Obama and His Pastor, Again!

Many people have contested Obama’s remaining in the Trinity Church, given the rather angry diatribes voiced by its pastor. In addition to the many who voiced their concerns in the public media, one of my brother-in-laws shared his concerns.

Given my history which has been shared and my past and current anger at policies and actions of the US government, I had virtually no problem in identifying with a person who listened to Pastor Wright and continued to remain in the church. Everything has to be heard in context and in the context of a church with mostly a black population, there was much that would evoke words of anger.

However, Juan Williams’ column regarding Pastor Wright in the context of the life of Martin Luther King pointed to another way of addressing the concerns that others felt. Rather than focus on the anger, Williams contrasted King’s style of seeking unity to Wright’s focus on division. The dreams of King were based on the assumption that we were all brothers and we could hold one another’s hand in a common brotherhood. Wright focused on the black’s current set of problems (admittedly numerous) as caused by white arrogance and prejudice.

While I still see how a person could remain in a church pastored by someone like Wright and am convinced that there is authenticity in his rhetoric within the context of his ministry, I do recognize that there is a higher road available to those who can see beyond division. In addition to the dreams of King, it is of interest that Bill Crosby (cf. May 2008 issue of Atlantic Monthly) has been going around the country with a message addressed to the black population that convicts them of using their problems, often attributed to white prejudice, as justification for their not assuming their responsibility for their behavior.

The complexity of the black population results in varying methods of addressing the recognized problems. The Kings, Wrights, Crosbys, and the multitude of other thinking people have a place at the table. We can get insights into solutions by listening to them all.