Can White people legitimately rail against centuries of institutionalized racism

[cali]

that continues to this day? No, of course not. And that's what Reverend Wright was doing- railing against institutionalized racism. White people don't like being reminded of this inconvenient fact. It makes us uncomfortable, on the whole.

I am not saying that Wright's comments aren't a problem for Obama. I think they are. Even being seen by proxy as an "angry black man" is dangerous in this country, particularly through an electoral lens. I'm not saying that Wright's comments were artfully phrased. I'm not even saying I agree with him on some of them. I don't for a minute believe that AIDS is a plot to kill off people of color. But in the light of history, I do understand how that could seem possible to the black community- and not just to undeducated people either. Still, I think it's wrong to voice that when it's so demonstrably not true. I do think that 9/11 was, to a large degree, the chickens coming home to roost. And that's been said here thousands of times, with few taking exception to it. Nevertheless, it's not a thing that you can get away with in this context. I think Wright's comments about the Clintons were way over the line.

But let me stress this once again: There is no history of institutional racism against white people. White people have been the perpetrators of it, not the victims. Wright expressed, in many of his comments, the frustration and anger of people who have been the victims of centuries of institutional racism. If you don't understand that, you aren't trying hard enough to view his comments through a prism not your own, instead of just knee jerking and calling Wright a racist. I don't see the evidence for that.

One more time, for those who don't read well: I'm not denying Wright isn't a problem for Obama, and I'm not condoning many of his remarks.

Just my take on it.