A philosophical dilemma has haunted the national media’s coverage of the controversy surrounding Barack Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. That’s because their response to this initial question was wrong: How much truth can you tell before no one is willing to listen to it? Before it’s consigned to left-wing journalist fodder or pseudo-racist social demagoguery?

For all the controversy over Mr. Wright’s sermons, we haven’t learned much at all. Sure, we’ve seen out-of-context clips replayed countless times, and I feel obligated to apologize for adding to the steady drumbeat of media coverage over these remarks, but there’s a pressing issue that has yet to be explored. What did black people think of it?

I can assure you, I am no leftist journalist, nor am I obsessed with advancing any specific cause. The aim of most national outlets seems to be promoting balance, objectivity and fairness. It should be nothing more than to get as close to the truth as possible and describe it. That’s what Mr. Obama tried to do in his ?A More Perfect Union? speech, which was criticized for not bowing to political realities.

Any dime store cable TV political analyst will tell you the controversy and even the speech hurt Mr. Obama’s standing amongst working-class whites. It’s hard to imagine they’re wrong. After all, who wants to hear about racism and all the advantages you have because of it while working two jobs just to afford health insurance for the kids? These people don’t feel like they’ve been given any special privilege ? they’re just trying to live decent lives.

But everyone seems afraid to explore how the fracas has affected the black community, whose overwhelming loyalty to the Democratic Party keeps its modern coalition viable. In conversations with average folks in my overwhelmingly black Milwaukee neighborhood, it?s clear that denying Mr. Obama the nomination at this point would have an irrevocable impact on these voters? loyalty to the party. There’s no hint as to where they might go, and the Democratic leadership can take solace in the fact that there is nowhere else to go at the moment ? but these voters will be open to persuasion.

It’s hard to blame media outlets for failing to get a good look at the repercussions for the Democrats? black constituency. A reporter can’t get frank impressions from people while holding a notepad or standing in front of a cameraman underneath a boom mic. The evidence cited here is more than anecdotal, but taking a pen, notepad and recorder to my local barbershop would have an unacceptable impact on the opinions expressed.

What the national media has so comically failed to understand or at least coherently communicate is that inner-city black political opinion is not a monolith. They almost universally vote Democrat because the left more consistently promotes their best interests, not because some party boss ordered it. Most of my neighbors are disgusted that any candidate would be forced to explain his religion, while citing instances when their reverend has gotten out of hand.

Indeed, a large majority of those I spoke to were amazed someone could sully the house of God with such tawdry political rhetoric but believe the refusal to confront an overbearing pastor speaks nothing about Mr. Obama’s own morality. After all, a sermon is a lesson meant to take home and discuss with your family, not a directive to be strictly followed. The role of a reverend is to inspire introspective thought, especially in churches serving impoverished communities. Overstatement and bombastic proclamation are among the many tools available to them.

Others insist that his greatest crime was telling the truth to white people ? a mistake to be avoided at all costs. This district in Milwaukee is represented by an alder who is behind bars without bail for extortion, conspiracy for assault and buying votes.

?I think he’s a nice person, and I think he’s been railroaded.? Dorothy Carter, a 76-year-old voter told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel after Ald. Mike McGee Jr., District 6, won a February primary challenge from jail. ?I don’t think he can do as good of a job in prison. But I think if he’d been a white man, he’d already been out of jail.?

Here, distrust of the white-dominated power structure by a voting population that carries memories of segregation and bears the scars of institutional racism has inspired my community to vote themselves out of real representation. Milwaukee’s 6th district is a case study for what happens when a population believes its vote can be nothing more than a protest.

Patriotism carries a different meaning for people who have been historically subjugated. For them, it?s having the passion to challenge the status quo in hopes that by some miracle tomorrow can be made better, not the affirmation of this country’s past glory. For many black voters in the city, Barack Obama’s Iowa victory inspired hope that voting can mean more than a protest against an unassailable power structure. The Wright controversy rekindled fears that no matter how close they get, someone will always be waiting to take it all away.

Bassey Etim ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science and journalism.