I have read a number of posts, on this site and elsewhere, attributing the different response of some people to the pronouncements of Rev. Wright on the one hand, and of the Revs. Falwell, Hagee, Robertson etc. on the other, to the race of the preachers. The point being made is that it's more acceptable for a white minister to make derogatory comments about certain groups of people, and to say that God is punishing America for various sins, than it is for a black minister to make such comments. I'm certainly prepared to believe that race is a factor. But I think a bigger factor is whose ox is getting gored.
Conservatives are OK with someone saying God is judging America for our "sins" of homosexuality, abortion, removing prayer from the schools, etc., because those are sins conservatives can tell themselves that other people commit, and that conservatives disapprove of. But when someone like Rev. Wright says God is judging America for our "sins" of racism, militarism, and lack of concern for the poor, conservatives know that they are the ones being accused of these things, and they don't like it.
I seem to remember a story Jesus told about someone who prayed, approximately, "Lord, I thank Thee that I am not like other men--like that sinner over there, for instance." As I recall, Jesus said that God didn't appreciate that attitude very much.