Rev. Wright Got It Wrong

I tried hard to be objective. I watched the Bill Moyers' interview and came away thinking that this was a reasoned and cautious man. I felt that he presented, with some inaccuracies, the plight of the African-American situation with some clarity. I was concerned about his remarks, "I do what I gotta and he says what he has to say as a politician..". At some point, I felt that there was some tension. I dismissed it, because this was a civil dialogue between a journalist I admired and someone that I had heard about.

But then, he took the bait.

The media dangled the cameras in front of him and everything went to hell from there.

When atoms decay or split, they can create a reaction. Depending on the type of atoms (and I want to be careful, lest our Iranian friends are reading), and depending on the amount, you could have enough of splitting and decaying that could create hydrogen bombs or nuclear bombs.

The fallout with this Rev. Wright, who, within a matter of 2-3 days has morphed into a lunatic of the highest order was a nuclear explosion. We will feel the fallout now and probably through the election.

The tragedy of this recent act of stupidity on Rev. Wright's part is that it completely negates (in part, figuratively) what minorities, particularly African-Americans believe.

Yes, there are different styles of worship and learning, but that is where it ends. Wright, naturally, does not speak for the black community. He is a shadowy pastor wanting for the attention that he sees a former member of his church getting - someone who could very well be the next President of the United States and the most powerful man in the world.

As I watched this disaster unfold, it dawned on me that Rev. Wright, though articulate, does possess some of the hallmarks of the underachiever; he wants the attention that someone else is getting, something that he will never get, something that he never had. He wants the successes without the sacrifices. He strikes me, at this point, as someone who harbors an inferiority complex and is quietly intimidated by others. But that is for the psychiatrists to determine.

The reality of Wright's "not deficient, just different" argument, is that if you argue the point ad nauseam, you flirt with negating the very merits of equality (Brown v. Board, Sweat v. Painter)...and what the Constitution and Declaration of Independence addresses.

Moreover, while it may be true that African-American ancestors were on the bottom portion of slave ships, as Rev. Wright reminded us, it is equally important to note - and historically accurate! - that some African Chiefs played a critical in the slave trade and probably could be seen waving goodbye, with loads of gunpowder (in exchange for women and children) as the Colonists left the coasts of Africa!

Therefore, by way of Rev. Wright's reasoning, this would mean that the slave traders and African-American ancestors who sold others into slavery, worshipped the same God! This would contradict what he argued in his speech. Is it possible for the slave trader and African Chief to have the same God in Wright's world?

In Sweat v. Painter, the University of Texas (1946) did not want to admit Mr. Painter to the all white law school, because he was black. As a result, they set up an underfunded school for black law students. It is reported that some black students had to borrow books and faculty from the main university!

A "we're not deficient, we're just different" philosophy would have been applauded by our friends at the University of Texas. Hell, Rev. Wright, even as an African-American, could have been made chancellor with his ridiculous logic. With his reasoning, Sen. Barack Obama, if alive in 1946, would be studying in a school that was "separate" - and "different" of course, with hardly any books and no faculty!

The recent numbers - CNN's Poll of Polls - have Sen. Obama's lead cut, yet,
again.

NATIONAL

45% Obama
44% Clinton

Real Clear Politics Poll

NORTH CAROLINA

+10.3% Obama

INDIANA

+2.2 Clinton