When Washington Post writer Sally Quinn came on the Charlie Rose show Wednesday night to discuss the Reverend Wright controversy, the accusations against whites flew wildly. Obama’s distancing from Wright was "so incredibly sad," and happened because "we are still a racist country," where "so many white Americans...have absolutely no idea what goes on inside black churches on a Sunday morning...and I think it brought out a lot of latent racism." She concluded the interview by insisting that whites "go to their white churches, and you wonder how they can call themselves Christians and still look at other people as though they are inferior."
Sally Quinn came on with Rev. Floyd Flake, a former Congressman from New York, who also discussed this with Rose the first time Wright became controversial. Quinn tried to say that Obama’s greater condemnation of Wright would help Obama, but it was tragic.
In an interesting way, I think it may have helped Obama, because I think that by [Wright] coming out the way he did, he allowed Obama to come out much more forcefully the way he did today. And he had to. He had absolutely no choice.
But Charlie, there is something so incredibly sad about what happened today, because after listening to all of those people in the church last night talk about Reverend Wright, who has the most distinguished career, 36 years of doing incredible work, lionized by some of the great white theologians in this country, to see his career completely destroyed by three 20-second sound bites, all of the work he has done, his entire legacy gone down the drain, has been absolutely devastating to me -- to him, sorry.
And he`s gotten enormous numbers of death threats. His family`s been threatened. It`s been a horrible experience. So I think that played in to part of why he came out. He couldn`t stand it another minute to say, this is what`s going to be left of me, this is what`s going to be remembered.
Then the racism talk kicked in:
So for Obama to have to be forced to distance himself in this way has got to be extremely painful for both of them. But I think because we are still a racist country, that there are so many white Americans who have absolutely no idea what goes on inside of black churches on Sunday morning. I think it was Obama who said, certainly Reverend Wright said, that the most segregated hour in this country every week is on Sunday morning, because that`s when blacks go to their churches and whites go to their churches. And I think that so many white people who had never been inside a black church were absolutely shocked by the tone and language that they heard, and it was so unfamiliar to them, it was like a different culture. And I think it brought out a lot of latent racism.
At the segment’s end, Quinn really let loose on white church-goers:
And a message of black liberation theology is basically Confucius` message of do unto others as you would have others do unto you. We are our brother`s keepers. Obama has said that many times. But you look at a lot of the white Christians, and we`re 90 percent religious in this country. Most people in this country are Christians, and you look at the Christians and they go to their white churches. And you wonder how they can call themselves Christians and still look at other people as though they are inferior.
The problem with Quinn’s theory is that most American churches are not "white churches," but churches that are not 98 percent black. They may have a majority of whites, but have a very diverse distribution of races.
Quinn even stooped to trying to explain away (even almost endorse) the AIDS conspiracy theory as a plausible (if not common) piece of black church rhetoric:
But, you know, as we`ve pointed out, there are 8,000 members of his church who go there every single Sunday. And these people are from all walks of life in Chicago. This is not apparently the kind of thing that he says every day. I mean, some of the things he said this time were off the wall.
And, you know, you can explain them, as he explained, for instance, the idea that the government in fact would infect blacks with AIDS, by saying, well, remember Tuskegee, when the government actually did infect blacks with syphilis. He does come from a different era, a different age. And so the way he presents himself is very different.
No! The government never "infected" blacks with syphilis. Even The Huffington Post (through former Washington Post writer David Mills) have corrected that canard. Quinn actually reported that Wright was hailed as a hero, a prophet, comparable to Martin Luther King or even Jesus after his National Press Club speech, something she found very touching:
I spent the entire day at Shiloh Baptist Church. I left the press club, went over there, where Reverend Wright and his family were. And it was an entire day of preaching and praying, affirmation for Reverend Wright that went on until after 10:00 last night.
One preacher after the other, one pastor of the other, essentially eulogizing him. But, I mean, affirming him, telling -- comparing him to Martin Luther King, talking about how he was one of the great prophets like he was a prophet in the Bible. Some even comparing him to Jesus in terms of being the kind of prophet that (inaudible), because this is prophetic kind of preaching, that prophets are always unpopular, particularly with the ruling classes.
Almost every person brought up slavery. This is where we come from. When we came over on the boat, the slave boats, we were below and we were praying to a different God from the God that the people on the decks were praying to.
