I’m 29 years old, and I’m already crazy skeptical and cynical when it comes to politics. So when I started reading comments this afternoon about how Obama’s speech, which I didn’t catch when it happened, was perhaps the greatest speech on race ever given by a politician, I had my doubts.
I watched the speech a few hours ago. Goodbye, doubts. America needs to listen to this speech until it sinks in. He put on the table all the issues I was hoping to discuss, and he said, much more eloquently, everything I’ve been trying to say. I’ve said multiple times that we never actually have a conversation about race because political sensationalism always takes over. Obama said the same. I said that Wright wasn’t a racist, even if I think his method of exposing racial injustice is manifestly unhelpful. Obama said the same. He laid out most of the important starting points for a real race discussion in America, and put forth a view of how we got to where we are today.
Will the conversation actually happen? Well, there cynicism takes over again. But if you’re a reader of this blog, please take 40 completely undistracted minutes to watch the speech, and then take time after to think. Jot notes while he’s talking, if it’ll help. I won’t be returning to the “Racism 101″ series until after Easter, and I don’t need to; this speech laid about a lot of really important things, and I think it should be the focal point of discussion for a while.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Jon // Mar 19, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Rev. Wright uses broad strokes to paint “rich, white people” as his “enemy.” Well, dammit, there is a decent chance that by his definition, I am a rich, white person. He has declared me his enemy.
I find it impossible to discuss Rev. Wright without strong negative reaction to the possibility of having a President who for TWENTY YEARS listened to him. And may possibly define me as his enemy also …
While I know it’s not the discussion of racism in American that you were hoping for, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on using the pulpit for politics. I can’t imagine God is very happy with either Rev. Wright OR your boyfriend, the Rev. Manning: http://youtube.com/watch?v=khuu-RhOBDU
I think this is one thing the LDS church has got down - keep politics out of the pulpit.
2 Travis Prinzi // Mar 19, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Some initial thoughts:
I don’t know who Rev. Manning is, but he’s not my boyfriend.
I completely understand your thoughts about Rev. Wright. I don’t think there’s really much question that Rev. Wright might consider you or me his enemy, and I don’t think that’s a good thing at all.
I’ve disagreed with something in the majority of sermons I’ve heard over the past few years, probably. I think to conclude that Obama is anything like Wright, we’d have to assume that Wright does nothing but preach on this theme week after week after week, and it doesn’t seem like that’s true at all. Given that Obama has consistently denounced the more extreme remarks of Wright, I’m not really nervous about him considering whites his “enemy.” His spending plans, however…
I don’t think it’s possible to keep politics out of the pulpit. Religions are not ultimately private belief systems to create comfort through personal piety; that’s a very modern definition of religion that doesn’t fit the majority of the world’s religions at all. Religions, rather, are visions and descriptions of the way things are, of who we are, of why we’re here, and of how we’re supposed to live.
I think it’s a matter of how one does politics from the pulpit. I’m more interested in keeping hatred out of the pulpit, which is where both Wright and preacher in the YouTube video fail miserably.
But it’d be impossible for Christians, for example, to entirely keep politics out of the pulpit. because the “Kingdom of God” language used by Jesus is manifestly political, as is the exposition of such themes in St. Paul. It’s just politics upside down. Instead of being a grab for power, Jesus preached the need to lay down power, to affect change through suffering love. Which brings me back to keeping hatred out of the pulpits.
I don’t usually hear conservatives get mad, or say that it’s “politics” and should be kept out of the pulpit, when the Baptist preacher condemns abortion (which he should do, of course).
Here’s maybe how I’d frame it: politics can’t be avoided from the pulpit, but lining up an entire religion with an entire political party is a Bad Thing. Political issues can be discussed in a way that doesn’t sound like this: “Here is God’s opinion on this particular issue in U.S. Government, and if you disagree, you’re not a true believer.” I don’t know if that suffices, and I probably still have a lot more thinking to do about it all.
3 chris Holdridge // Mar 19, 2008 at 11:38 pm
OK…I’m gonna lighten the conversation…because I just can’t help it. Travis, your boyfriend looks like Cedric the Entertainer. I can’t watch that video without laughing at THAT.
4 lonelypilgrim // Mar 20, 2008 at 12:16 am
Chris,
Travis had better be careful then……..Lovita can get very jealous of “Ceddi” as she calls him. Haha.
Important note - If you’ve never watched “The Steve Harvey Show” my attempt at humor is probably lost on you.
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