The Impossibility of Transcending Race

Byron York just published an article about blacks’ reaction to Obama’s speech at NRO. One of them says that oratory like Wright’s is par for the course at black churches and apparently sees nothing wrong with that:

“I wasn’t offended by anything the pastor said. A lot of things he said were absolutely correct…. The way he said it may not have been the most appropriate way to say it, but as far as a typical black inner-city church, that’s how it’s said.”

A black pastor defends Wright:

“I think much of what he had to say was on point in terms of America needs to challenge her foreign policy,” Waller told me. “While it may be divisive to talk about 9/11 as chickens coming home to roost, what was really being said there is that America cannot believe that our hands are totally innocent in worldwide violence. So at the core of his arguments, I think there is a truth.”

It’s a black thing, and I don’t understand.

By on 3/18/08 at 7:54 pm

Ian Jobling notes:

“Commentators have made the obvious point that the attention given to Wright has discredited Obama’s claim to be a unifier and a candidate who transcended race. A deeper point should be made, however: Obama failed in this role not because of accidental flaws in his character, but because such alien populations as whites and blacks cannot in principle be reconciled.”

What most pundits and other so-called “journalists” have missed, is not this obvious fact of life Dr. Jobling, only their obvious inability (their audaciously blind hope in the multicultural “ideal,” so to speak) to recognize this. They have declared (through their own desperate need to see a Utopian States of America) that Comrade Obama’s speech is not only fully redeeming of his coming “presidency,” but that it was a “historic” necessity that will “erase” racial differences altogether?

That it was in fact, too little and too late, is totally lost on them; for example, that fool on MSNBC, Chris Mathews, was gushing and simpering like some besotted schoolgirl, over this wretched bit of sophistry by Comrade Obama. All the while, in the second half of his stupid show “Hardball,” he and his “progressive” guests, were whining that Republicans (almost the exclusive “white” party in this country) are throwing races to Hillary, by voting for her in the primaries? All the while, sniggering about the middleclass “sheep” who are doing Ann Coulter’s and Rush Limbaugh’s “bidding.”

As if, should we do their bidding instead, and ignore in a semi-lucidity the danger Comrade Obama poses for our people, we would then be “redeemed” in some way and more importantly through their “enlightened” and kaleidoscopically spasmodic multicultural euphoria?

Time and again, I have waited for Comrade Obama to implode, to have his Howard Dean/Stalingrad moment, and now it has happened. Better still, I think it has occurred for the Democratic party as a whole. Neither Comrade Obama or the Red Queen Hillary, can get the 2225 (or so?) delegates needed to secure the nomination in their party, should Hillary get Pennsylvania and Indiana even marginally. Have I or will I, vote for Hillary in a close primary state such as those mentioned above, you just bet I will, or already have?

If anything would encourage me to do so, beyond the obvious tactical political advantage this Fall, would be seeing how the Chris Mathews and other “mainstream” media scum looked to be on the verge of tears, when she beat that mulatto in Texas and Ohio. That is enough for me to know, that it is a vote well spent.

Call it the “Audacity” of Schadenfreude?

By John PM on 3/18/08 at 8:07 pm

There is a very interesting discussion of the sources of Wright’s theology at this URL:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/JC18Aa01.html

It cites two black academics, Cone and Hopkins, as his leading lights. They are both into “Black Liberation Theology,” or BLT (no mayo). This is pure Marxism, and nothing that most of us would recognize as Christianity at all. I recommend reading Spengler’s article at the Asia Times (URL above) for a lot of insight into Wright.

It is important that we look hard at Wright because this man has had a major impression on Barack Obama over a very long period of time. It is extremely important that this information be made as widely known as possible so that people can make informed decisions about who how they want to vote. It would be foolhardy to think that Obama does not think this way when he himself has told us that he has been a loyal member of this church for 20 years.

By on 3/18/08 at 8:16 pm

In the black pastor’s defense of Wright, he says,

“I think much of what he had to say was on point in terms of America needs to challenge her foreign policy,” Waller told me. “While it may be divisive to talk about 9/11 as chickens coming home to roost, what was really being said there is that America cannot believe that our hands are totally innocent in worldwide violence. So at the core of his arguments, I think there is a truth.”

