The Wright Stuff

Now that Barack Obama has separated himself from Rev. Wright, an act that visibly cut Obama to the quick, maybe all — but the far right — can get back to deciding who's right on the issues. I still have something on my mind, though. The day before Obama gave his press conference rejecting Rev. Wright, the same day that Wright gave his own press conference at the National Press Club, I wrote about how much this episode in this long race has to do with a cultural misunderstanding. Then I saved it — rendering it untimely. I think it still bears examination.

"The most recent attack on the black church, it is our hope that this just might mean that the reality of the African-American church will no longer be invisible."
— Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, The National Press Club, Washington, D.C.

This quote, though merely a sound bite of words, sums up much of the controversy surrounding the revered Biblical scholar and retired pastor, Rev. Wright. His claim to represent the whole black church in this controversy sounds egotistical, but I feel that there's some merit there. It's clear from folks I've spoken with that Wright's not like most other African American preachers, but much of the strong reaction in the MSM and in the public has as much to do with what he says in his sermons as with how he says it. Nonreligious observers understandably lack insight into the value and complexity of a church community — that not all members agree or march in lock step with each other and their pastor. Religious observers, right and left, are often not familiar with any church tradition outside their own.

While much can be written on this, I just want to highlight two conversations that really opened my eyes to a cultural tradition that I was previously blind to. A culture that was invisible to me. The first conversation was with an African American coworker and the second was with a former student of Rev. Wright's. I learned something about the tradition of the black church — that it is an amalgam of traditions: the African tradition brought here, the African American tradition cultivated here and the Christian tradition shared at a basic level by all Christians (Catholic and Protestant). I learned also that black churches routinely meld the social issues of the African American community with the teachings from the Bible making the pulpit a place where ideas flow both out of and also in to. That it is not uncommon for the energy level to become elevated and for the volume to rise. While I attend a church that is staid and solemn, black churches engage in an exchange of ideas between the pastor and the congregation that can be imagined even in the simple call and response popular in hip hop. Because the issues relevant and vital to the African American community aren't always addressed in the MSM or in many other arenas, they become topics during the church service on Sunday. Far from being divisive to society, these problem sharing opportunities — containing passionate speech — are a catharsis. Just like revivals have been for more than a century.

Maybe this sounds like a high fallutin' look at the black church. That's OK. There is a misunderstanding, even an ignorance, about what goes on behind church doors among all races and creeds. Most folks don't know what it's like to worship in a mosque or synagogue let alone in an Orthodox church, a Catholic church or an Evangelical mega church. Though the latter gets beamed into many households every weekend. We could use a little anthropology on our neighbors faiths, then perhaps we could leave it out of the public forum for good.