have been called a "N****r" but Obama has never been called a "C**t".

[Raineyb]

78. Because she IS privileged. Hello! n/t

[cali]

80. She's also been as badly treated because of her gender as

Obama is because of his race.

How soon we forget organizations like C.U.N.T. set up to defeat her.

[Bluerthanblue]

99. take it one step further -

imagine what it would have been like for Hillary to be a black female.

But that wouldn't have happened. Hillary could not have gotten to where she is if her skin was brown- I DESPISE that fact, and it isn't an excuse for any kind of counter prejudice, but the fact is, she could never have reached the role she is in if she were black.

[BlooInBloo]

34. I love these thread. You can really tell who's who.

[cali]

35. yes. you can.,

you can see who studiously ignores bigotry if it comes from a left source. care to explain how you justify the quotes from Rev Wright that I posted up thread?

[BlooInBloo]

38. What's to explain about those? Coates is right of course...

But somehow I'm pretty sure that's not why white folks don't like him. Black/Jewish tension is as old in America as it is wrong. Wright wasn't the first example of that, and he won't be the last (unfortunately). But that had little-to-nothing to do with how he was used by white folks as an anti-Obama primary ad.

[cali]

41. right. he's uttered clearly bigoted shit.

Not saying there hasn't been black/Jewish tension, but Jews were in the forefront of the fight for civil rights.

I agree that Wright was used in a loathsome way, but boy did he leave himself open to it.
And as I said upthread, it's not just the anti-semitic crap, but the crap about Hillary Clinton and the AIDS shit.

[Raineyb]

79. And that doesn't excuse them when they act like well non-Jewish bigoted white folk.

What do you expect when you throw out that line? Some kind of gratitude? You think Civil rights wouldn't have gotten done if they'd stayed on the sidelines? I'd ask you to rethink the implications of what you just said but we both know you're way too arrogant to do that kind of introspection.

[cali]

81. I simply responded to a comment about black/jewish tension

by saying that there's more to it than that- that jews were in the forefront of the fight for civil rights. that's not saying that civil rights wouldn't have been achieved without that contribution. Typically arrogant of YOU to put words in my mouth.

I'd ask you whether you think Reverend Wright's claim that the Jews kept him away from Obama is a bigoted statement.

Not that I expect a response.

[Raineyb]

104. I don't owe you one. And it's typical that you'd expect that you're owed one with your usual

undeserved abundance of arrogance.

Nonetheless I'll give one if only to stop the inevitable whining that will come if I rightfully ignored you.

Yes it was a bigoted statement. Clearly the frustration he was trying to communicate with how he was cut off by Obama. And that probably wouldn't have happened as quickly as it did without his handlers and the assholes at Faux News. That said, I'm not about to toss him under the bus and put myself in the same camp as Sean Hannity and the rest of the racist trolls at Faux News.

If you want to lie down with racist it is certainly within your rights to do so. But don't get upset when people throw the same flea powder at you that they do at them.

[scarletwoman]

61. I already knew all I needed to know about you.

[Forkboy]

66. +1000

:rofl:

[Ed76638]

48. Proud Jeremiah Wright Fan

[cali]

49. Proud of his ugly bigotry and misogyny, are you?

from wiki:

On June 9, 2009, in an interview with the Daily Press of Newport News, Wright indicated that he hadn't had contact with Obama up to that point because "Them Jews aren't going to let him talk to me. I told my baby daughter, that he'll talk to me in five years when he's a lame duck, or in eight years when he's out of office." Wright also suggested that Obama did not send a delegation to the Durban Review Conference in Geneva, a conference "that had devolved into an anti-Jewish free-for-all" according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency,<34> because of Jewish pressure saying: "he Jewish vote, the A-I-P-A-C vote, that’s controlling him, that would not let him send representation to the Darfur Review Conference, that’s talking this craziness on this trip, cause they’re Zionists, they would not let him talk to someone who calls a spade what it is."<7> Writing for The Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates characterized Wright's remarks as "crude conspiratorial antisemitism."<3
More:

Dr. Wright asserts that HIV was invented by the U.S. government as a tool of genocide. A national survey in 2002 and 2003 by researchers at Rand Corp. and Oregon State University indicated that about half of African-Americans believe the virus was created on purpose; and a quarter said the virus was first brewed in a government laboratory.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion...