I have long had the understanding that in order to speak the truth, you do not tell lies. You do not talk treason when your intent is only to say that there are problems to be addressed in our foreign policy. You do not say that people deserved to die when in fact you know that they did not. You do not call on God to damn your own country. None of these are typical topics for Christian sermons, by the way.

Yes, there may be a truth buried somewhere in there among all the lies, but the inflammatory rhetoric and lies cause most folks to lose sight of it. Is this the Black thought process at work?

By on 3/18/08 at 8:25 pm

The Audacity of Schadenfreude is a good phrase, John PM, as is Obama’s “Stalingrad moment.” We realists find so few joys in life that who could begrudge us a little reveling in Obama’s probable downfall?

By on 3/18/08 at 8:31 pm

Here is a Cone quote, giving a little bit of BLT:

“For white people, God’s reconciliation in Jesus Christ means that God has made black people a beautiful people; and if they are going to be in relationship with God, they must enter by means of their black brothers, who are a manifestation of God’s presence on earth. The assumption that one can know God without knowing blackness is the basic heresy of the white churches. They want God without blackness, Christ without obedience, love without death. What they fail to realize is that in America, God’s revelation on earth has always been black, red, or some other shocking shade, but never white. Whiteness, as revealed in the history of America, is the expression of what is wrong with man. It is a symbol of man’s depravity. God cannot be white even though white churches have portrayed him as white. When we look at what whiteness has done to the minds of men in this country, we can see clearly what the New Testament meant when it spoke of the principalities and powers. To speak of Satan and his powers becomes not just a way of speaking but a fact of reality. When we can see a people who are controlled by an ideology of whiteness, then we know what reconciliation must mean. The coming of Christ means a denial of what we thought we were. It means destroying the white devil in us. Reconciliation to God means that white people are prepared to deny themselves (whiteness), take up the cross (blackness) and follow Christ (black ghetto).”

That is from Cone, Black Theology and Black Power , Orbis, p. 150–found in The Decline of African American Theology: From Biblical Faith to Cultural Captivity.

By on 3/18/08 at 8:47 pm

“The Wright affair may mark a crucial turning point in American politics because it is the first time that leukophobia, or the habit of mind that blames everything wrong with the world on whites, has become a central issue in a presidential campaign.”

Ian, you stole my thunder.

You are absolutely and positvely correct. I thought the exact same thing today, and so did you; and I dare say so did millions of other White people. This guy really pushed the hot button.

It’s going to get even better. Obama has of course lied and denied being present when the White-hating reverend Wright let loose with his anti-White, anti-America tirades. But the word is as I heard on the radio tonight that someone has a tape of one of the wrong Reverend Wrights outbursts that shows Obama with his bad self in the audience.

Oh, what a beautiful thing that’s gonna be!

By on 3/18/08 at 11:05 pm

According to a Rasmussen poll Obama is now viewed unfavorably by 58% of white voters. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/publiccontent/politics/election20082/2008presidentialelection/dailypresidentialtracking_poll

He is outrageous that McCain might well win this thing.

By Tribalist on 3/19/08 at 6:09 am

Some questions I wish the media would ask,

Obama says that he was not present during any of the “controversial” sermons. Well if they were so controversial then wouldn’t fellow church members have told him about the “disturbing” sermons that he missed.

His pastor says blacks should not say “God bless America”. Is there any connection between that and his not putting his hand over his heart during the national anthem?

He has said that anger prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. Does he accept that the White community should forge alliances to bring about change?

By Jimmy Stubbs on 3/19/08 at 6:35 am

Blacks will not give up their hatred of whites, because white racism is the excuse they use to explain to themselves why they are such failures. The crime, the violence, even the illness (AIDS)is due to white racism. Without this excuse they would have to face up to their deficiences, that they cannot do.

They will never “transcend race”.