It was about the oppressed. It was about trying to pull one`s self up, to change one`s life, to make oneself better. There was one very touching moment where one of the women preachers -- and by the way, they were unbelievable, these women liberation theologists. She said, "We are afraid of ourselves." This was in a prayer to God. "We`re afraid of ourselves because we don`t think we are as good as you think we are, God." And then she went on to say, "Deep inside some of us admire white people so much more and even despite the black people."
Quinn even hailed Wright's replacement Otis Moss as a "fabulous new pastor" who "has a whole different view of preaching. His view is much closer to that of Barack Obama's in terms of black liberation theology." That ought to be worth exploring.
—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center
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Liberal Logic
May 4, 2008 - 09:39 ET by Birch BarlowThe people who are offended by racist statements and denounce those statements are the real racists.
Because they are
May 4, 2008 - 17:48 ET by usinkoreaBecause they are white.
Yup. You're learning.
Go back to college, and they'll explain how all of that works.
You see.....white people have this magical thing called "power".
Blacks and other minorities don't. Ergo, they can't be racists. Racism comes from Race + Power. No power. No racism.
I guess I should feel that college at least taught me I have power. I am white.
Being from the lower end of the socio-economic structure, however, I wish they had taught me the magic words to sprinkle on the beans so I could grow the beanstalk to eventually capture my own golden-egg laying goose....
.....Meaning - I'm white, but I can't seem to locate my power...
But, that's probably a good thing......Because.....being white....and with whites holding (all) the power in American society, I am by definition a racist ---- (and, I should add, by the color of my skin.)
he allowed Obama to come
May 4, 2008 - 09:38 ET by motherbelthe allowed Obama to come out much more forcefully the way he did today. And he had to. He had absolutely no choice (emphasis added).
And that's the problem, Ms. Quinn. He first said he couldn't disown Wright...then when push came to shove, he did.
If he truly believed that Rev.Wright was a composite of black angst from the days of slavery and degradation down through the years since then, and had every right to express himself thus, then shame on him for not having the nerve to stand with him.
Wright was apparently correct. It appears that Obama is a politician, first.
And here's some "exploring" of TUCC's "fabulous new pastor" as Quinn calls him.
Whites aren't the whole problem
May 4, 2008 - 09:46 ET by nkviking75Quinn: I think it was Obama who said, certainly Reverend Wright said, that the most segregated hour in this country every week is on Sunday morning, because that`s when blacks go to their churches and whites go to their churches. And I think that so many white people who had never been inside a black church were absolutely shocked by the tone and language that they heard, and it was so unfamiliar to them, it was like a different culture. And I think it brought out a lot of latent racism.
Neither Obama nor Wright originated that quote about the most segregated hour. Frankly, I think Wright would like to keep it that way.
First of all, it is unfortunate that the church is so segregated. That being said, why is it racist for whites to stay out of black churches, but not blacks to stay out of white churches? Also, churches are supposed to exist to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We've heard a lot from Wright which is inconsistent with that Gospel. The Church needs to hold Wright and his congregation accountable for their distorted message.
The Apostle Paul wrote this in Philippians 3:13 and 14:
"But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Obviously the experience of slavery has greatly impacted African Americans. Even so, dwelling so much on that past is not helpful. Blacks can and should move on. So much of their potential is untapped. I think they can do many great things in all fields.
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
Does someone actually pay
May 4, 2008 - 09:50 ET by ThisnThatDoes someone actually pay Sally Quinn a salary to say these things? Nice work, if you can get it. But how do you go back home at night and say to yourself "Yep, I really earned my pay today"?
___________________________________
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber
Those were my thoughts
May 4, 2008 - 17:52 ET by usinkoreaThose were my thoughts too.
"If an someone who can say such blatantly idiotic things can write for our major national news outlets, why can't I sign up?"
Sound Bites? You mean Reality bites, don't you?
May 4, 2008 - 10:21 ET by CobraMan"to see his career completely destroyed by three 20-second sound bites"
It wasn't 'three 20-second sound bites' as she implies. It was several racially tinged speeches and sermons he made in the last 20 years that were his undoing. Face it, this isn't latent racism on the part of White America, it's blatant racism on the part of Mr. Wright. It wasn't White Christians that brought him down; his own raciest speeches and sermons destroyed this man. But, hay, don't let the facts get in the way of your white guilt, honey.
