Barack Obama: Race in the 21st Century

Over the past week we all have watched the Clinton and Obama campaigns become ensnared in the turbulent waters surrounding racial tensions in America. Initially, we all watched the Clinton campaign distance itself from Geraldine Ferraro over her supposed racist comments regarding the campaign of Barack Obama. Anyone who knows anything about Geraldine Ferraro knows that she is not a racist. We then moved on to the sermons of Reverend Jeremiah Wright and their impact on the world view of Senator Obama. It seems to me that our country has become racially hypersensitive. On a regular basis, individuals or groups complain that they have been racially slighted by another individual or another group. Some Native Americans claim that sports team names such as the Braves, Indians and, Redskins are racially derogatory in nature. Other groups state that comments on TV shows are out of bounds and inflammatory. A highly intelligent and gifted athlete from Rutgers University believes that the bigoted remarks of Don Imus have marred her for life. Has our racial hypersensitivity reached a point where constructive dialogues between differing groups become almost impossible? Why do we seem to forget that the media is a consumer driven industry and that commentators, radio talk show hosts and news outlets package their product in a way that will increase their market share? Oftentimes, the total truth behind any issue is hidden beneath the foliage of a fast paced world.

So, how has Reverend Wright influenced Barack Obama? In my view, I see him as only one of many influences on the life of Barack Obama. Obviously, Barack Obama is a serious thinker and as with all critical thinkers, he copies and pastes those points of views which most closely correspond to his life experiences and his outlook on the world. It is unfair to compartmentalize any human being into a neat and tidy package for your own benefit. I disagree with many of Barack Obama’s political viewpoints however, his views and his personal history demand more of our respect than the media or many of our fellow citizens are currently giving him especially, during this Easter Season. We also owe more respect to Dr. Wright and should attempt to understand his spiritual point of view and learn more about his form of Christian faith.

Reverend Jeremiah Wright was born on September 22, 1941 in Philadelphia, PA. His father was a Baptist minister. He served in the military with the US Marine Corps. He has a Bachelors and Masters degree from Howard University. He earned another Masters degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School. He has a Ph.D. in Ministry from the United Theological Seminary. He has also been presented with 7 honorary doctorate degrees. He has been a pastor for 36 years with the Trinity United Church of Christ. If he had preached a single sermon per week for 36 years, Reverend Wright would have delivered 1,872 sermons to date. The media has now been presenting the same sound bites from specific sermons which portray Dr. Wright as an intolerant, bigoted and racially separatist preacher. Is this however, a true representation of the man and his spiritual philosophy? I believe that the media has been neglectful in their coverage of Reverend Wright. Barack Obama has titled his autobiography The Audacity of Hope. This title is taken from a sermon given by Dr. Wright. Dr. Wright’s sermon, Audacity to Hope, can be found online at http://www.preachingtodayaudio.com/. This 18 minute sermon provides the listener with another view of Jeremiah Wright. Another of his sermons, Let Me See Again, can be found at http://www.csec.org/. This sermon deals with the spirituality found in Chapter 18 of the Gospel of Luke. Of course these aren’t the only two representations of a different side to Dr. Wright. Rather, they provide us with a quick synopsis into the spiritual depth of Jeremiah Wright. Dr. Wright is a follower and preacher of Black Liberation Theology. What is Black Liberation Theology and how does it fit into American society? Why do some whites fear the tenets of the theology?

Our country has had a long standing fear of an independent black racial identity within American society. Thomas Jefferson believed that freed blacks and whites could never fully integrate. During the Ante-Bellum period, our nation struggled with the issue of slavery. Abolitionists could not all agree on what should be done with a large population of freed blacks. Some called for integration while others, such as the American Colonization Society, desired that the freed slaves be returned to Africa. David Walker (1785-1830) was a prominent abolitionist during this period. Born a free black from slave parents, he demanded an immediate emancipation of all black slaves. His main work titled, Walker’s Appeal, was published in 1829. This publication called for black pride and demanded that all blacks free themselves from the oppression of slavery to include by violent means if necessary. Almost immediately, southern states put a $3,000 bounty on his head and Georgia offered a $10,000 reward for his delivery alive into their hands. Somewhat later, Frederick Douglas (1818-1895) assumed the reins as the preeminent black abolitionist of his time. Unlike Walker, Douglas’s approach was more peaceable in nature. He did not conscribe to use of violence in the pursuit of equality. His greatest work, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave, was published in 1845. As with Walker, he described the horrific inequities of slavery and the treatment of free blacks. Both of them castigated the Christian Churches for their failure to condemn slavery. If we move forward in time to the 20th century, we quickly can discern an almost identical similarity between the different philosophical approaches of Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Black Liberation Theology rose from the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

Black Liberation Theology is an offshoot of the Liberation Theology movement in Latin America during the 1950s. This movement hoped to end economic repression in Latin America. They felt that the Catholic Church was ambivalent to the plight of the poor. They hoped for more than the mere removal of economic oppression and actively sought to change government and fought for the establishment of a Marxist form of governance. Unlike this movement, Black Liberation Theology is personal and not Marxist in nature and demands its followers pursue self identity and self reliance.

Black Liberation Theology draws from the life experiences of many prominent Black Americans. Amongst these, David Walker and the great philosopher W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963) are of preeminent importance. Both of these men called for a sense of black pride and stressed the importance of the black presence on the American landscape. One of the foremost theologians of this spiritual philosophy is Dr. James Hal Cone. Dr. Cone is the Charles Augustus Briggs Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. Dr. Cone states that, “Christian Churches have the duty and commitment to oppose social, economic and, political repression.” He goes on to note that “Blacks are the subject of and not mere objects of their history.” He also says that, “Black Christians should not follow a White Church.” Reverend Jeremiah Wright and the Trinity United Church of Christ are followers of this theology. Dr. Terry Matthews, an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Wake Forest University has an excellent lecture on Black Liberation Theology which can be found online at http://www.wfu.edu/~matthetl/perspectives/twentyseven.html.

The website for the Trinity United Church of Christ can be found at http://www.tucc.org/. Within this website you will discover many things. The more you delve into their belief system, the more you will discover just how similar they are to the way you view the world particularly if, you are of the Christian faith. Some in the media have taken issue with their Black Value System. In my view, the media is making a mountain out of a mole hill. As a white man, I find parts of it to be somewhat ethnocentric however; I realize that the black experience in our nation and their view is different from my point of view. If you closely analyze this value system, you will discover that as with other theologies, it draws heavily from personal behavior standards outlined in both the Old and New Testaments.

The American experience is in many ways quite unique. We are no better than any other nation on this earth yet, we are different. It is best to view our nation as a great experiment. Immigrants, whether free or as slaves, have come to our shores from across the globe. It is the personal responsibility of every American to attempt to understand those that are different and to always try to respect each other equally. Only then will we be able to achieve the realization of our nation’s motto: E Pluribus Unum, “Out of Many One.”

De Oppresso Liber