Lessons I’m Learning About Racism, Obama and the 2008 Election
By J. Lee Grady
My column last week about Barack Obama’s controversial pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, triggered a firestorm of negative reactions. I’ll admit I was shocked and grieved—not only by what black readers said to me but by what some insensitive white readers said to their black brothers in response. The online bickering and name-calling is downright depressing, especially in 2008 when we should know better.
I thought we were farther along on the journey to racial healing in this country, but I must be naive. Judging from the discussions posted on Charisma’s Web forum in the last seven days, America’s racial tension thermometer is still near the boiling point, even as we head toward the possibility of electing our first African-American president.
In last week’s column I questioned Obama’s spiritual values because of his close personal association with Wright—who is a theological liberal and a purveyor of what I consider to be hateful, racist rhetoric. Immediately some people cried foul. They said I was being judgmental of Wright and unfair to Obama. They said I didn’t understand Wright’s vitriol because I am not black and have never felt the sting of racism myself. One angry reader might as well have kicked me in the groin when he wrote on March 27: “Even though you call yourself a man of God, you are nothing but a bigot! How dare you judge Rev. Wright or Obama. Look at what blacks have suffered for centuries in this country! Don’t send me any more of your articles.”
Being called a bigot is painful because I’ve worked for years to build racial bridges in the body of Christ. I lead a racially diverse editorial staff at Charisma. I’ve given African-American church leaders a broad platform in our magazine, not because they needed me to give them the exposure but because they have something important to say to all of us. My staff members and I took heat from white racists when we started featuring regular articles about black ministries.
Our magazine has challenged racism in numerous ways—from exposing the KKK to challenging the Confederate flag that once flew over South Carolina’s capitol. We also ruffled a lot of feathers when we challenged old-fashioned attitudes about interracial marriage among charismatic Christians.
Charisma is the only Christian magazine to do a feature story on the ugly practice of lynching in this country—and we published the disgusting photos to prove our point. Last year we devoted an entire issue to the 100th anniversary of the Church of God in Christ, the largest Pentecostal denomination in the country. That was one of the most professionally satisfying accomplishments of my journalism career because no other mainstream magazine has paid so much attention to this sector of American religious history.
I am not a bigot, and my friends know that. But that doesn’t resolve the tensions that flared when I described Wright’s sermons as toxic and his theology as heretical.
The whole experience has taught me three things:
1. I still have a lot to learn about the black experience. I have not lived inside any black man’s skin. I have never known the injustice of slavery or the unfairness of segregation. I have never had to sit in the back of the bus, nor have I felt the sting of the N-word. I’ve never been passed over for a job because of my ethnic heritage. Never mind that I love black culture, listen to black gospel music and gain inspiration from black preachers. I need to be more careful when I claim to know how black people feel. It is offensive to pretend that I do. For that I apologize.
2. In today’s racially charged climate, it is difficult for a white man to criticize a black man’s theology. I learned this four years ago when I denounced former Pentecostal preacher Carlton Pearson for teaching that everyone will be saved whether they believe in Jesus Christ or not. Some black readers called my office to label me a racist, when the truth is that my distaste for Pearson’s heresies has nothing to do with his skin color. Universalism is an equal-opportunity deceiver.
The same is true in Jeremiah Wright’s case. I see his message as dangerous because (1) he supports the most liberal interpretations of Scripture; (2) he is a member of a denomination that promotes gay marriage and universalism; (3) his brand of liberation theology has been used in developing nations to promote socialist revolution; and (4) his caustic comments about race promote hatred and bitterness instead of reconciliation. If Wright were white, I would still want to know why Obama sat in his church and tolerated his sermons for 20 years.
3. African-American church leaders must challenge reverse racism. The question on the table today is obvious: Why haven’t more black Christian leaders spoken out against Wright’s radical views? Why is it that even some African-American Pentecostals side with Wright even though his version of Christianity is so diametrically opposite to what they learned in the conservative black churches they grew up in? Why is it that few black Christian leaders have challenged Obama’s strident pro-abortion views—especially when so many black babies have died in the abortion holocaust? Has racial loyalty become more important than loyalty to God’s Word?
If Obama becomes our 44th president, will the preachers who are asked to join his inner circle speak truthfully to him about the sanctity of human life? Or will Wright and his liberal crowd woo everyone else to embrace their sacred theology of “choice”?
What I have learned is that a white guy really can’t say what needs to be said about Jeremiah Wright or the popular Chicago politician he helped groom for office. Black leaders must stick their necks out to prophesy the truth.
I’m cheering them on.
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J. Lee Grady is the editor of Charisma. .
DISCLAIMER: Church of God and Faith News does not necessarily endorse or sanction all or any part of this news item.