Then there were the repugnant comments he made in a sermon about Hillary and Bill Clinton

[CatWoman]

51. you've posted that what, 2 or 3 times?

and I still have respect and reverence for the man.

Guess I'm going to hell, huh?

[cali]

56. no. you're just purposely ignoring his bigotry

the question is why?

[proteus_lives]

69. It's weird how everything is ignoring it.

I would like an answer too.

But everyone seems committed to ducking it.

[EFerrari]

71. What are people ducking? I must have missed that.

[cali]

72. his blatantly anti-semitic comments, his nasty crap in a sermon

about Hillary Clinton, his crude crap in a sermon about how Bill Clinton fucked us. (whether one believes Clinton did, there are ways to say things that aren't gross and crass-particularly in chuch), his nonsense about AIDS being engineered by the U.S. Gov't to kill minorities.

[Bluerthanblue]

100. can I ask if you have listened or read the

sermons you are using to judge Rev.Wright in their entirety?

[Solomon]

108. I can pretty much tell you, "No", the people complaining have not

listened to or read the entire sermons. Kind of like the most vociferous Christians who walk around with the bible in their hands but never actually read the damned thing.

[proteus_lives]

73. Do you agree with his statements?

That "the Jews" kept him away from Obama?

[EFerrari]

84. Oh,good grief, of course not. I don't even understand

what the hell he's talking about. That was ugly and he should have apologized for that.

(Sorry this took so long, I was out for a bit.)

[cali]

91. thanks. he did apologize for it

but it's just a shocking thing to say. I like a lot of what he said in his sermons, but I really find those comments and the stuff about AIDS, irresponsible and offensive.

[Raineyb]

106. Then why exactly are you harping on it again? n/t

[proteus_lives]

92. It's ok, no time limit.

It was ugly. I agree that he's done a lot of good in his life but statements and positions like this must be examined.

[EFerrari]

93. Sure. I agree with that. n/t

[Mike K]

95. It is not anti-Semitic to acknowledge, -

- even somewhat resentfully, that Tel-Aviv seems to impose inordinate influence over the U.S. Government and does so mainly via lobbying of the Congress by AIPAC, which is supported almost exclusively by American Jews. That is the context of Wright's commentary, which he delivered in less formal language.

It also is an opinion which is shared by many, including such respectable Jewish academics and authors as Professor Norman Finkelstein. So what is anti-Semitic about expressing an opinion which is supported by considerable evidence.

I am among those who believe U.S. economic and military support of Israel has been significantly costly and counterproductive in terms of our national security. If you disagree I would like to know why. And do you believe holding that opinion makes me an anti-Semite?

[liberalpress]

52. Oh Please...

..how could he be Barak Obama's minister when Obama is a Kenyan Muslin! Get a Clue Morans!

:sarcasm: (Just in case)

[cherokeeprogressive]

57. Is a Shit Statement. n/t

[KittyWampus]

86. This thread=obvious flamebait. I haven't heard ANY rightwingers talk about Wright since primaries

STOP FEEDING THIS PLEASE.

[EFerrari]

88. There is a contingent of posters that think any discussion of racism is racism.

That seems to be their problem with Wright and that seems to be their problem when they try to talk about Wright. The mods may not agree, but this is exactly the kind of discussion people need to try if they're ever going to figure out what racism is and isn't and how to talk about it rationally.

[cali]

90. there's a contingent of posters

who don't think Reverend Wright's anti-semitic comments are a problem.

That's just sad.

[Raineyb]

105. There's a contingent of posters who only seem to want to point out bigoted

statements (or statements they see as bigoted) when they see black people make them.

Otherwise they couldn't be bothered to actually see what's in front of them.

[EFerrari]

107. How dare black people talk about racism!

That's what this flap over Rev. Wright boils down to.