SFGate: In black churches, fiery sermons are the norm, not exception

[Kadie]

SAN FRANCISCO
In black churches, fiery sermons are the norm, not exception
Cecilia M. Vega, Chronicle Staff Writer

Monday, March 24, 2008

The Rev. Amos Brown's Easter sermon at the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco didn't have much to do with Jesus' crucifixion or resurrection from the dead and instead covered everything from skyrocketing gas prices and the subprime mortgage crisis to race relations in the United States and presidential politics.

During his fiery Sunday morning speech, he called President Bush a "one-eyed man," told the predominantly African American congregation that the country is as segregated now as it was 50 years ago and said "America is running on fumes right now ... we are on the wrong road."

It's no coincidence that Brown's raspy-voiced, roaring sermon sounded vaguely familiar to the controversial sermons delivered by Sen. Barack Obama's longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Brown and Wright are friends and graduated years ago from the same seminary class in Dayton, Ohio. Brown, whose own sermons have sparked controversy and grabbed headlines, has a picture of Wright in his church office.

"I don't want nobody to accuse me of being angry," Brown said from the pulpit. "I'm just excited about the Gospel."

snip...
Wright's sermons are no different than sermons that get delivered every weekend in black churches around the country, said Gordon Greenwood, a lawyer who attends the Western Addition-area church. "And it's not just churches," Greenwood said. "You could walk into a black barber shop or beauty shop and this is being talked about all day."


more...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/24/BAL8VP5UA.DTL

[goodgd_yall]

1. I've gone to a few black churches

Just to balance things out, they're not ALL talking about social justice and hot political topics. Each time I've gone it was about personal salvation and local problems like youth getting in trouble with drugs.

[anonymeme]

2. Which Shows a Deep-Rooted Problem In And Of Itself. A Lot of Hate-Preach Goin' On There! n/t

n/t

[Luminous Animal]

4. Criticizing systematic institutional racism

which was constructed and is perpetuated by white folks is telling the truth.

Do you think that labor unions gained strength by flattering the boss?

Do you think that environmental laws were passed by complimenting the polluting companies?


Racism exists. Being the brunt of an individual's bigotry is bad enough but institutional racism destroys communities, families, and individuals. From , the grossly underfunded education system to the the grossly unequal treatment by law enforcement and the the judicial system

[Ordr]

21. It isn't hate speech if it isn't from a white male.

n/t

[durrrty libby]

3. fiery = hate and bigotry. Got it

[Luminous Animal]

5. Indeed...

calling out ones oppressors is now construed as hate.

See how easy it is to get people to internalize a mindset that is against their best interest?

For example:

Democrat's aren't critical of Bush's policies; rather, they simply are Bush haters.

[jody]

6. "calling out ones oppressors is now construed as hate" but not all whites are oppressors. n/t

[Luminous Animal]

7. Irrelevent.

When one says, "The judicial system is biased against African Americans," one does not mean all African Americans only those who are unfortunate to get caught up in our racist judicial system.

When one says, "Whites have accumulated more personal wealth than blacks," one does not mean all whites.

"White" and "black" are social and cultural classifications as well as a grossly imperfect descriptions of individuals within their respective classifications.

[jody]

8. You say "Irrelevent" and that means you hate innocent white people. That's not a very good position

for any candidate.

Don't be surprised if such a candidate loses an election where the majority of voters are white.

[nomorenomore08]

9. What are you so upset about? No one's personally attacked you.

Just because someone doesn't like the way society is set up, does it automatically follow that they despise the majority of the population (in this case white people)?

I've said this here before, but the point is NOT that every individual white person should be blamed for the unfair system we live under - most have little to no control over it. And therefore, a complaint about "white society" shouldn't be taken as a blanket "white-people-are-evil" statement, because chances are it's not.

[jody]

10. #5 talked about oppressors as cited in sermons in black churches. It's obvious the reference is to

the white community.

