Great truths abound, always. As we turn the corner on mid-March one great truth most of us triumphantly embrace is, even if Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow in Punxsutawney, a burg in the Northwest quadrant of Pennsylvania, on February 2nd, it has been more than 6 weeks. Spring is near! Another great truth thrust upon us this spring is, the Democratic candidates vying for President are still running a race to Denver.
Last week’s discussion centered on sports, as the ACC Tournament came to Charlotte. This week, the Road to the Final Four will begin to be littered with the casualties of also-rans. The first victim of this year’s NCAA Tourney was Coppin State, which fell to Mount St. Mary’s (MSM), 69-60, Tuesday night. As their reward, MSM travels to Raleigh, NC to play the North Carolina Tar Heels Friday. GO HEELS!
While the temptation is to take a closer look at the plethora of college basketball that is about to unfold, including the Men’s and Women’s NCAA Tournaments, the NIT, a first-year event, known as the College Basketball Invitational (CBI), and several other lower division tourneys, it is the sport of politics that is currently enthralling major news outlets, bloggers, and the populace at-large.
The title quite intentionally gives away the central theme. The Reverend Dr. Jeremiah Wright, recently retired Senior Minister of Trinity United Church of Christ, a 10,000-member mega-church in Chicago, Illinois, has been a major news story. Most Americans not making like an ostrich, burying their head in the sand, or emulating Rip Van Winkle, nestled in extended sleep-time, recognize Dr. Wright as the man Senator Barack Obama referred to as his Spiritual Adviser.
Viewed in isolation, that is not news. The related hot topic has been the widely perceived, incendiary comments made by the Reverend Dr. Wright. Many of the comments were considered so controversial, that news agencies across America set up virtual vigils awaiting official reaction from Senator Obama or his Campaign.
Initially, Senator Obama distanced himself by eliminating the minister’s involvement in his campaign, and denying being present when any of the comments were made. Then yesterday, after several days of continued seismic turmoil, Obama disavowed Wright’s remarks in a wide ranging speech on issues of race and reconciliation, calling Wright’s comments, “profoundly distorted.”
Senator Obama, spoke at a televised news conference at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, nearly 300 miles southeast of where Phil saw his shadow. Yet there is now doubt, the desired outcome was to ignite a spring thaw to melt away the great American racial divide. He prevailed upon all Americans to move beyond old racial wounds, warned that we cannot ignore the significant issue of race, urged whites to acknowledge the legacy of discrimination does not exist, just in the imagination of African-Americans, and challenged blacks to respect our history; but not be victims of it. I must admit, very nicely done.
While Team Obama artfully navigated the usual choppy waters of race in America, ever mindful of the Campaign’s singular goal, “elect Obama,” a tacit, secondary conversation is making the circuit among many African-Americans. For 36 years, The Reverend Wright served as the Senior Minister at Trinity. The congregation is currently estimated to number more than 10,000. Suffice it to say, the good Reverend Dr. has numerous supporters and defenders. People who matter-of-factly state, he said nothing wrong. There-in lies the crux of the rhetorical question I will leave you the reader. Was (W)Right Wrong?
I’m done; holla back!
Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com, or by Googling thesphinxofcharlotte. A new post is published each Wednesday.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremiah_Wright
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNTGRL0OJWQ
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/18/obama.speech/index.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/18/AR2008031802918.html?hpid=topnews
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/14/AR2008031404218.html?wpisrc=newsletter
http://www.newsweek.com/id/124139
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/18/opinion/polls/main3948010.shtml
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Vote2008/story?id=4472576&page=1
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23687688/
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/03/17/report-places-obama-at-controversial-july-07-wright-sermon-official-schedule-places-him-in-miami/
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,256078,00.html
http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?status=article&id=285292746454291&secid=1501
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1 comment:
First of all, I am STILL trying to figure out what about the man's message was wrong! For 1, the way that this government has gone about its foreign policy endeavors by incorporating the assistance of the SADAAMS, the Bin Ladens, etc., providing them weapons, $, and training to do our 'dirty work' for us in the Middle East, and are then doudle-crossed and drop like we never knew them...which results in our chikens coming home to roost in our own front yards! The Iran-Contra affair, these various other drug running countries and factions that have been used during the Reagan era UNDER THE TABLE and HIDDEN from the country and Congress that resulted in numerous trials and indictments for Ollie North (WHO has his own role in political correspondence on the NEWS!?) and others.
Finally, many have expressed "outrage and implausibility" at his claims...that, how dare can he accuse our govt. of creating AIDS and exposing it to the African-American community...this HAS to be INSANE, right? Well, if this same govt. can PURPOSEFULLY infect a community of African-American males with syphilis (google the Tuskegee Experiment if you have never heard about this) under the guise of being "vaccinated" for something else, just to see how the unknown progression of the syphilis infection rate affects the unknowing community...this sick, inhumane, unethical and morally deficient experiment being conducted WITHOUT even treating these people, just seeing how these black people suffer and die and how the community is just destroyed! Please EDUCATE yourselves about these pertinent issues in African-American historical thought before dismissing them as merely insane and implausible...because such ill-perceived matters truly have a veracity to them!
Overall, Wright was Wright in what he said...and Barak Obama can not be held responsible for someone else's speeches, views, and opinions- he can only be held accountable for the sincerity and veracity of his words, actions, and the overall content of his character!
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