Wright's Influence Over Obama, Voters

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright is killing any dreams Sen. Barack Obama may have had to be elected this nation's first African-American president.

Obama properly distanced himself from incendiary Wright sound bites like "God d++n America" for allegedly treating blacks as "less than human," for 9/11 terrorist attacks"brought on by U.S. foreign policy," or for the U.S. inventing HIV virus to commit "genocide against minorities."

After Obama "dissed" Wright's tirades earlier last month, I had thought the storm had passed; case closed, so to speak. How wrong I was; Wright reappeared with an unapologetic vengeance that would have had Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton screaming "racist" if a white man had made the same assertions.

Wright popped up again a few days ago so aggressively that even a hard-boiled member of the "Anybody but Hillary" brigades might have blushed. The fiery pastor just about threw Obama under the bus this time around.

Instead of backing off from his previous offensive statements, Wright underlined what he sees as basic differences between blacks and whites. What he said, in fact, is tantamount to a sensational argument in favor of re-segregation.

As the Rev. Wright tried to explain, not very carefully, "He (Obama) says what he has to say as a politician." Sorry, reverend; that doesn't explain anything. And don't make fun of thick Boston accents, either; I don't ridicule Midwestern nasalizations.

Dressed in suit and tie rather than in African tribal robes, Wright said European-Americans are controlled by a "logical and analytical" left brain, while African-Americans are right-brained, "creative and intuitive." Two worlds, with two very different ways of learning. "We just do it differently," surmised Wright. "Our religious tradition is to shout in the sanctuary."

Could a stronger case be made for the separate schooling of blacks and whites? As Wright himself explained, "It's a black thing - you can't possibly understand."

Oh, yes, I do, Rev. Wright. Many years ago, in black Jamaica, some colleagues and I set out one evening to find a voodoo ceremony for which we had heard the island nation was famous. Stumbling across a shabby wooden meeting house, we heard a steady stream of shouts, blood-curdling screams and even wailing coming from inside. "Sure sounds like voodoo," we all agreed.

Entering the hall, we watched what looked more like some kind of hot and sweaty religious ceremony. After the maybe 50 to 60 once-prostate worshippers had cleared out, I asked the janitor if we had been witnessing voodoo. "Oh, no sir," he replied, "this here was a Baptist revival meeting."

Lessons: Don't take anything for granted; whites do things differently. Black religious traditions are different, too. I understand, and most other white Americans accept those differences as routine, without any influence or help from the Rev. Wright.

What's important to bear in mind, though, is that Hillary Clinton won 70 percent of white Catholic and white union households - the blue-collar vote - in April's Pennsylvania primary where maybe as many as 20 percent of the ballots cast were based on racist overtones.

The Rev. Wright is contributing so much to Hillary's campaign strategy, he ought to be on her payroll. The Los Angeles Times has speculated in print that he already is. Wright should be keeping a low profile instead of polarizing races. Maybe he's just pushing his new book.

Obama now leads, ever so marginally, in the upcoming Indiana primary. He doesn't need the Rev. Wright to rekindle racial issues. "The Wright stuff" already gives Indiana voters a legitimate reason to question Obama's judgment.

Obama can rightly claim the reverend doesn't speak for him or for his campaign. But the damage has been done - largely by the Rev. Wright himself.

Wright rejects the supposition he is Obama's "spiritual mentor," but the candidate attended Wright's church for 20 years, was married by him and had Wright baptize his kids.

How can we believe Wright has not influenced Obama at some point?

Even Obama's latest book title, The Audacity of Hope, is borrowed from a Wright sermon.