By Sarah Jane Carmichael on 3/19/08 at 8:14 am

Far from being mortified that the Reverend Skeleton Wright has jumped out of his closet, Obama, in a cunning move, seems to welcome the embarrassing revelations as evidence of his political virtue.

Wright’s anti-white diatribes may have been a little provocative, but they served the purpose of advertising and “justifying” black anger. Now, with the aid of an Obamatric emollient, white folk have been given a unique opportunity to assuage that anger. In a noble act of contrition, the American people should confess their “racist” sins, and elect a Redeemer who can promise them forgiveness.

By on 3/19/08 at 10:43 am

Does anybody else here wish that Obama actually wins?

I think something major needs to happen for whites to change their views in this country. An old white guy bombing Iran and speeding up the process of turning America into a third world country won’t make whites think racially, but looking at Jeremaiah Wright and Michelle Obama for four years might.

By on 3/19/08 at 12:03 pm

Prediction - Blacks will view the brouhaha surrounding Reverend Wright as a “high tech lynching” of Barack Obama for being “uppity”. (“high tech lynching” were the words used by Clarence Thomas during the Anita Hill hearings). I think all of this may lead to another O.J. moment where white people realize the depth of the divisions separating the races. Apparently, Wright’s sentiments are quite common among black preachers, or so I’ve been told by blacks with whom I’ve discussed this. Quite frankly, I don’t blame blacks for how they feel about whites. It must be difficult seeing the magnificence of white civilization and know that your people don’t measure up. It’s a tradgedy all the way around.

By nycjew on 3/19/08 at 12:36 pm

In answer to Samuel, I hope nobody else here hopes that Obama actually wins. That does not mean that we want McCain or Clinton either, however.

It is time for a third party in this country, one that will put forth a candidate that represents America and not the Left. As things stand, both parties are far to the left and represent internationalism far more than they represent what is good for America. There are other parties out there, and it is time to put an end to the two party system that has strangled this country.

By on 3/19/08 at 1:45 pm

It might be interesting to ask Obama exactly what aspects of this church’s “afrocentrism” he does agree with. Surely something in its peculiar theology kept B. Hussein coming back weekly for twenty years.

By Cassiodorus on 3/19/08 at 11:56 pm

To undermine black Americans’ patriotism is to deny history and current reality; blacks fought in every war that our nation had ever engaged in. blacks fought in the frontiers as buffalo soldiers, fought in the civil war on both sides—- some fought for the cause, and some fought for their homes; blacks even fought in the implicit war against the Spanish fascists as resistance fighters against Franco; many of the members of the trinity church have their kids in Iraq and Afghanistan, and many themselves have courageously fought for America. the idea of questioning whether black Americans are truely patriotic has no legitimate basis, and it is quite insulting; in fact, of all Americans, black Americans, by virtue of their existential reality alone, can be nothing less but patriotic; first of all, the black American is an original American existence that has an actual home here but no potential home outside of America; take for example, the case of a white American who murdered his doctor, but fled to a French territory, and claimed French citizenship by virtue of his mother’s. now, can a native black American do that? an Italian -American, a Polish-American, due to their respective last names, and cultures can go to back to their ancestral homes and feel quite at home; but the same cannot be said of the native black American. the only actual and potential home that he or she has in right here in America. while there are cases of other Americans spying, and giving state secrets to their ancestral nations, there is no such cases for black Americans. After all, black American CIA operatives in Angola did not betray their country. it is not that black Americans have stronger patriotic instincts, what makes them more patriotic when patriotism really is the reality of their existence, the fact that outside of America, there is no other home. that is the reason that even if blacks are angry at their country at times, the minute the call of duty rings, black Americans are right there at the recruitment station ready to defend our constitution, and our right to exist as Americans. patriotism does not necessarily mean that one carries the flag whenever one goes; if one does just that, but goes against Venus Williams when playing against a white player in the Olympics, then on is not patriotic. patriotism is not the love of one’s race, it is the love of one’s country, and countrymen. if one hates one’s countrymen, then one is unpatriotic.

