Advice to Pastor Wright

The news makers have been consumed with the comments made by Pastor Wright of the Trinity church in Chicago and his inflammatory comments about America, and white people in general. Anyway you slice it, it is "hate speech" and it's a shame to see such deep seeded feelings toward white people, and toward the USA. This country with all of it's faults, is still the greatest country in the world. You can argue that Pastor Wright and his generation may harbor some deep seeded feelings from the era of segregation, but his speeches are certainly not helpful, and may torpedo Obama's nomination.

But even more important - when will the black people of this country quit claiming to be, and stop acting like, victims?

Obama says his Pastor Wright is a patriot, but "misguided" - I don't know. But if he is, maybe he should have rephrased his sermons a bit. Here are some suggestions regarding some of his more controversial statements:

- Pastor Wright said, "The USA invented AIDS to infect and kill black people". A ridiculous statement - how about this: "The AIDS epidemic is devastating Africa, and as the super power in the world, the USA should be leading the effort to eradicate this disease" Doesn't that sound better?
The fact of the matter is, the USA and the Bush administration have led all other countries in financial and other contributions to HIV/AIDS treatment and research. More than twice what the Clinton administration ever did.


- Pastor Wright called this country, "The US KKK of America". How about this: "The US has made significant strides since the days of the KKK in America, but as blacks we believe the country still has a long way to go, to overcome discrimination". Doesn't that sound better?
Many blacks have forgotten that the Union army under the direction of Republican President Abe Lincoln fought for their freedom. Seven hundred thousand Americans died in that war. I even had a great-great grandfather who joined the Union army just 10 years after emigrating from England because he felt so strongly about freeing the slaves. He lost his arm during the Battle of Gettysburg. In addition, without Republicans the Civil Rights Act would never had been passed , yet for some reason, blacks still believe we are the party of "discrimination" - go figure.


- Pastor Wright said, "Not God Bless America, God Damn America". How about this: "God created us all equal, and the bible says 'damn those that do not follow the teachings of Jesus'" Doesn't that sound better?
Many black people feel they have had a raw deal, but is it really the fault of America? What about the billions that America has invested into elevating the plight of blacks - starting with the Civil War, then civil rights legislation, affirmative action, educational preferences, welfare, subsidised housing, etc, etc. Do not blacks have some responsibility here? I could make a list, but I will paraphrase Bill Cosby: "How will we African Americans ever get our act together when 70% of our children are born out of wedlock. Where have all the fathers gone?" Obviously the situation is more complicated than that one issue, but resurrecting family values again in the black community would be a great start.


Here is my point - if Pastors like Dr. Wright want to preach about the plight of blacks, why not do it in a positive way? "Hate speech" is just that - causing nothing but a further schism in the race differences between black and white.

So we will see if Obama can overcome this problem with his Pastor Wright association. Wouldn't it be interesting to know what is in Obama's heart, and how much of this "hate philosophy" he actually believes. But it's the Democrats problem, and they will have to decide sooner or later between Obama or Hillary. Who do you think is more qualified? Someone that sat in a pew the last 20 years listening to black against white hate speech, but doesn't remember hearing any of it? Or Hillary, the "experienced" candidate ready to lead on day one - a candidate who has travelled the world with her daughter Chelsy meeting world leaders, and the only first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to enter a war zone, literally dodging sniper bullets as she and Chelsy bravely ran for their car after landing in Bosnia. Make your choice.