WAS WRIGHT RIGHT?

Hey RaceMan, Where have you been?
With all this Presidential race talk going around, we need you now more than ever.
So what do you think about the Rev. Wright and Barack controversy?
Concerned in Chicago

Dear Concerned,
I've been busy working on my art career. Remind me to tell you about it later.
Anyhow, I'm glad you asked about the Rev. Wright issue because I wrote a piece about it a few weeks ago. But it's way too long to be posted here. So I'll post the beginning. The full article is about 4 times longer. If you'd like to see it, email me at lowellt@hotmail.com. OK?
RM

It’s been a few weeks now since Barack Obama gave what many call his most important speech.

Instead of jumping in with my two-cents, I decided to do something unheard of in our blabbing-blogger times. I read and listened to others, along with Obama’s speech, before I said a mumblin’ word.

But now that I’ve thought about it, I’d give Barack a gentleman’s B. Although I barely made it out of Wendell Phillips High myself, at Street U. we grade harder than Harvard

Obama’s speech reminded me of what I said about the would-be husband-in-chief of his competitor. Like Bill, Barack showed all the qualities of an exceptional politician. But fell short of a great leader.

Why?

First, he called race an issue “we can’t afford to ignore right now” but ignored it until it bit him in the butt. Great leaders confront important issues because they’re important, not because they’re all over YouTube and MySpace.

Did he really think that if he spoke eloquently enough, no one would notice his coffee complexion and kinky hair? Half-black is still too black for many. Did he really believe R-A-C-E, America’s most feared four-letter word, would not be an issue? Anticipating problems before they become crises is another gift of great leaders. Liberal commentators praised the “fact” Obama wrote his speech himself in a few days. A real leader would have been working on the speech before he announced his candidacy.

Second, instead of using his nationwide (even worldwide) spotlight to face the real issue, he did a softshoe - admittedly more deftly than George Bush’s latest attempt - around it.

The issue he avoided?

Do Black Americans have a legitimate grievance with the way they have historically been - and are currently being - treated? Was Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr’s words those of an unreasonable, unprovoked hate monger or the understandable righteous anger of a shepherd of America’s most consistently abused flock?

(Continued)