By observer keen on 3/21/08 at 1:20 pm

OK it would be awfully nice if you learned to use capital letters to begin your sentences. It makes it so much easier for old folks to see where they begin. Perhaps they did not tell you about that in school; I understand that they don’t have time for a lot of such details today.

With regard to your post, I don’t see anything at all in this thread denigrating the patriotism of black people. I think you are severely off topic.

Perhaps one small part of your post is relevant, so let me comment on it. (I am going to correct your capitalization, however. It is just too much to bear.) You say,

“Patriotism is not the love of one’s race, it is the love of one’s country, and countrymen. If one hates one’s countrymen, then one is unpatriotic.”

The rantings of Jeremiah Wright appear to preach precisely the love of race and against the love of country. Now granted that not all blacks subscribe to this teaching, but certainly them members of Trinity UCC seem to be on board with the idea rather well. It may be as you say (I don’t know how you know this) that there are sons and daughters of that congregation currently serving in the armed forces. If so, it is not because of what they learned at church. The teaching of Trinity UCC is definitely anti-patriotic.

The point of the original post was the connection between the current Presidential candidate and the former pastor of Trinity UCC, the one who set Trinity UCC on this decidedly anti-patriotic course. Nothing you have said changes any of that one bit.

By on 3/21/08 at 3:47 pm

I believe that observer keen is factually wrong on one point, but I can’t prove it. I’m sure I’ve read that at least one West African nation has an open immigration policy for American blacks. So they just as much have a potential home in Africa as Europeans do in Europe.

By on 3/21/08 at 7:12 pm

I speak and write five different languages. English is my second language. these errors are typos, and do not, in any meaningful way, alter the essential content of my piece. you are being childishly condescending. yes, with regard to white Americans, Europe is their potential home; but the same cannot reasonably be said of native black Americans with regard to Africa. First of all, native black Americans have lost any meaningful cultural connection with the motherland. their foods and mannerisms are quite different; and lacking of any substantial tribal identification would make it difficult for native black Americans to integrate actual African nations. Ian, it is Ghana, but the citizenship is more symbolic than actual; and it works mostly for business people; and it does not extend to political rights.

P.s: while the views of such preachers are erroneous, they are not irrational. a view is irrational when it has no reasonable basis in history. imagine someone who knows of the Tuskegee experiment, and is now observing the aids pandemic. what he sees is that those affected by the disease are predominantly black. casual observation in the absence of critical thinking, or in the presence of extreme emotions, coupled with historical suspicion, may be sufficient enough to lead such a person into error; such a person may conclude that the virus is man-made; and as such, she may conclude that it is a disease made by whites to kill off blacks. that is the fallacy of historical extension. firstly, the preacher’s views are erroneous beliefs for many reasons: there are too many good whites in charge for a few bad whites to commit such a colossal crime; secondly and lastly, it would be moronic to come up with a sexually transmittable disease to kill off another human race given the fact that sexual encounters have happened, are now happening, and will continue to happen among the so-called human races.

it is not patriotic when one wishes for a particular aspiring president to fail in office as a means of furthering one’s race-based philosophy. does any of you bother to think that such a wishful failure may lead to irreversible catastrophe? why would a right-minded person wish the president of the united states to fail when consequences of such a failure may lead to the existential collapse of our country? that is absolutely unpatriotic!!!

By observer keen on 3/21/08 at 11:32 pm

I’m sure I’ve read that at least one West African nation has an open immigration policy for American blacks. So they just as much have a potential home in Africa as Europeans do in Europe.

I believe Liberia is the West African nation you’re thinking about. Settlement of freed slaves from the US, in what is today Liberia, began in 1822. I think it still has an open door policy for black American immigrants. I don’t know whether many take advantage of this opportunity to return to “their roots”.

The history of Liberia provides an object lesson in how a black society failed to develop the political institutions and the economic infrastructure that underpin a civilized nation. Anthony Daniels (alias Theodore Dalrymple who writes for City Journal) has written a horrifying book describing the appalling chaos and barbarism of life in late 20th century Liberia.

