Obama repudiates Wright
Unequivocally. It is very easy to have a longterm friendship with someone who has motivated you and earned your respect. And when such a friend as Wright starts defining himself as the one true voice for all Black people of faith, while adding controversial opinions not even close to universally shared, he misstates what the core critique was. The attacks were not on him, nor the Black church, but were mostly political attacks on Obama.
He weathered that with one of the finer speeches in the past century and refused to reject Wright, while stating objections to a few things he said. And what did Wright do in return?
He mounted an offensive, repeated some unsustainable claims and implied that Obama spoke from a political sense instead of from personal conviction. And indicated the Black church was under attack, as if all Blacks were united behind his church and his faith and his definings (his own self-definition).
Obama had to weigh friendship, his ties to his church and the insult to many Blacks whose views differed broadly from Wright’s. Obama, from the outset, defined himself as a champion at ending division and today he had a choice between two existing divisions. One was dividing a personal community. One divided a far greater public one.
Obama chose to end the greater rift while admitting the closer, personal one could not be closed.
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Back in 1960, JFK had to convince a skeptical public that he’d put their interests first, ahead of the directives of the Catholic pope. Today, Obama said he’d bring the same commitment to his public service as a Senator and would-be President. It had to be harder to do, but he did the right thing. And among other things he’s said in his long campaign, this is as noteworthy as his opposition to the Iraq War before Bush sold it to Congress. Many politicians avoid risks but Obama has made it clear he’ll step forward with new approaches to seek more effective results. Now he’s demonstrated he will stand on the principle of serving the greater good, even when personally painful to do so.
It won’t silence Wright and won’t make him go away. Obama’s political foes will attack him just as fiercely as before. But he met a test well, first with a great defining speech, and again, today, when events compelled him to make a stand and he stood for the larger community of America.
Update: Glenn Greenwald is glad that there’s not important problems to deal with.
