Reflections on Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” Speech

By Robin Caldwell

The Sunday, March 23 issue of The New York Times carried a cover story about presidential candidate Barack Obama’s race speech and its impact on Easter sermons nationwide. One of the most compelling paragraphs in the article stated:
“Some ministers interviewed over the last several days said they would wait until after Easter to preach on it all, because Easter and headlines do not mix. But others said there was no better moment than Easter, when sanctuaries swelled with their biggest crowds of the year, and redemption was the dominant theme.”

Obama’s speech and the furor preceding it was caused, ironically, by a minister – Jeremiah Wright, former pastor of Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ. Wright’s comments and commentary delivered consistently from his pulpit and in other public forums have fueled one of the worst political wars since the Civil War – the War Between the States which made slavery and racism the culprit in splitting the country.

Unfortunately, before Wright opened his mouth, the country was split and the racial divide shifting each side further and further apart. To his credit, Jeremiah Wright has the church talking or at least talking about talking as noted in the Times article. The cleric and former Obama campaign adviser is the unwitting catalyst for a long overdue discussion between believers and followers of Christ about race.

It’s time to talk about race.

And not in some pat on the hand, shame on you kind of way.

And certainly not in an antagonistic, baiting, and venomous way.

Both ways have failed us in the same manner as saying absolutely nothing at all has failed us. And judging by the political and social climate in this country, we’ve reached our boiling point – all of that silence has built up and is ready to blow.

In my discipleship, I’ve learned that people sitting in the pews, confessing perfect faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, cannot afford to be burdened with an imperfect, evil racism. Most often, for the record, the victimized becomes a victimizer who harbors deep resentment towards their enemy. And in 2008, it is ludicrous for anyone saying that she or he is a Christian to hold onto any vestige of the evil called racism.