[Wolfman]

This should seen as a cautionry tale on several fronts. Just looking at it from simply a racial and political viewpoint can obscure some vital issues.

Bro. Rev. Jeremiah Wright, like his namesake, the prophet Jeremiah, stands in the line of the prophetic tradition in Israelite religion, including John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth. The navi (prophet) arose in the context of the institutionalization of political power in Israel in the kingship. It served as a counterbalance and conscious to the concentration of power in this institution. Its power and authority wasn't derived from arms, political deals, or popularity but solely from YHWH (Israel's God), who had the power to bring about the judgments and blessings pronounced through his prophet. We need our prophets, esp. in the face of drunkeness (and delusion) of power and entitlement which Americans live under. It's made by the fact, like that of ancient Israelite people, they use their religion as a form of national idolatry. The prophets were persecuted because they stood for the absolute justice of God and his covenant, and they were not "politicians."

Barack Obama is a politician and he knows full well that this involves the art of compromise and consensus building. Thus, these two strands stand in tension. As a result, Obama had to distance himself from his pastor for political reasons. In terms of the black political landscape this means that there has been growth, and there are challenges looming on the horizon. Heretofore, many black politicians were cut out of the prophetic mold, often from the African American church. The fact that we were marginalized socially and politically meant that, no matter how much the Rev. Martin L. King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement are now a part of the American mythology, we posed no real sociopolitical threat to the powers that be in both parties. Now, with Obama attempting a realignment in the American political landscape with African Americans, the young, educated whites, progressives, disaffected Republicans and others,there is going to be pushback from both the plantation politics of the Clintons and the Right-dominated Republican Party. Not only should Obama expect the kitchen sink to be thrown at him, he should expect the toilet, too!

African Americans, as Tavis Smiley has done, should not expect a national political figure like Obama with his "transcendant" politics to be a prophet, as a Rev. Al Shaprton or Rev. Jesse Jackson but we need the prophetic stream to hold him and others accountable, as the prophets of old did with the kings of Israel and Judah.

Finally, because we African Americans see ourselves as marginalized in many ways, we often think what we do in our "sphere" doesn't matter in the mainstream. THhs can breed bad habits of speech, act and thought. Bro. Wright did say some things in the loops which, while not exceptional in the black church context, would be seen as offensive in the broader society. And in some cases, the language was wrong--point blank. He prefaced some comments by saying that what he was about to say would never get the attention of those outside his context--how little did he realize how wrong he was! In the age of the Internet, You Tube, MySpace, Facebook, etc., there is no real sense of public vs. private. What you say and how you say it matters, even for African Americans. The use of the N-word, now ubiquitous through rap lyrics, has made it acceptable (so it seems) for whites and others to use it with impunity.

Jesus told his disciples that they should be "wise as serpents and innocent as doves." This is the word of the hour--for prophets, politicans and people alike!!!!