"Almost every person brought up slavery."
Yet none of the people there were ever slaves, or known anyone who was a slave. I challenge any one to prove to me that he or she was a slave. Slavery hasn't' existed in America since 250,000 men fought and died to settle that issue once and for all. Where is the praise for all the White Christians who willingly went to battle, to suffer and die, for the Black Man?
It's time for everyone to stop claiming a slavery past as everyone alive in America today was born outside the bonds of slavery. All the former slaves are dead and their descendents are free, all thanks to the White Christians who died for their freedom.
Well, I guess Quinn has the
May 4, 2008 - 11:48 ET by motherbeltWell, I guess Quinn has the problem pegged: Whites who are not overtly racist are harboring "latent racism."
Those clips from Wright's church look and sound more like a political rally than a church service. And for a preacher to say that Bill Clinton "did" us like he "did" Monica Lewinsky (complete with a physical demonstration) ....in church....was completely beyond all decency. For that alone, he should be ashamed. And shamed. Disgusting.
Well, Ms. Quinn, if Rev. Wright wanted to turn his sermons into political speeches, he should have been prepared to suffer political consequences for them.
Sally, Sally, Sally
May 4, 2008 - 12:05 ET by rammingspeedSally Quinn has never been a serious mind or voice on politics, and now that the other side (sensible people) have made a contest of things, she's being exposed as the fool that she's always been.
She's an embarrassment, and someone somewhere should have the decency to tell her so, and make her fend for herself if she wants to find a forum that makes her opinions seem important.
There is no
May 4, 2008 - 13:03 ET by DEVILDOCMOM"latent racism"; it is BLATANT RACISM by those like rev. wright and by the rev himself. And as to this comment "And you wonder how they can call themselves Christians and still look at other people as though they are inferior." What a load of horse feathers...just because I despise the comments by wright does not mean I look at him as inferior.
Defining others...
May 4, 2008 - 13:17 ET by Mr. TerryThose in the national media, especially people with well known names such as Sally Quinn, have tremendous power. Unfortunately, she is misusing her power. I think the term is "yellow journalism".
What bothers me the most about what has started is that the liberal, non church going, leftists are now defining Christians. I get the feeling that Ms. Quinn doesn't spend a great deal of time in church services yet condemns those who do. Is it now a sin to be a white Christian?
“Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.” Thomas Jefferson
According to guilt ridden Sally...Wright,..
May 4, 2008 - 13:48 ET by Uncle Donhas the most distinguished career, 36 years of doing incredible work...yes, for Black people. Nothing for White people. Have Aids? I'm your man? Wait a minute, you're White? Can't help you, our church only helps the Black Man. He and his church only help the Black Community.. please, don't give me the the Distiguished Career line...it's as racist as his "sermons"...
guilt ridden Sally
May 4, 2008 - 13:58 ET by maggieqpublicThe worst case of white guilt I’ve read about in recent memory.
"But I think because we are
May 4, 2008 - 14:19 ET by ckc1227"But I think because we are still a racist country, that there
are so many white Americans who have absolutely no idea what goes on
inside of black churches on Sunday morning"
Ahh, my favorite defense. Because white folks didn't know that racism and hatred of America was being taught in black churches, we're supposed to be okay with it now that we do.
Run with that one, Sally. Seriously, encourage Obama to make that the main platform of his campaign. Please. Pretty pretty please.
Wright / Obamas 911
May 4, 2008 - 17:16 ET by Redrowan2000Isn't it amazing that right after 911 there was a sickening silence in the American Muslim community no condemnation nothing , except for the ward churchills etc.,. Now after Wright explodes in Obamas face the black community is deafening silent, with the exception of the Sharptons, Farrakhans etc.,. I will say that Larry Elder at least has some B___'s for standing up to these racist extortion driven race baiters. Every day is a new laugh line for Obama from his Rev. He's toast, lightly done of course.
"Don't let the bastards grind you down."
Red
The more the media tries to
May 4, 2008 - 17:37 ET by usinkoreaThe more the media tries to play defense for Obama on the Wright controversy, the more ignorant they look and the more they expose their own beliefs.
All I want to add is that she didn't get Confucius right either. He wrote that we shouldn't do unto others what we wouldn't want them to do to us.
