i am…
…the proud daughter of the veteran of three wars; an incredibly patriotic person; a person of a deep, deep, and abiding faith in Jesus; someone who cries every time The National Anthem is played (add an Olympic medal to that mix, and I blubber); someone who flies a flag on the 4th of July. I am also a Euro-American woman who watched the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s NAACP speech, and read every word of the text of his speech to the Nat’l Press group. I am here to say as publicly as I know how to say it: I take NO issue with ANYTHING he said. Are his experiences my experiences? Of course not, and that is exactly why I would not DARE to speak to (or God forbid against) his experiences and opinions. Our upbringing, our stories, our lives could not BE any more different than they are, and until I have walked a mile in ANYBODY’s shoes, I have absolutely NO RIGHT to pass judgement on them in ANY way, shape, or form. I am beyond-discouraged at the outcry (especially the Euro-American outcry) over the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s comments. If we (white America - - and, yes, I know folks of all ethnicities, skin colors, and cultures are speaking to this - - it is just that I am white, so I feel I can only speak to / from being white) are SO blind, SO self-centered, SO close-minded, and SO ignorant about the history of race relations (both past and present) in our country today, then I hold very, very little hope this evening for the future of race relations. And that is heart-breaking to me - - absolutely heart-breaking.