What really strikes me as a universal truth about what Obama had to say about race is this: People are born into their racial identity, but that identity does not have to hold people down, nor can it solely elevate a person to greatness. Like Dr. Martin Luther King said, it's the content of one's character.
Which brings me to the conclusion that the words that Jeremiah Wright decided to use during his sermons were the product of a person without a fully developed character. Either that, or a person who decided to leave common sense behind for the benefit of sound bites and "Amens" from the congregation. Yes, I know that black pastors tend to get a little wound up in the pulpit. Some white preachers do the same.
But I can honestly say, if I or my children were subjected to such white on black racism in our church, I would have walked out faster than you can say "Hallelujah!"
We are all responsible for the words that come out of our mouths. But people in positions of authority, especially those who are supposedly representing God, should take great care never to veer into racist rhetoric and hate speech.
Obama skirted the issue quite eloquently, and I hope we can all move on now. He is not Rev. Wright. Rev. Wright is not Obama.
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