If This Is True - Maybe Blacks Should Be Wary Of Obama

Marc Ambinder, an associate editor for The Atlantic has a blog that I enjoy reading on a daily basis.  I don't agree with everything that he writes, but I respect his opinion.  Yesterday, he posted a short entry on his blog entitled "The Edifice Crumbles?" and he the proceeded to post the following thoughts of an Obama supporter,

"It may be cynical, but I've started to think that Wright sees Obama as, in a way, a threat to his ministry. It would be difficult for him to preach that the government systematically destroys the lives of black people if a black man is sitting in the White House."

Ambinder then writes, "I know that many people inside Obama's campaign share this belief."

If what Ambinder says is true then many blacks will be offended and disappointed that members of Obama's campaign have subscribed to this tired theory on race in this country.  First of all, it does not surprise me that there are people in Obama's campaign that believe Wright views Obama's success as a threat to his ministry.  I would like to know the identification of those people.  I would be disappointed, but not surprised if the Obama campaign members who believe this were black. 

This unproven belief of some people in Obama's campaign is based on nothing.  These are the same people who will argue that racism is not that prevalent in today's society because a biracial male is on the brink of becoming the Democratic nominee for president.

There are many whites and some blacks who harbor similar thoughts about the media appointed black "leaders" like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Louis Farrakhan.  They believe that Jackson, Sharpton, Farrakhan and others do not want racism to go away because its demise would make them irrelevant.  I am not a fan of some of their methods and commentaries, but a person would have to be a fool to believe these men want people of color to continue to be discriminated against so they can continue to be relevant in the publics eye.  Now if there is a way to make them irrelevant, please let me know.

I do not believe Wright or any other black "leader" is threatened by Obama's success.  I am sure there are some people who are jealous of the attention Obama gets and the "easy road" he has traveled to get to this point. I do not believe that Obama has traveled an easier road to his success.  I believe Obama has traveled on a road that many members of the "black leadership" are not familiar with.  Nevertheless, there does seem to be a disconnect between the civil rights leaders who cut their teeth on the politics of 30-40 years ago and the new vanguard of black "leaders". 

The bottom line is this - Wright was revered on the South Side of Chicago before Obama came along and he will be revered when Obama is long gone.  Are there people who wish Wright had kept his mouth shut until Obama was elected president?  Yes.  However, the South Side community in which Trinity United Church of Christ resides is not going to turn their back on Wright.  I know they want Obama to sit in the Oval Office, but I guarantee you that they will never trust Obama over Wright.  Trust me when I say that Wright's ministry and his legacy is secure with the people that he represents and that is all that matters to Wright.