For real this time: Obama's former pastor coming to North Texas

We featured a profile today of Rev. Frederick Haynes, a South Dallas pastor on the shortlist to be the next head of the NAACP.

Haynes is celebrating his 25th anniversary as senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church, which has grown to more than 10,000 members. To close out the celebration, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Haynes' mentor, will be the guest pastor on April 27th.

At a service earlier this month, Haynes confirmed that Wright is still planning on attending.

"We're going to hear the whole sermon," Haynes said. "Not just the clips in order to feed a right-wing agenda."

-Aman Batheja

Comments

[Mike]

Uh...I'm not "right winged"...in fact, I'm an Obama supporter. But I was still offended by Rev. Wright's comments. Why do they ignore those of us who aren't right winged that were upset by these comments? Every American should have been offended. Or at least disturbed.

[Dale]

4-15-08

I heard an entire sermon of Jeremiah
Wright. He supports abortion. This is
murder of the unborn. This hypocrite
claims to be a Christian? Christians
do not murder.

[Eugene Merritt, Fort Worth]

It seems that the flap over Rev Wright will never go away. Since it must remain as a cornerstone of the 2008 presidential election, there will continue to be plenty of negative viewpoints discussed and attempts to counter those viewpoints. Wright has been coined as a racist that hates white people but he hasn't stated such in any of his sermons. Even the snippets we all have heard over and over only imply that he was thoroughly frustrated and disappointed with the leadership of our country being manipulated by large corporations and the richest of Americans. Also, he pointed out that the overwhelmingly majority of this group happens to be white Americans. Unfortunately, his choice of words is quite different from mine and most Americans agree (black, white, or brown) that his words were somewhat inflammatory (although somewhat true nonetheless). Does this make him a racist? Anti-American? No way. Could he have used other language in a still fiery delivery to get his point across that would have been more appropriate in a pulpit during Sunday services? Of course and his choice of language should be the only thing questioned for this hoopla and nothing else.

Did America infect African Americans with HIV/AIDS? As outlandish as this allegation appears, the government once administered syphilis to several African American men without their knowledge during an experiment in Tuskegee years ago and such a deliberate and contemptuous act would tend to give birth to rumors that a modern day US government could be guilty of something inconceivable such as infecting Africans with the AIDS virus. The likelihood of this action occurring is miniscule at best but the rumored inference that such a deed would be contemplated gives an indication of the level of mistrust of a government that should be “for the

Did the government bring drugs to the inner cities? This is what I believe to be the greatest American tragedy that the government has allegedly perpetrated upon American citizens of color in modern times. During Ronald Reagan's presidency, which is highly regarded by most conservatives as the zenith of patriotism and Christianity exhibited in the highest office in the land, Reagan vehemently advocated his support for the Contras in their struggle against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. The Contras were woefully undersupplied in weaponry so the Reagan administration concocted a sure way to secure weapons for them without involving government resources. The plan, which Oliver North was a large part of, involved importing large shipments of cocaine processed in Nicaragua to America. The CIA orchestrated deals made with American dope dealers using Nicaraguans as front men. One such front man was Danilo Blandon. Where in America were these shipments of cocaine concentrated? Right smack dab in the middle of South Central Los Angeles. Ricky Ross was the main distributor and used as a pawn who knew only that Blandon gave him an opportunity to rise from his meager street life existence to live a life he had witnessed only in movies. Ross developed a $2-3 million- a- week enterprise based on the sale of crack using cocaine that was imported by the CIA. His success in LA was eventually copied in other large urban areas across the US.

In time, crack cocaine ravaged the African American communities across the country causing a substantial increase in crime, prostitution and the spread of the HIV/Aids virus, hopelessness due to the inability to hold employment, and eventually the fracture of the African American family. Twenty-plus years later after crack cocaine was introduced in LA, our communities have very recently been able to stave off the negative influence of this killer drug and begin to return to a pre-crack era. The Reagan administration never considered the consequences of what their actions would have on an already distressed community and considered the horrible atrocities that resulted as collateral damage for ensuring the Contras were successful in Nicaragua. They figured nobody would be affected but the poor so their power base would remain intact. And these guys are supposed to be Christians.

Of course, the Reagan administration and Oliver North denied all. However, DEA and LAPD drug agents have stated that this allegation is true. Celerino Castillo III, a DEA agent, wrote his memoirs entitled “Powder Burns” where he chronicled his witnessing of cocaine being loaded in Nicaragua being shipped to LA. Gary Webb, an investigative reporter in the LA area, wrote a book called “Dark Alliance” on his findings. Apparently, Webb got too close to finding real evidence in the matter because he was found shot to death in 2004. It was officially listed as a suicide although none of his family/associates could confirm that he was having thoughts of ending his life. Ronald Reagan, as well as the Republican Party, was hailed as an American Hero while Oliver North has received tribute from the religious right and given his own TV show on Fox News after being granted immunity by Congress for his role in Iran/Contra affairs. He, too, is admired and revered by the Republican Party as an American Hero.

Rev. Wright was certainly aware of this atrocity and has seen many times (as most African Americans) the hopes and dreams of people of color being dashed at times because of bigotry and racism (institutionalized & overtly). I believe these incidents festered in him continually for years until his hope of an America free of bias and prejudices began to fade. It would be insane to say that the plight of African American communities lie at the feet of racists and bigots because the choices that we make heavily impact our lives as any other race of people. However, the additional lack of impartiality in obtaining quality education, hiring practices, housing, etc., can have a devastating effect on people of color who are already distressed due to the same conventional barriers in life that are experienced by whites as well.

This is why Jeremiah Wright was loudly repudiating the government and the rich whites who manipulate its policies. Imagine how he feels as a man who for a great number of years has worked in the depths of African American communities in Chicago (once recognized as one of America’s most segregated cities) and witnessed firsthand the carnage produced by cocaine, a drug imported by his own government for the purpose of distribution in distressed neighborhoods inhabited by people of color. Brite was attempting to honor him for his work and the spread of the gospel. Evidently, Brite did not view him as one who hated whites and his government but as someone who most definitely was frustrated with how the policies of government and big business, particularly during the Reagan/Bush eras, affected people of color.

[Matt]

The man Wright is a bigot, and no minister of the word that is for sure. As bad as a KKK member just from the other direction.

I was thinking about voting for Obama as well, but with his recent remarks about blue collar workers being frustrated and clining to religion and guns, forget it.