My view: Friends reveal a lot about us
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5/4/2008 - 5/4/08
"Show me who your friends are and I'll show you who you are." These words were spoken years ago by my father, the late Congressman Antonio M. Fernandez, so that I wouldn't be influenced by unsavory characters. I can't help believing that, after 20 years of counseling bitterness, hatred and prejudice, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's influence would not have become deep-seated in Sen. Barack Obama's heart. I believe that for political expedience Sen. Obama has suppressed utterance of these feelings and covered them with expressions of racial unification and living the dream expressed by the late the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In the face of the firestorm created by the Rev. Wright's sermon damning America, blaming the government for AIDS in the black community, and for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Sen. Obama defends the Rev. Wright.
"As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding and baptized my children. I can no more disown him than I can the black community." Is this political posturing?
Now that the Rev. Wright has recently defended his fiery sermons in statements made at the National Press Club in Washington, and in an NAACP speech in Detroit, Sen. Obama has denounced the Rev. Wright's comments and disowned him completely. This is political expediency for certain, but in his heart is he being honest?
Sen. Obama's oratorical manner calls to mind the manner in which Adolph Hitler mesmerized the masses in Germany with his rhetorical promises of a grand change, national supremacy, equal opportunity and prosperity for all. Yet ultimately Hitler led the nation into hatred of the Jews and the worst holocaust in history. I wonder what the future holds for us if Sen. Obama is elected President. I also wonder what might happen if he doesn't win the election. Will the Rev. Wright and pastors of other black congregations as well as the black community rise up in revolt against the white community of our nation with the same bitterness and hatred expressed by the Rev. Wright?
Manuel "Neo" Fernández lives in Santa Fe.