Six weeks ago, Barack Obama made a monumental speech addressing race relations in America titled “A More Perfect Union.” He did so in the honest, straightforward demeanor that has hallmarked his candidacy for the highest office in the nation.
The catalyst for the speech was his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose name you have surely heard ad nauseam by now. Mr. Obama — who attended Mr. Wright’s church for 20 years, was married by him and had his two children baptized by him — did what any public figure would have done in the same situation: He denounced the statements made by Mr. Wright that he did not agree with. Among these was that America had a hand in starting the AIDS epidemic to kill blacks, and that Sept. 11 was an acceptable reaction to America’s own “terrorist” actions.
For a while, I was actually quite happy with Mr. Wright.
You see, I was naive enough to think Mr. Wright — regardless of how he did so — may have started a serious dialogue in mainstream America about an issue that isn’t always prevalent in the minds of mainstream Americans (by mainstream Americans, I mostly mean white people).
And when I watched Mr. Obama give that speech in response to Mr. Wright’s absurd claims, I was even more encouraged. Not only did Mr. Obama address the fears and concerns of minorities and the black community, he also addressed widespread resentment and anger among white communities. He seemed, for once, to get right the order of the horse and the cart by simply addressing the obvious.
As Mr. Obama said, “… race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Mr. Wright made in his offending sermons about America — to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.”
He did all of this in a manner that — while most self-righteous intellectuals would never admit to — was downright inspirational.
Yet only a month-and-a-half later, it seems as if all of that inspiration, all of that intellect and honesty, was all for naught. In the name of the modern individual and the almighty dollar that drives him, Mr. Wright has resurfaced thanks to his and the media’s rampant solipsism — titillating away all remnants of a progressive discussion.
And instead of pointing the finger inward, many in the media berated Mr. Obama for the rerun episode.
The New York Times said yesterday, “It took more time than it should have [for him to] firmly reject the racism and paranoia of his former pastor.” Likewise, The Washington Post said yesterday, “It seems to us that the whole sorry episode raises legitimate questions about [Mr. Obama’s] judgment.”
It’s as if, when Mr. Obama said in his speech in March that he “condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright,” mainstream America thought he must have meant to say “commend” instead because he did not damn to hell every fiber of Mr. Wright’s being.
So, what could Mr. Obama have said to keep Mr. Wright out of the public’s interest? Probably nothing.
But I guess I’ve learned this lesson before: We are a public that demands stimulation above sincerity, and a public that drives the media to abide by our drooling desires. In fact, my initial idea for this article was to vindictively rip John McCain for not fully rejecting the support of Rev. John C. Hagee — a bigot of equal proportions to Mr. Wright. But I understand John McCain is of proper distance to Mr. Hagee, just as Barack Obama is to Mr. Wright, and that enough is enough.
Many of us in the media are fond of saying that “words matter,” mostly because words are just about all we have. But there is a lesson to be taken from the narcissistic resurrection of Rev. Jeremiah Wright this week: It’s up to you to realize that the media — and all the words it can fashion — don’t always matter.
Fewer realizations are more vital toward actually achieving a more perfect union.
Andy Granias ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in political science and philosophy.
