Race, Rage, and Religion
Posted by: Editorial Staff | 03/20/2008 2:49 PM
Posted on Behalf of Teresa Trujillo
I know that racism exists in our country. I am the white parent of a brown child. I've experienced it firsthand from those close to me and those who only know my face as a stranger on the street. I have watched people of all races look at my young son and look at me with shock or disdain for holding the hand of a brown child.
Today my son is a bright, articulate teen who is soon to become an exceptional young adult. We have raised him in a home that values self-reliance and works to triumph over adversity. We don't dwell on ethnicity as the only defining measure of his life or our family. The easy temptation exists to embrace the "blame someone else" philosophy of groups that shout "racist" to silence any discussion of meaningful education, social, or government reform.
I have seen the reports on Reverend Jeremiah Wright of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ. For over 20 years, it has been the spiritual home of a candidate for U.S. President.
Obama is a charismatic speaker who would make a wonderful Ivy League history professor--but does he have what it takes to be the leader of the free world?
There have been very few opportunities to hear candidate Obama's true opinions of this country. He has been eager to call for change, but he has been less forthright about what that change should be, or how to accomplish the proposed change. Yet, for 20 years he sat in the pews of Reverend Wright's church and set his moral compass by a man who spewed hate against America. Senator Obama says he didn't hear his pastor's message of racial hatred.
But, could these fiery sermons explain why Michelle Obama hasn't felt "proud" of the United States? On February 18, 2008 she was quoted as saying, "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country" Did the pastor's message find a place in her heart? I don't care how much pigment is in her skin, but Reverend Wright does.
I can't image why a woman with an Ivy League education isn't be proud of a country where she was afforded the freedom to achieve what most only dream. I can't believe that a woman whose non-profit Public Allies - Chicago, which was funded by taxpayer support through the AmeriCorps program, isn't proud of her country. Wright's words of, "God Damn America," must have found a home in Michelle Obama's heart.
The politics of identity are coming home to divide the country. The practice of dividing Americans on the basis of race, religion, and ethnicity is what fuels Reverend Wright's rage. Now Americans from all walks of lifeare re-evaluating their support of Barack Obama. The question isn't whether or not Reverend Wright is meeting the needs of his congregation. The question is whether or not a future American president, who chose to be a member of a racially charged congregation, can govern in a way that best meets the broad needs of the American constituents.
Barack Obama was an adult who chose to become a member of Trinity United, not a child whose parents placed him in a pew and told him not to fidget. He tithed and financially supported Reverend Wright's ability to spread his anti-American rhetoric. Barack Obama had twenty years to decide whether or not to support this particular pastor and his mission.
Obama wants to describe Wright as a wayward uncle. Well, most of us only associate with wayward family at holidays and special occasions. We don't volunteer to sit in their presence and tithe for the privilege of being enlightened by their views.
It is time to turn away from the politics and preaching of intolerance. Obama did not take a leader's position and walk away from intolerance in the disguise of religious freedom.
I still believe that Dr. Martin Luther King's dream of a colorblind society can be achieved, but only after our leaders disavow the intolerance that divides us. Obama turned away too late in the game.
Republicans try to make comments made by Obama's minister to him. If that is the case, then when is Mike Spence, President of the California Repulican Assembly going to denounce his church.
His church has racial policies we all find repugnant until late into the last century.
Fair is fair.
I do find it amusing that you would describe your "brown" son as "articulate." Even though you may suffer the slights that whites give to other whites for being the mother of a "brown" child, it is clear that you will never understand the endless slights that whites will direct at your son.
To describe your "brown" son as "articulate" is an everyday slight that whites have long used to describe brown people in this country. It infers a shock or surprise that he can string together two or three sentences. You will rarely (and I mean rarely) hear a white person describe another white as "articulate". How sad that this is how his mother views him.
What is sad is that you view your son through the prism of veiled racial preconceptions and don't even know it...Poor Kid...I pray for you.
You have got to be kidding. As a white American, I can no longer comment on the intelligence of a person of color without it being construded as racist? I don't know where you get your frame of reference, but in my white community, it is not uncommon to comment on someone as smart,articulate,intelligent, well spoken, etc. Perhaps it is the white community that is misunderstood.
To Anon:
I was, and still am, called articulate. It happened today at a luncheon when I explained a complicated issue regarding education. I've always considered it a compliment when someone was pleased that I could express myself in a way that others could understand.
And yes, my son is articulate. He even likes to articulate with his parents. I'm often told by other parents of teens that they wished their children were as articulate as our son.
So, I am pleased to call myself the parent of an articulate teenager.
Teresa Trujillo
I thought you might find the following article from snopes.com interesting: http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/thesis.asp
Some thoughts from Michelle Obama's senior thesis are posted on Snopes. It seems pretty clear that Mrs. Obama sees herself through the prism of race. The opportunity to attend a predominantly white Ivy League campus heightened her feelings of being different than the white students at Princeton. 20-years later she still sees our country through a lens that breaks us apart by race and ethnicity. Is it too much to ask for a president and first lady who think of themselves as Americans first, are proud of their country, and communicate a clear vision and plan for moving our country forward?