First appeared in Human Events.
Currently up for numerous Tony awards is a splendid revival of the 1949 Rogers and Hammerstein musical "South Pacific." It's worth remembering that its theme, examining racial and cultural prejudice, was highly controversial; indeed, there was a legislative challenge to its decency in Georgia. Key to the show is the song "You've Got To Be Carefully Taught," which the authors insisted would stay in even if it meant the show's failure.
In that song, a young American lieutenant, unexpectedly in love with a Tonkinese girl, realizes he can't marry her and bring her home to a country that would be appalled by an interracial union and a family that would be dismayed by a wife below his social class. The lyrics resonate far beyond marriage per se to prejudice and racism generally:
You've got to be taught to be afraid,
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught.
Cut to 2008. The encouraging news is that among young people particularly, race and ethnicity almost doesn't register. Focus groups and polls suggest most people are clearly "over" race. They say what matters are someone's attributes, skills, and character. Most believe that any preferences should be based on need, not ethnicity.
Yet this progress, apparently, hasn't touched Trinity United Church of Christ, the church Barack Obama -- now the Democrats' nominee for U.S. President -- attended for over 20 years. There the "black liberation theology" of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright prevailed, reiterated for us all this past week in Father Michael Pfleger's racist rant about whites generally and Hillary Clinton in particular.
It is this that makes Barack and Michelle Obama's decision to be part of the life of this church for so long so disturbing. It isn't simply the content of the sermons -- lots of us have endured sermons with which we disagree. It isn't Wright's radical views -- by all reports, he is charismatic and personally well liked, and his more controversial sermons contain legitimate grievance mixed with factually mistaken history and wacky conspiracy theories. Most of us know someone like that and just try to steer clear of those issues and be polite. Moreover, we understand that politicians particularly have to smile and make common cause where they can, and that endorsing and being endorsed are not equivalent.
No, what's disturbing is that the Obamas have children. And presumably they know other people in that congregation have children. People take children to church precisely to help inculcate them with the church's values. We now have some vivid examples of the received wisdom, what directly or indirectly gets drummed into each dear little ear from year to year at Trinity United, how they are told to be afraid of people whose skin is a different shade, how they are taught before they are six or seven or eight (or older) to hate all the people their fellow congregants hate.
This is a long way from Obama's "what unites us" message -- if anything, it is an old and toxic wine in a new bottle. Some assert that blacks can't be racist, as though black racism is so justified that it ceases to be racism. But anyone familiar with the occasional stigma in this country towards those darker than a paper bag by lighter-skinned African-Americans knows that racism and prejudice can infect any soul of any shade.
Obama has been adept at recognizing when his far-left base conflicts with the larger, all-embracing image he wants to present. Perhaps that is why he finally resigned from Trinity United. One can only hope that, given his speech on race in Philadelphia, combined with his repeated problems of long-time associates who surprise him with their views, that he will lead the effort to take a bolder step. Much as Lyndon Johnson's need to change how he was perceived on race issues moved him to endorse the Civil Rights Act, Obama could urge the nation to move beyond race-consciousness to the race-transcendence Martin Luther King advocated, but which was bypassed in our well-intended attempts at rapid atonement. One can only hope.
| Heather Higgins chairs the board of the Independent Women's Forum. |
7 Comments
Fay | June 15, 2008, 8:57pm | #
Hello Heather,
It is disturbing that people continue to say why did the Obama's allow their children to listen to the ministers message. The Children are both under twelve years old and those children go to "Children's Church". In a church that size I'm sure there are a number of ministeries.
