I'll just say this: anyone who doesn't understand why someone like Rev. Wright might say something like "God Damn America", while still being a patriot, read this article from the New York Times, and understand that, while this case got a lot of publicity, stories like this happen every single day in this country and never get reported.
Black people (and, I increasingly suspect, Brown people as well) who simply want the opportunity to live their lives are KILLED.
They're killed with impunity.
They're killed by people who are supposed to enforce the laws like those against murder. They're killed by people who are supposed to protect them because they're citizens.
And when they're killed under such circumstances, on the extremely rare occasion where some sort of trial is convened, their loved ones are told that said killing wasn't really criminal or even improper.
The call from Rev. Wright isn't "Go To Hell America".
The call is "Damn it, America! Why can't you do right by me like you promised?!?!"
It's the glaring absence of justice on earth that makes us call for divine retribution.
2 comments:
I am probably over-simplifying, but I don't think I can understate my concern about the fact that "fear of black men" appears to becoming a viable defense in cases like these. I haven't read all the court documents, but was "black men's fear of police" a legitimate reason for them to have tried to drive away from the scene? Would it have been legitimate for them to fire on the cops because they were worried that cops were likely to (illegally) shoot them?
I actually find the statement "God bless America" pretty offensive. As an atheist and rational member of the species, I find it preposterous that a god would prefer America over any other nation.
But that's beside the point.
Whether the Rev was saying what Damon suggests or something else, I think the great thing about free speech is that someone can say, in front of a congregation of thousands, "I'm not happy with this." As I recall, he had some pretty good points as well. Like our foreign policy. Oh, and that whole Katrina thing too.
I truly believe that anyone who was pissed off or offended at the Rev's damnation was not only dumb, but also wanted to be pissed off. It always sounds good to say America is the greatest country on Earth just as it sounds good to say I like puppies and rainbows.
And of course in election seasons, puppies and rainbows are just that much more popular.
I personally think this'll all blow over. At least I hope it will. Then again, there are a lot of really, really stupid so-called patriots out there.
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