Character: Barack Obama stands by Jeremiah Wright

“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.”


Stated by the founding fathers in the declaration of independence in the spring of 1787, and once again by Barack Obama in his March 18th 2008 speech, those powerful words have been historically been used by people that wanted to change the world.


The words ” change" and" revolution" are related in the idea that revolution is a fast change. I think that the campaign of Barack Obama has been a testament to the power of change. Change was the simple word that was at the heart of his campaign. The revolution that Barack Obama’s campaign forced upon America was one of facing who we really are as a country in regards to race relations.


Sunday mornings are still the most segregated time in America. Whites go to churches that other whites go to. Black churches are attended by other blacks. The country has long thought that simply being in church was enough to fulfill ones spiritual obligations. Now we must as a country face the race issues head on. The campaign of an African-American has forced us to peer deep within ourselves, and ask tough questions. Are we as a country ready to elect the best candidate regardless of race, creed, or color?


I as an African American fell that that are still racial problems in this country. I think that there are racial issues all over the world.



The public reaction and controversy surrounding Jeremiah Wright confirmed this for me.




The Jeremiah Wright controversy during the 2008 presidential campaign did not alter my perception of race relations in America. The Jeremiah Wright controversy did change my opinion of the media in America. It was the media that took small portions of a sermon by Wright and condemned his character. If one had took the time to view what Jeremiah Wright actually said in his sermons it follows that no reasonable person could call him a raciest or hate monger. The sermons were aimed at the real injustices that members of his congregation and the black community have suffered from. Rev. Wright can recall when it was not safe for blacks to drive cross country in America. Rev Wright can recall when blacks looked upon the police with fear and distrust. These are the things that made Rev. Wright preach the sermon in a historical framework.



Goddamn America for slavery. Goddamn America for a social welfare system that rewards slothfulness, and drives black fathers away from their children. I, like Rev. Wright once in a while damns America for some of its wrongs.



The Rev. Jeremiah Wright is a typical African American preacher. It is the job of the preacher to serve as a community leader and sounding board. If there were no preachers in the African American community there would have never been a civil rights movement.





“I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother - a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.” Barack Obama



I as an African American can not express how proud I am of the stand Barack Obama took regarding the media attack on Rev Jeremiah Wright. The character of a man is measured when he is faced with hard decisions. Barack Obama, unlike anyone in recent history’ has made the correct decision time and time again. I think that it is a good day when a great man makes a great choice. The best thing about the choice that Obama made is that I can identify with where he was coming from. I see what he sees in Rev. Wright is a good man: who taken out of context, was made by the media to be portrayed as a bad man.


Truth is what it is. The only way for a person to judge Rev. Wright is to listen to what he said. I listened to several of his sermons, and I agree with most of what he said.



The disturbing thing about the Rev. Wright controversy is that it was the best that the media could do to damage the character of Barack Obama. Instead what they did was inspire Barack Obama to write his best speech-A More Perfect Union.