Rev. Wright is right

This letter has not been edited

C. Dugan, Denver

Published May 9, 2008 at 6 p.m.

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Rev. Jeremiah Wright has been repudiated as “extremist” for saying that the USA was founded on racism, and that the 911 attacks were in retaliation for US foreign policy.

But can the truth be “extremist?”

Of course the USA was founded on racism - ask any indian. Our 1776 revolution permitted only white males to vote, and then only if they owned property. Speaking of property, until 1963 only “native born white Americans” were permitted to buy homes in Denver (outside of the Five Points neighborhood). We will never begin a much-needed dialogue on race in this country if we can’t acknowledge basic facts about our own national history.

Of course the 911 attacks were in response to US foreign policy. Osama bin Laden repeatedly explained why he believed attacking US civilians was justified. He always gave the same three reasons, in the same order, all three relating to US foreign policy: a) the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia near muslim holy sites, b) the 500,000 additional Iraqi child deaths during the US-backed sanctions regime, and, c) the massacres at Sabra, Shatilla and Qana by Israel, which he characterizes as a US proxy force. We will never effectively protect ourselves from future radical islamist attacks if we can’t acknowledge what these people want and the true reasons why they hate us.

Wright is right, and should be applauded for his candor and perception. I wish *he* were running for president...

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Comments

May 9, 2008

6:37 p.m.

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skeptical writes:

You are one sick puppy, distemper perhaps?
May 9, 2008

7:04 p.m.

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skeptical writes:

Charles B
Anyone that agrees with the notatallreverend wright is sick. Anyone that sides with Bin Laden deserves to live with him in his cave.
The exact words that I used are my total "intuitive" point. I'm so sorry that they aren't "touchy" "feely" enough for you. My reply stands on it's own two legs just fine.
May 9, 2008

7:20 p.m.

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haddock writes:

Mr. Dugan has said what a lot of Americans believe but can't say without getting into trouble. It is a case of the emperor having no clothes.
The US foreign policy became extreme when george W. Bush became president and we have suffered for eight years under a yoke of fear with the belief that a terrorist lurks behind every spitoon (remember them?). The fact is that terrorism has been with us for a long time but was never the overriding issue that Bush and his neo-cons made it into by :
1) Supporting unequivocally the dictators in Saudi Arabia that were our link to cheap oil (what a joke that is now).
2) Suppporting unequivocally the Israeli approach to dialog with the Palestinians. He went so far as to say Sharon (former prime minister) could do whatever he wanted to in the middle east.
3) Enforcing an embargo on Iraq that cause a million deaths over ten years.
May 9, 2008

8:54 p.m.

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gary writes:

Here we go "again"...someone trying to put today's liberal thinking on America's past. How long does it take for people to understand that what happened in the past...did not happen due to today's thinking?? What Americans did in the 1600's 1700's and 1800's ...was done according to accepted beliefs and policy of the time.

Go ahead you idiots and keep trying to change the past...apologize for your ancestors. But WHY??

A hundred years from now..people will look back and say what idiots you really were..(are)

Nuff Said!
May 9, 2008

8:56 p.m.

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popo writes:

As a Native American, I have to agree with C.Dugan.

Th facts are what they are.

And, SASQUATCH seems to have a problem accepting them, as well as the fact that Rev Wright is a Marine, and given that FACT, one can only conclude that our friend SAQUATCH hates Marines, and subsequently, freedom.

SASQUATCH......Why do you hate America and freedom and U.S. Marines???
May 9, 2008

9:04 p.m.

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popo writes:

And gary....
Considering what you so-called Conservatives have done to America in the last 8 years.

Bite me.

'Nuff said.
May 10, 2008

12:25 a.m.

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clyde writes:

And this whole disention and argument is why Obama is doomed. He plays the race card and people are just plain sick of it, and all the pandering that goes with.
May 10, 2008

1:11 a.m.

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farmboy writes:

"b) the 500,000 additional Iraqi child deaths during the US-backed sanctions regime,"

They were not US sanctions; they were United Nations sanctions. We were also led to believe that Bin Laden and Iraq were mortal enemies. If your words are corect, they couldn't have been.

observer wrote, "terrorism has been with us for a long time but was never the overriding issue that Bush and his neo-cons made it into".

The attacks on 9/11 made it the overriding issue. You remember that, don't you? It was in all the papers.

"Enforcing an embargo on Iraq that cause a million deaths over ten years."