By on 3/22/08 at 8:41 am

“these errors are typos, and do not, in any meaningful way, alter the essential content of my piece.”

So you’re ready to document your hilarious claim that the ancient Romans gave “culture tests” to Britons and Germans? Or was that entire post one extended typo?

By Cassiodorus on 3/22/08 at 11:44 am

Dr.D, thank you so much for the Cone head quote. It was more than merely enlightening and informative. It is the kind of information for which sites like Inverted World, VFR, VDARE, and even the sadly tarnished AMREN are indispensible.I do not comment much anymore, but read often. This kind of information I simply have not found anywhere else, or if it does show up, it is weeks or months or even years after I have found it on the Net.

I observe a kind of irreligious bent to Inverted World, yet I would like to offer a frankly religious comment on Cone and his theology. As a Christian, I believe the following has happened here, in the heavens: A sin, deeply offensive to the Almighty, ENDEMIC only among Black Christians is being exposed here. God is the Great Exposer and Revealer Of Sin. There is nothing hidden that will not, in time, be revealed. I believe that the blatently Hitlerian words of a pathetic excuse like Cone,a so-called theologian, put forth as some kind of “christian” teaching, are a stench in the nostrils of God.

American Blacks, indeed ANY Blacks, who consider themselves to be Christians,need to reject and repent of such devilishly evil beliefs or teachings.

By DTF on 3/26/08 at 2:02 pm

To Dr. Jobling, regarding:

“We realists find so few joys in life that who could begrudge us a little reveling in Obama’s probable downfall?”

Indeed, watching the fall of Comrade Obamanation is delightful; however, I almost enjoy the visible mental anguish of the media “elites” even more. When I made the observation that this was Comrade Obama’s Stalingrad moment, it was as much directed at them, as him. For if there has been one, almost beyond hideous group of calculating accomplices to Comrade Obama’s rise, it has been these jocundly squealing swine. How they have been so effervescently reveling in the “transformation” of America into their Utopian SSA, through their multiracial “savior;” just like half-witted 2-year-olds in the beguiling grip of some new and shiny toy?

Perhaps, we might call this Comrade Obama’s Stalingrad moment, with the “mainstream” media’s flailing gasps of audacious “hope,” their collective Kursk moment?

Their machinations and condescending hatred for white America (True America) has been so evident in these primaries, that they have achieved what only months ago I would have told you, would be impossible. This being, that I am actually hoping that the vile Red Queen Hillary, wins the nomination of her utterly worthless party over this mulatto nonentity. So bad has the open (but of course “unbiased”) favoritism for Comrade Obama over Hillary become, that even Patrick J. Buchanan has declared it disgusting.

And yes, if this should happen, should that Red gorgon defeat the “skinny kid with the funny name,” I will openly chortle with audacious Schadenfraude! It is because they, simply will not give up this idea that Hillary is “done.” They and many in the elite of the Democratic party, continue to call for her to step aside “before it’s too late,” or the party is “so damaged” that victory in the Fall will be impossible.

Oh really, you Obama zombies?

At this count, he still only has a hundred or so delegates over her, and just can’t seem to deliver his “knock out” punch.

Now he staggers badly from a self-inflicted wound via his cozy relationship, with his so-called pastor?

Too bad for him and his hopelessly audacious coddling accomplices!

Samuel notes:

“An old white guy bombing Iran and speeding up the process of turning America into a third world country won’t make whites think racially, but looking at Jeremaiah Wright and Michelle Obama for four years might.”

What you suggest, is the equivalent of suggesting that dropping a few atomic bombs on some cities, would prevent a use of hydrogen bombs in the future by example through horror. I do not care for Comrade McCain, but I will not and can not support Obama (even though I do understand the “worse as better” appeal of him becoming president) simply because I feel the risk is too great.

He is nothing more than an untested mulatto “icon” of multicultural “unity” for the abysmally beguiled and hopelessly ignorant.

Even Adolf Hillary would be better than him!

By John PM on 3/28/08 at 4:50 am