People can say that there really isn't a difference here, but it does make a difference in two ways --
One is that this reporter has decided that in her talk on Christianity and different churches in America ---- a talk in which she is going to say white churches are full of racist whites and black churches are not full of racist blacks but blacks who have a valid point to make about the nature of American society...That Rev Wright's views....shared by black churches across the land....aren't racists but somehow justified....but the whites are the racist ones...
(....I should note I doubt seriously the claim that Rev. Wright's views are common in sermons in black churches across the land.....I doubt most black churches in the area I live (Georgia) are black liberation churches....)
...anyway.....in her talk where she defines Christian practice for both whites and blacks across the land ---- she chose to quote Confucius -------- and got that wrong too...
By jumping away from Christianity to Confucianism, she puts herself apart from the seething racism of Christianity in America oppressing blacks.....and she also makes a smaller note in another pesudo-intellectual trend in the elitist Left -- the idea that all religions are one.
They really want us to smarten up and become secularists, but they at least want us to understand that any religion is just like the other....whether it is identical positive value systems....or as CNN has claimed.....they are identical in their extremism and terrorism too boot.....
Anyway, that is the second reason why the difference in how Jesus and Confucius worded the Golden Rule is important.
Because, in point of historical fact, Confucius also wrote elsewhere that the idea you should love your enemies as your friends didn't make a whole lot of (practicle) sense. I couldn't find the quote to cite, but it was something along the lines that --- if you love your enemy and love your friends equally, you would conflate right and wrong and ultimately confuse people and lead away from the right.
I am not here to argue which rule is better or the value of either Confucianism or Christianity.
I just wanted to say ---- I wish media elitists would at least spend some more time getting information before they preach to the rest of us on the American air waves....
How about taking your pen and paper (or TV cameras) into black churches all across the land over a period of months or even a couple of years ---- like a documentary would do --- and show us how Rev Wright is carbon copied all over the 50 states?
How about reading some more Eastern texts on Confucianism before offering us your wisdom?
How about just giving us facts and shoving your analysis up....
Amen!
May 4, 2008 - 20:17 ET by tomchrisHow about taking your pen and paper (or TV cameras) into black churches
all across the land over a period of months or even a couple of years...
Great idea, "useinkorea." But of course, people like Sally Quinn will more likely be spotted at Starbucks on a Sunday morning than their local church. And besides, the "Black Church" as Quinn envisions is something akin to Hip Hop- i.e. "something way across town that I know nothing about but hey, it keeps those poor ol' minorties happy."
Memo to Quinn: Have you heard the name T.D. Jakes? He's one of the most popular preachers in America who just so happens to be black. He's built a phenominal, multi-racial following without any profanity laced sound bites regarding AIDS, 9/11, or the God Daming of America. He also uses one the oldest "liberation theologies" there ever was- the Bible.
Sally Quinn is and always
May 4, 2008 - 19:52 ET by bigtimerSally Quinn is and always has been to me, nothing but a ladder-climbing political whore...her self-importance in DC in my view is greatly exaggerated....and with her very own words you see a prime example of why I say this.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill
I agree BT
May 4, 2008 - 22:23 ET by DEVILDOCMOMshe seems to just climb to the next...shall I use the word...level? I am sure in her little circle she is quite important. What is the quote "a legend in her own mind"?
Why is it...
May 5, 2008 - 12:42 ET by habbyguy... that those who want to set themselves up as "experts" in the media so often haven't the vaguest clue what they're talking about. I'd bet dollars to donuts that Ms. Quinn hasn't darkened the door of a "white church" or she'd know that the vast majority of them are doing everything possible to attract people of every race (and if anything, go out of their way to make any minorities feel welcome). The church I belong to was "very white" by virtue of the demographics of the area it is located in, and that alone is enough to make some people of color feel uncomfortable (particularly if they're unfortunate enough to read the drivel from Ms. Quinn's poison pen). Fortunately, more and more non-white congregants "stuck" and the congregation is becoming more and more mixed.
Of course, I suppose one could look at our outreach ministries and conclude that my church IS racist. There has been a shocking inbalance in those we've supported and helped over the last few decades. The Africans, Mongolians, Pacific Islanders, and those in the Middle East or in Muslim areas in eastern Europe seem to be getting all the help - we've forgotten Rev. Wright's instructions to "take care of our own".