(Akiit.com) Several weeks ago Barrack Obamas’ pastor the Reverend Jeremiah Wright of the Trinity United Church of Christ came under fire for making what were considered several controversial comments concerning America’s foreign policy, its treatment of people considered Third World such as Black South Africans, their support of apartheid and the continued and ongoing dehumanization of Blacks in America. Let me read that again. Over and over again I read his comments which were seemingly taken out of context and even though they were taken out of context I found little error in his logic, his anger and his reasoning.
I saw little wrong with Reverend’s Wright’s thinking because I like Reverend Wright live in a separate and distinct America from many of those galled and appalled at his comments. Like the good reverend I live in an America where my roots cannot be traced back to the family crest but to an America which ripped us from the shores of another continent, away from our families and loved ones, from our culture depleting a continent of its most valuable resource, its people. Not only were they displaced from their homes they were subjugated to the most inhumane forms of servitude known to mankind in recent history. And the inhumanity did not end there but continued with the institutionalization of racism that has pervaded every nook and cranny and every facet of the African-American’s existence in America . Whether it is in areas such as the job market, education, the disproportionate mortality rate the fact remains that there is an inherent inequality woven into the very fabric of our society based on race.
And as it’s always been in the African-American community the African-American church and the Black minister have been the vehicles for conveying the thoughts and the sentiments to the larger community in a rather civil manner. It has also been the place for folks of color to gather and vent and purge and seek direction in spite of almost insurmountable odds. This is the forum which led us through slavery the riots of the 1920’s, and stood at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement in the late 50’s and early 60’s. It was the fiery speeches of Nat, Martin, Malcolm, Adam Clayton Powell and now Reverend Wright that not only kept us energized but empathized right along with us letting us know that we were not alone in our struggle to throw off the shackles of America’s inhumanity to it’s very own sons and daughters.
Reverend Wright’s social focus is if nothing else one of the primary reasons he is considered one of the ten most influential Black pastors in Americas . His unique ability to tie in the woes of African-Americans to their plight in America not only inspires thought provoking commentary but allows us as African-Americans to more clearly distinguish the predicament we find ourselves in and amend our actions so that we may prosper in spite of the overwhelming odds presented us.
So why the outrage?
The outrage resides in the fact that because of the racism which permeates our society we have become two distinctly unique America ’s. There is the one America which has the ability to view America as home, an enabler. The other America of which I find myself apart of looks at America as an inhibiting, debilitating source of continued malice and frustration, in part almost like the enemy content to keep us subjugated for fear of. As Malcolm X once said, (and I paraphrase), because we sit at the table does not make us diners. And because we reside in America does not make us Americans.
However, and until we shed the shackles of hatred and racism because of the hue of one’s skin and begin to actively listen, communicate and actively participate to alleviate this much maligned system that attempts to disenfranchise far too many Americans and until we allay the ills that afflict and divide us we as Americans will continue to have one America singing ‘God bless America and continuing to be outraged when the other America shouts ‘God damned America…
From this America Reverend Wright wasn’t wrong.
Written By Bert Brown
Email Contact;
berttheveteran@yahoo.com