One definition of bigot is ": a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance"

IMO any person of one race who condemns another race is a "bigot".

In that sense I as a "white" was attacked by a bigot if his/her sermon attacked my race.

[Luminous Animal]

11. Blaming the victim, I see.

While wallowing in your fictitious victimhood.

Too bad about your opinion. The social and economic stratification that exists in this day and age to the detriment of the black community exists solely because white people enforced the notion that white people are superior to other "races".

The obscene discrepancy within in the criminal justice system is a result of racism originating from the white community. Disenfranchisement laws were rewritten and expanded by white politicians following the Civil War.

There may be more, than any other time in our history, individual white folks who are not bigots. But this does not negate the fact that many institutions were structured by whites specifically to marginalize blacks and that we all are impacted by this legacy. White people to their benefit, African Americans to their detriment. Until we can reform these institutions to treat all equally, African Americans (as a social and cultural classification) will continue to be victimized by White People.

White people seem to have no problem referring "the black family", "the black community", etc. But as soon as an African American offers some analysis of institutional white racism, all of the sudden some white's protest, "Nope. Not me. I didn't do it. Not my problem."

[jody]

12. Why blame all members of a race for the deeds of a few? That's pure bigotry? n/t

[Luminous Animal]

13. For the same reason

we refer to "the government" and not the individuals in that government. Certainly there are good people in the government and when we criticize the government, are not referring to individuals but to the institution.

When Wright and others refer to white people, they are not talking about you and me but rather, "white people" as an artificial social and cultural construct created by white people that favors white folks to the detriment of those who are not white.

Structural racism, most egregiously demonstrated in the criminal justice system, has not been fundamentally challenged by the white community. And, in that sense, white society is complicit in that structural bigotry.

Similarly, I did not vote for Bush and I vigorously protested it to the point of losing my liberty (for a few hours, anyway) but yet, the blood of injured and dead Iraqis still stain my hands. I am not innocent for the simple reason, I am an American.

[jody]

14. That's OK for you but I will not accept blame for something others have done. Have a nice day. n/t

[Luminous Animal]

18. And yet...

you blithely accept the benefits of a racist society.

It isn't about accepting blame. It is about accepting responsibility. It is an acknowledgment that your socio-economic status depends, in part, on the systematic disempowerment (and worse) of your fellow citizens.

I am an American and my standard of living is a result of suppression of popular uprisings and democratic movements, the exploitation of labor of desperate people, and the wholesale theft of natural resources worldwide by hook or by crook. If I don't acknowledge and understand that, then I will not have the intellectual skill to articulate my demand for increased responsible global citizenship from my government and U.S. corporations. If I don't take responsibility for that, then I would find no reason to make adjustments in my own personal behavior to mitigate the negative impact of U.S. imperialism.

[Karenina]

15. Your post restores my faith.

:hi:

[Luminous Animal]

16. Thank you.

:hi:

And a happy wave right back at you!

[Chovexani]

17. For the brazillionth time

THE BLACK CHURCH IS NOT MONOLITHIC.

There is a particular type of black church in which this kind of fiery sermon is commonplace. This is what most people think of when they think of The Black Church. They are declining in membership, as a point of fact--because, you know, people that go to church generally do so because they want to learn how to better their lives, not constantly hear about how Whitey Did Us Wrong. Yes, we know that, now what do we do about it? I grew up in a church like that, and that's why my family stopped going and starting going to a black megachurch (I ended up leaving that one, and Christianity altogether, for some different reasons but that's a whole other post).

This shit really makes me want to bash my head into a wall. When the people who are defending the black church don't even know wtf they're talking about either, it's maddening.

[goodgd_yall]

19. Yeah, it's driving me nuts

I'm just hoping people don't have the impression that all black churches are preaching the kind of stuff Wright was. To read some comments on DU, you'd think that was the impression.

[Chovexani]

20. Pardon the pun, but amen

I'm trying but I'm guessing the people that need to hear it most automatically dismiss my posts due to my avatar.