It would be greatly appreciated if people would get the facts, we are raising young people to be respectful, and it would be helpful if people would provide accurate information.
thank you,
Fay
Aaron | June 15, 2008, 9:02pm | #
Few points
#1 Many on the right have treated obama as though he shares a 1:1 ideological relationship with his pastor which is just an illogical assumption. The fact of the matter is that people go to a certain church for many reasons, not just who the pastor is. Perhaps he went there simply because it was in his state senate district. Maybe it was only a short ride away. Maybe even the seats were comfortable. Maybe 15 years ago his pastor wasn't so radical and now he cant bear leaving his church because it is a second home (even though he did recently)
#2 I would agree that taking children to hear sometimes radical thoughts is detrimental however you dont just stop there. But did it ever occur to you that his children went there solely for lessons in religion and not politics or race? Sometimes you just take the good with the bad and try to explain away the bad after church. there is a church in my town where the main pastor claims that America was created to destroy Islam. 10,000 + people still go there everyday. By your logic this makes them all crusaders against Islam no >?
#3 Additionally by "linking" obama to this Pflager guy is so compleatly disenginous. They arnt friends, they dont share a personal relationship. I had a rescist highschool principal, does that make all of my classmates and myself rascists? rascists sympathies, or just compliscit in his rascism? This makes all of thoes people who attended mass with child molesting pastors child molestors as well ?
I understand the journalistic desire to expose hipocracy but this whole ordeal is so tenuous. not just do you suggest that obama was complacent in his church's atrocities, but that he was complicit.
If a prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich i'm sure in 20 minutes of browsing the net i can "link" you Heather R. Higgins to David Duke, or Stalin or someone else of similar character, but it wouldn't be right or accurate. This whole thing is just the ultimate is TR muckracking, and the ultimate in character assassination. The suggest that Obama is secretly a hidden radical like his pastor is just as ludacrist as the suggest that he a secret Muslim, which you might also believe. The truth is that there is a lot we do not know about this guy, that he does lack the many years of federal experience most presidential candidates get, but this type of innuendo that obama is a racist radical, or that he is "linked" to whatever ham sandwich shows either A) your complete hackeried partisan bias or B) that you're a bad journalist who has made inaccurate assumptions about life. My grand faster after all fought in the Nazi army, soo by your assumptions here today I must be a fascist, or maybe just fascist sympathizer, or well maybe my family must be fascists. I'm sure you'll come up with something
Moshe | June 16, 2008, 12:28am | #
The attempt of trying to tie Senator Obama with Rev Wright is so ridiculous and dangerous. Let’s talk about the danger part. What this line of argument implies is that: anyone who attends a “controversial church” in the likes of Rev. Falwell, Rev. Hagee, and Pastor Parsley should be excluded from the political progress because if they attend the church however long, then they must share their preacher’s view. That kind of argument does not hold much water. It is unintelligent. Senator Obama has said repeatedly that he does not share those views, and has repudiated these comments.
What concerns me is this: With this kind of silly logic, we will exclude a lot of people from the political process. Students from Liberty University (Rev. Falwell’s greatest university), Regent University (Pat Robertson’s university), or Oral Roberts University would have to answer questions and pass the same silly litmus test when they choose to run for political office. They better think twice about attending these institutions because a few years from now they will have to answer questions as to why they chose to stay there.
It seems foolish that I have to point out that leaders such as Rev. Wright, Pat Robertson, and Jerry Falwell have to be held accountable for their own thoughts. If the question is why did Sen. Obama attend that church so long, then one should go around asking the members of all these churches and institutions the same question. Simple-minded individuals cannot live with complexity. Senator Obama may not like everything about Trinity, and may have chosen to stay despite the church’s shortcomings. The choice of attending a church is not based on a single factor. Singularly-minded people make their choices that way, and I believe thoughtful individuals weigh the different factors.
Finally, when it comes to race, Senator Obama embodies the complexity of this issue more than any other candidate in the history of the United States. Yes, by the mere fact that he is biracial he has a view that no other candidate who has run for this office possesses. We should focus our attention on individuals who in 2008 would not vote for Senator Obama just because he is “black”. The focus should be on their hatred.
