Is Reverend Wright an exception amongst black preachers??

[kentuck]

Obama made a point last night in his interviews that black preachers had been making incendiary remarks for over 200 years. They have made divisive comments. It is historical.

When you go to a black church, you can expect to hear things that may not seem "patriotic" or politically correct. It is the accepted standard in black churches - at least in a good many of them. Why should Obama, Oprah, or any of the other black members of the church think Reverend Wright was a racist? Is the whole congregation racist?? I cannot buy that.

What the Rev Wright said may sound strange and racist to the ears of the average white person. But to the average black person, this is more or less the norm. Obama is no racist. But he is a member of that black church and he does understand the historical nature of the sermons. That is one of the underlying reasons of his candidacy. He wants to replace the old prejudices with a new message. His message has been one of unifying and understanding our differences.

It is our loss if we cannot accept those differences. The black churches have been the center of the black family for many decades. It is the one place where they could speak of the inhumanities and suffering they have endured. It is part of their way of life. We may call it "racism". They call it a normal sermon. And in the sermons, we will find elements of truth, although we are not equipped to handle such truths. For example, it is a truth that more people died at Hiroshima and Nagasaki than on 9/11. But we cannot speak of that in the same way that Rev Wright might speak of it. It is not an acceptable part of our reality.

I truly believe that Barack Obama, who loved his white mother, wants to bridge those differences of race. However, as we have shown in the last couple of days, we are not yet ready for that bridge. That is our failing as a nation, in my opinion.