This was what I can gleaned from the New York Times as far as what Wright has said:
'One of the statements that have been most replayed this week comes from the sermon Mr. Wright delivered following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
'"We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards," he said. "America's chickens are coming home to roost."
'Asked in an interview last March to explain the sermon, Mr. Wright said he had been questioning the country's desire for vengeance against the perpetrators, counseling his congregants to look inward instead.
'Immediately after the attacks, the country's response was "to pay back and kill," he said. But before it got "holier than thou," he said, the nation should have considered how its own policies had led to the events of that day. (Last year, Mr. Obama said, "The violence of 9/11 was inexcusable and without justification," and added that he and his wife were at home on the day of the sermon, tending to their new baby.)' </quote>
I can understand why a liberal like Obama needs to reject these statements. After all when you first admit that the U.S. supports state terrorism in Palestine and in Africa, then soon you will have to admit that, as MLK said, the U.S. is the biggest purveyor of violence in the world and is the greatest terrorist power in the present.
Apparently, Wright also referred to the U.S. as "the U.S. of KKK A." And that ""Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run." Has he said anything less obvious than this? Something that I should actually be angry about? Has he said something that Howard Zinn might disagree with? I am just wondering.
I am reminded of the fact that Mark Twain used to refer to the U.S. as "the United States of Lyncherdom." Twain also suggested that the Stars and Stripes should be replaced by the Jolly Rodger. Some people were shocked at this but nobody suggested that Mark Twain was not part of the political spectrum. Apparently, believing that U.S. foreign policy is "immoral," as Wright has also said, excludes you from our intellectual culture. I suppose that is one reason to be "anti-intellectual." The intellectuals have excluded from their culture the likes of the best intellectuals such as Dorothy Day or A. J. Muste. They have defined "intellectual" to exclude anyone who is not "responsible" to the ruling class. Those who strive to be intellectuals of this sort have already lost their intelligence. Thus Jeremiah Wright is not an intellectual, he is a demagogue, or some other irresponsible type.
Wright also believes that racism also part of the social structure of our country. Apparently this also must lead to condemnation by responsible intellectuals and presidential candidates. It seems also to conclusively exclude all of us who believe that racism is structural from all political participation. I personally think that people who can't understand why someone might refer to the U.S. as "the United States of Lyncherdom" or "the U.S. of KKK A" lacks knowledge and sympathy of the depth of racism in the U.S.
Jeremiah Wright's jeremiads seem to be genuinely left. I understand he has some roots in black liberation theology. Am I wrong in this? Has there been any discussion here about Wright that I have missed? Has anyone here heard any of his sermons in full? Has anyone on this list written on the hypocrisy of the demand for Obama to reject Wright? Given all of the disgusting bigots who support the Republicans and who John McCain is currently courting it seems laughable that anyone is demanding that Obama reject Reverend Wright.
Jerry