Marc
Put down your remote control and step away from CNN, MSNBC and especially FoxNews. This is not a certified political crisis! Let's review the issue: six years ago the now retired pastor of a church in Chicago gave a sermon which reflected the views of many people sitting in the pews. Let's call this what it is, a manufactured "scandal" meant to embarrass Barack and chip away at his solid black electoral support and his growing national electoral coalition.
It is disgusting, politically motivated and racially ignorant, but it is not a political crisis. A political crisis is when a government lies to its people and to foreign nations in order to drag them into war. A political crisis is when a government watches thousands of it citizens suffer and starve on national television and doesn't even bother to send water. A political crisis is when a Congress deregulates an industry that then financially rapes consumers and provokes a widespread recession and housing crisis. A political crisis is when a President knowingly lies to a grand jury and touches off an impeachment proceeding over a personal issue.
I refuse to buy into any Barack bashing on this topic. I wish we could have a reasoned conversation about race in this country. I wish that we could use the Jeremiah Wright anxiety as a teachable moment to encourage Americans to reflect on how faith, race and patriotism are intertwined. But you and I have both done enough TV to know that sound bites rarely contribute to a broad and complex public discourse. That is why TheRoot.com is so great! We can hammer out the issues here and present complex arguments. But I think it is somewhat unfair to ask Obama to perform this same function in the middle of an election with a racially tone-deaf audience.
I will say that this whole thing feel familiar in the worst way. I feel like I am in middle school again having to explain to my white friends why I don't want to go to a pool party. I feel like I am on my first job having to explain to admissions committees the difference between various HBCUs. I feel like many black people feel all the time: burdened by the necessity of having to explain black culture, life, thought and practice to an often hostile and shockingly uninformed white audience.
Yes, I wish Barack could do it for us and keep us from carrying the burden. But in this case I am willing to do it for him. To support a candidate means to provide him support and help him do things he cannot do. I will keep doing my best to explain why Jeremiah Wright is a prophetic pastor whom many of of love and support. Barack: you go get that nomination brother.
Melissa
