Today Barack Obama “denounced” Reverend Wright for some of his comments.

Democrat Barack Obama today denounced his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, saying that the fiery minister’s “ridiculous propositions” that the United States spread AIDS in the black community and invited the 9/11 terrorist attacks contradicted “everything that I’m about and who I am.”

I think very few of us agree that the United States spread AIDS in the black community or “invited” the 9-11 terrorist attacks.  But, I think if we open our minds a little we can all see why Wright may think that.  This isn’t to say that we have to agree with his assessment, but for those of us in his age range… black or white… we became suspicious of the government during the 1960’s and 1970’s.  It was a turbulent time and for some of us, we felt betrayed by the policies our government undertook.  Perhaps, that has colored the glasses through which we look. 

And, for many of us, Wright’s reasoning may be hard to understand.  But, I suggest that we are putting too much emphasis on the things with which we may disagree, instead of on the things he has done to help his community.  But, some of the veterans have never forgiven Jane Fonda for what some have called treason.  I’m not trying to excuse the words or actions of either Wright or Fonda.  I am only saying that we need to look at them from their perspective rather than from our own.  It’s hard to do.

I have a friend who was abused as a child.  Those memories color the way she looks at relationships today.  I have heard people say time and again that she should just forget the past and move on.  Well, that’s a noble idea, but before we jump on the judgment bandwagon maybe we need to try to put ourselves in the shoes of another. 

When I listen to Reverend Wright, I often think of how I would feel if I walked into a restaurant and was refused service.  And, I think back to a time in the late 1960’s when I walked into a small side of the road gas station at Big Sur.  I was asked to leave because the owner labeled me a hippy.  In all honesty, I had gone to California to see what hippies looked like, not that I thought I was one.  I was refused the use of the bathroom facilities.  That was one incident, but when I hear others tell of their experiences growing up as an African American being refused the right to eat in a restaurant because of the color of their skin, I feel the pain and the rejection.  Yet, during that period of time, young black men were drafted to serve in the military on an equal basis with others.  That is where the rub comes … and the resentment.  Too often in our history as a nation we have been more than willing to give someone equal rights to serve, but not equal rights to be served.

I cannot begin to understand the totality of the black experience in America.  And, yes, things have changed for some.  But, today we still have the hate, perhaps just redirected towards another group that is “different” from some of us.  I have friends who are gay and a year or so ago, at a large outdoor gathering, one of the men walked over to the outdoor “potty”.  The rest of us in our group continued to listen to the concert until one noticed that he had not returned.  We set out to look for him only to find him bloody faced and bruised laying on the ground behind the row of portable facilities.  He had been beaten by a group of men or boys who determined that being gay was not acceptable.  Later, we discovered that those who beat him had seen him with his partner and deemed them to be “sinful” although his only ”sin” was to stand beside his partner and have the appearance of being slightly feminine by his mannerisms.  I can see why today he is fearful and speaks out against those who hate another one reason or another.

As I have listened to Rev. Wright, I have agreed with more that he has said than I have disagreed.  There is hate.  There was and is racism in the country.  We can all say we are not racist, but our actions speak louder than all our words.  And, I can only suggest that we don’t begin to believe the lies we tell to others.  It’s time to be honest with ourselves and with one another. 

On the other side of the coin, one of my black friends mentioned to me again that if Barack Obama is elected President of the United States, those who want to bitch about being black will have had the rug pulled out from under them.  I repeat this just to give another perspective on the Wright situation.  I suppose we will all have to draw our own conclusions… and we will based on our individual perspectives.

As far as Obama denouncing the Wright statements, I feel sure that he does.  And, it is perhaps the right thing for Obama to do at this time… as long as it is from the heart.  Obama’s history is not Wright’s and Wright’s history is not Obama’s.  They are from two different times and two different backgrounds.  One cannot possibly understand the totality of the other.

“The reason that our campaign has been so successful is that we had moved beyond these arguments,” Obama said at a news conference in North Carolina, which will hold its presidential primary Tuesday. “Yesterday was a resurfacing and an exploitation of those old divisions…. It is antithetical to our campaign.”

With or without Wright, Obama is still the person for the Oval Office.