I am writing this at the behest of a couple of Kossacks I respect a good deal. I am usually anxious about writing on deeply personal topics, but I'm taking a dive here. I only ask that you please hear from whence I come, as this is a sincere plea for compassion and understanding.
Let me begin this diary with the request that I made of another diarist who wrote about Rev. Wright’s NAACP speech:
Please be careful with how you proceed [with your attacks of Reverend Wright.]
While some of my fellow democrats continue to attempt to use Wright as a knife to stab Obama with, bear in mind that for many in the African American community, this [Wright issue] is not about Obama. This is about our church and our culture.
Please allow me to explain.
Many of the claims made against Obama, using Rev. Wright and TUCC, that are asserted by the Clinton campaign and supporters, the Corporate Media and Republicans include the following:
- Wright is an Extremist
- He shouts his rhetoric in a ridiculous way
- His approach does little to bring all Americans together.
- He is Unamerican/Unpatriotic
It is worth noting that such labels and attacks, have quickly transcended this political debate and begun to insult the very things that have made my community strong and kept us when there was little else to believe in – our religious tradition. It is part of what has informed Clyburn and encouraged him to speak out. Please try to empathize, even if you don’t understand.
He has been called a crazy extremist
For those who find Wright’s teachings and ministry as a whole to be of value to the community, he is not extremist, he is a beacon. Keep something in mind: whereas some of my white working class brothers and sisters did not cling to their religion in times of need, many blacks did. For many, it is the ONLY thing that has kept us from going over the deep end when we were struggling to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps. That being said, I find some of what he says to be over the top, but to label anyone, Wright included, extremist based on only a few statements or gestures represents our ignorance, not his. In addition, it is wreckless to attack a symbol of what has been an anchor for MANY. Think of someone insulting the Pope, or calling him a Nazi. Hell, even Maher had to apologize for that.
But that's the more generic argument. Here is where it gets personal for others and myself.
He shouts rhetoric in a ridiculous way. His approach does little to bring all Americans together. He's unAmerican and unpatriotic!
How patronizing!
I am wondering why it is that others feel like somehow it has become Jeramiah Wright's job to speak in a way that appeals to them? Do their ministers or rabbi's change the way they speak to appeal to other cultures? Has anyone changed the image of Jesus to more accurately reflect the bio-geographic accuracy of his image (mid eastern/african dark with wooly hair) so that we can come together?
But this was EXACTLY part of Jeramiah Wright's point. This is one of the main parts of his NAACP speech that I actually embraced. African Americans do not owe anyone in this country some artificial courtesy of being made comfortable with who we are. We ARE different and in saying so does not mean that one is better or worse. We do learn different - the left/right brain argument is a debatable cause - but we do! I discuss this with my son’s school ad nauseam. This is a known fact and does not speak to inequality unless one is predisposed to thinking that difference means unequal. I'd like to think that these are differences that can be celebrated, and they can until others began to unfairly label those differences!!! Wright appeals to the audience that is listening - the African American community. To attempt to label him an extremist is to invariably attack those who are beneficiaries of his hopeful and inspirational message, even if he is over the top some times.
We can debate all night long about the veracity of Wright's claims, and that is fair. But it is treading on thin ice when one attempts to label the practices of this man, who is behaving in a way not unlike many of the African American ministers around this country who spiritually feed and support our community daily. Please don't do that.
And look, as politics goes, this may seem fair to some people because, after all, he is Obama's pastor. But it is no more fair to my community to insult our practices (not our backwards statements, mind you, but our practices) than it is to attack any other community’s traditions and practices, be it Islamic, Indian, Asian or otherwise. There is relative little the African American culture has maintained throughout its long and storied history, but its religious practices are one of the few which has held on strong.
And as for questioning the patriotism of Wright
Now, here's a minister who has dutifully served his country at the bedside of a sitting president during a time when the south was still bitterly accepting his rights as a citizen is far from unpatriotic. He worked his way through school and has obtained the highest degree in his field coupled with other advanced degrees. He has encouraged our community to pick itself up when it was unpopular, unfortunately, for him to do so. He represents some of the brightest lights in the AA community in this way! Why would you want to rob us of that? You can challenge his ideology without lambasting the character and practice of the man, no? Has he not earned the right to criticize a country that he has served so faithfully? If not, who has. You?
What’s so different about the African American Church’s tradition, you ask?
Well, ask any black church-goer about the "Mother's moan." It's what our female church elder, or Mother as she is called, did when she wanted to cry! Instead, she would just moan to God! That's what you call ridiculous when you attack Wright’s cadence! I was reminiscing on this with another commenter, Blackbox, about Dr. Watts (h/t to Blackbox for the video). Give him a listen, will ya?
“I love the Lord! He heard my cry!” And you gotta repeat that phrase and hold each syllable just long enough and off key enough until you get to the next verse when somebody's gonna shout out: "And he pitied every moan!" Then you drag it out the same way. Now to some, that may have seemed like an off key talent show of wanna-be Idols in a peanut gallery! I know! But for me, I remember seeing the anguish on my grandmother’s face when she held those tunes in our church. I remember the tears she would unsuccessfully hide some days and understood at an early age the connection between that song and the strut and smile she had when we left church. That song and all of the associated worship grew to symbolize strength to me. I’m sure there are other Kossacks who could Amen that sentiment.
Oh, and we do this thing called shout. And no, it's not just yelling out of turn. We do that too as the occasional, "Amen" or "Preach, Preacher!" is a welcomed sign to the speaker that he is hitting a high note!. Uh, uh, see the shouting I am really talking about is when you dance the dance that David danced, baby!!! Yeah, it can be embarrassing for those who wear wigs, but it is one of the most liberating experience for others.
Out of context, this looks bizarre. But if you just got that breakthrough that changed your outlook on life from bleak to promising, this makes perfectly good sense. That black man is painfully aware of the prison statistics and knows that the odds of him ending up there as opposed to college are very high. Every Sunday spent at church is a breakthrough.
There are other predominantly black congregations of all varieties and our worship styles do vary. However, the point is that our practices may be different and that is okay. I only ask that my fellow Dems not trivialize it, that's all.
As many of us have agreed, we would expect this kind of attack from the ideological right. But coming from fellow Democrats, it should be known that this cuts especially deep. Why? Because we claim to be the party that embraces. We were supposed to be the party that accepted with open arms those whom the Republicans made no place for. We were supposed to be better than them, I thought.
As a result, African Americans came to the party in overwhelming numbers. AA’s make up the most consistently loyal voting blocs in the party. Swingers? Nope, not largely. We have shown the same devotion to this party that we have to our churches so to be assailed in this way by fellow Dems is insulting on so many levels and risks fracturing us in irreparable ways. Again, try to listen to what Clyburn and other leaders are saying.
Hey, I understand politics, believe me. I understand that Obama’s life is an open book that is subject to public review and discourse, I get that. But you can go at Obama without attacking the entire black culture. We are not caricatures to be pundited by diarists looking to score points or politicians looking to marginalize voters. I think this is what seems to get lost in the "all is fair in politics" game.
We are not ALL running for office. Just Obama.