Melissa | June 16, 2008, 12:31am | #
Ignoring reality won't make it go away, no matter how you overreact to it. I agree with Heather.
I do think Obama was affected by his minister. His view of "racism" feels to me like it's about twenty years outdated.
Most people I know don't pay as much attention to a person's race as they do to whether they are decent people or not.
Is there anyone not tired of those that make a career out of claiming to be victims of racism, when they are victims of little more than their own nasty attitude and reluctance to lift a finger to help themselves?
Obama wrote an amendment for a law directing money for education to "predominantly black" colleges - to which our leaders added hispanics. Note that the funding would be by all races.
One of his educational solutions for the lower percentage of blacks getting degrees is to simplify the application for aid.
Is this for real? It sounds like old fashioned racism of the worst kind.
How does it help the black community to bend over backwards for them? Since when did blacks need "special help"?
Obama needs to address the effect on all kids of the negative lyrics of some rap music, of how the repulsive behavior of some black athletes, such as Michael Vick affects non-black attitudes towards blacks and to make himself more aware of the potential for "backlash" when a race is given special privileges.
These are the real issues that could affect today's blacks.
Personally, I never questioned the concept of equal. I do question the judgment of any congregation that allows such sheer viciousness from someone calling himself a man of God. Not only allowing it, but applauding and cheering.
Heather's concern for children attending the church is justified. How is this hate-mongering speech different from the schools in Saudi Arabia that promote hatred?
Whether the children go to a separate section or not is irrelevant in the long run. The attitude will be absorbed eventually, one way or another.
I am continuously amazed by the different segments of society that think they should not be subject to the rules that they expect others to obey.
i.e., segments of the black community and of course, congress.
I see a lot of racism today that no one objects to - it's just not directed at blacks.
Fred | June 17, 2008, 8:23am | #
A double standard?
How can Father Plegher's rants be racist? Last time I checked Plegher was white, so in essence he was critizing members within is own race. When Bill Cosby started ranting about the negative aspects within the black community, he received rave reviews from conservatives and moderates from all over the political spectrum. Nobody considered him a racist. Now that a white man critizes white people he is indeed a racist. How dare anybody speak negatively about the great white race. White resentment is now mainstream because a black man is running for president. How can Obama or anybody for that matter "move beyond race" (if there is such a thing) in a society that was founded on contrasting principles. If you truly want equality, ask John McCain or any white politician to "transcend race" as that is what is expected of Mr. Obama. I won't hold my breath
John | June 17, 2008, 3:44pm | #
I am so repulsed by the response to this column. The blind ignorant free pass given to Obama regarding his church is dumbfounding. To hear the apologists saying that they have heard things from their pastor that they disagreed with but stayed in the church is a lie. There is a difference between the preacher telling you it's wrong for you to steal paper clips and to be a hatemongering bloviator that states that an entire group of people is evil and should be eliminated. Hatemongers like Wright drove me from all church. I cannot imagine staying in a service that the supposed leader preaches hate. I have worked with black people for over twenty years. The fact is that 95% of blacks are bigots when in the company of other blacks. I get along with them great. I get invited into their homes and have a great time. But, when I hear them talk without the knowledge of my presence, all white people are "phuck crackers".
Plegher is a white apologists and a religosite pig. The catholic church is the second biggest evil religion on earth. To site such a hate-filled church shows your bias. Religion is a tool of governments, devised to control the unwashed masses.Thank god religion is around; Otherwise people like Faye, Aaron, Moshe and Fred would be running the streets, raping, robbing and murderind white people because they're "owed something". Much like what happened in South Africa when power went into the hands of blacks.When most african Americans go to Africa they get no respect and are very often murdered
P.S. Aaron, Turn on your spellcheck, and stop posing as an intellect.
Melissa | June 21, 2008, 6:58pm | #
Fred, Have you heard the piece? It's pretty over the top.
Who says you can't be a racist towards your own race? Of course you can. Just like some of the worst sexists are women.