Is Reverend Wright?
Let me start off by saying, I do NOT agree with everything that Rev. Wright has said, but as someone who has studied Black history, I understand. I do NOT agree with the tone of some of Rev. Wright’s comments, but as someone who has attended Black churches, I understand. And seeing as how I’ve never walked in Rev. Wright’s shoes, I’m not going to question why he feels the way he feels about certain aspects of America. I’ll tell the Rev. Wright’s of this nation to "Stop blaming America" and to "Get over their anger," when someone tells the South that the Civil War is over and it’s okay to vote for a Northerner, which they’ve refused to do since the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Getting over it is a two-way street.
The purpose of this series of blogs is to cut through the current media storm of sound-bites, self-righteousness, and manufactured outrage.
The purpose of this series of blogs is to add some clarity, context, and perspective to a loop of comments that have been deemed so offensive that a presidential candidate’s electability is now being questioned.
The purpose of this series of blogs is to show that there are usually two sides to every story, and up to this point, no one has bothered to examine the other side of Rev. Wright's comments. Everyone has chosen to follow the lead of FOX Jazeera (i.e., FOX News) and chase the moving car like a pack of clueless dogs.
On the surface, yes many of these comments seem outrageous, but under the surface, well, I’ll let you be the judge. One of the biggest problems with our "Youtube-driven" society is the focus is often misplaced. In the case of Rev. Wright, the focus has been on a skillfully edited mixture of sound-bites with fiery tone, and the vast majority of his words have been dismissed, instead of examined. Actually, Rev. Wright’s fiery tone has exposed America’s racial divide just as much as his edited sound-bites. The fact that the media and much of this nation has been willing to swallow so little and dismiss so much only validates many of Rev. Wright’s points. Point being, many in this nation are completely unaware of the racial divide or flat out don’t care. Does this make them racists? Absolutely NOT. Nor does it make Rev. Wright a racist for pointing this fact out. What you’re about to read are not excuses for Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s comments, but instead, small exposés. By adding some context, some clarity, and some truth, the over-exaggerated-outrage towards Rev. Wright’s words will be exposed for what it is, hypocrisy. In turn, once this hypocrisy is exposed, so to will the true root of the outrage, America’s racial divide. Since very few people will ever take the time to view a Rev. Wright sermon in its entirety, let’s look past his fiery tone and closely examine his media-edited words. Since Rev. Wright’s comments will never be examined in their intended context, it’s only fair to show another viewpoint of each sound-bite. The folks who are supposedly so outraged and so offended can’t have it both ways. If you DON'T want to understand the intended context and you prefer to hang your hat on these isolated sound-bites, then let’s take a look at an opposing interpretation of each sound-bite. In other words, two can play at this ‘selective-interpretation’ game.
So let’s examine Rev. Wright’s sound-bites, minus the fiery tone.
I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
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