The sanctions were imposed by the UN long before Bush became president.
May 10, 2008

6:28 a.m.

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T1anda writes:

Rev Wright has had only one goal in life and that is to do what is best for Rev Wright. He was/is and remains a hatemonger at best!!

Tsk,tsk C. Dugan
May 10, 2008

7:11 a.m.

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ecniv writes:

Gary wrote - "Here we go "again"...someone trying to put today's liberal thinking on America's past. How long does it take for people to understand that what happened in the past...did not happen due to today's thinking?? What Americans did in the 1600's 1700's and 1800's ...was done according to accepted beliefs and policy of the time.

Go ahead you idiots and keep trying to change the past...apologize for your ancestors. But WHY??"

Gary, in the past 10 years, I have seen and heard enough to know that bigotry is still alive and well. In polite company it doesn't come up, and it's not blatant like it used to be, but it's there. Just last week, after a couple of drinks with a new acquaintance, we were discussing a certain part of town when he said, “yeah, I don’t go there much. It’s a little too dark for me over there. Know what I mean?” Working in Texas for a major oil company in the last ten years, it was all polite conversation until there were no blacks in the room, and then it was nothing but “nig*er this, nig*er that”. It made me sick to hear it. My only point here is that it is still alive and well in many people today. Sad but true.
May 10, 2008

8:29 a.m.

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jgd writes:

For the record my ancestors arrived in the early 1900's and never owned a slave. I would really like to know what I can do to help change this racial divide.

What does the offspring of these slaves want from the offspring of the previous slave owners and non slave owners to make them feel less like victims?
May 10, 2008

8:32 a.m.

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ecniv writes:

W --- Thank you for the info & have a good weekend.
May 10, 2008

9:18 a.m.

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LFC writes:

This is hilarious, keep knocking on the USA for those that are and call it racist if you would like. But keep in mind it is better than MOST other if not all other places in that regard. Yes, racism is still here, and worse in certain parts of our country. This country is far from perfect.

The sanctions against Iraq. It is amazing to me that people think it is the sanctions that killed 1 million people in Iraq! I don't even know if that number is true or not. What I do know is that it was the leader that is responsible for those deaths. He had the ability to end those sanctions years ago.

We as humans would like to think we are doing the right thing, but many times we do the wrong thing. It is amazing to me how people will throw the race card out and call white/black/asian/hispanics how racists they are, but forget to look in the mirror.

If you think Rev Wright is right. Fine he may have points, but the way he delivered it makes him a racist. He obviously doesn't like white people. So I ask you if you think he is right, then how do you think he is helping? Answer he is not.
May 10, 2008

9:30 a.m.

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stanleyg writes:

as obama stated, it is not possible to just dismiss the anger in the older black community. if you are not a minority, you really don't need to respond. that is because you don't know first or second hand what it feels like to truly be treated as a second class citizen based on the color of your skin. as for the claims made by rev. wright about the government "conspiracy" concerning HIV/AIDS, on only need to remember the tuskeegee (forgive spelling) experiments, as well as the CIA LSD experiments of the 70's, to know that our government has not been above such diabolical deeds. am i agreeing with Wright, no. am i understanding where his rhetoric comes from? of course
May 10, 2008

9:34 a.m.

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stanleyg writes:

By the way, i firmly believe that racism among older blacks, although maybe not correct, is understandable. again, if you were not on the wrong end of the jim crow/ civil rights era, it would be very hard to understand the mindset of; say a 70 year old african american
May 10, 2008

11:22 a.m.

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GetReal writes:

C. Dugan must not have gotten the latest Progressive Playbook memo of not mentioning Wrights name ever again.

Look for more of Obama's checkered past to be reveled by the Clinton's in the days to come now that the MSM has declared the news-cycle "Wright Free" giving Obama a pass on that issue, and demanding that Hillary "graciously" bow out.

The leaking of these new "Obamanations" will initially be blamed on Repubs and then of course, no matter how damaging they may be, downplayed and dismissed by the Progressives and their buddies in the MSM.

From that point on, anyone even mentioning anything remotely considered to be Anti-Obama is to be branded a racist and the discussion is over.

Playing the race card for fun and profit!
From today's Progressives and your Unbiased MSM!
May 10, 2008

11:38 a.m.

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LFC writes:

Wechasa -

I don't think anyone has to like anyone, that is not what I am saying. If you sit there and think all whites are bad....well that makes you racist plain and simple.

Wechasa there are many bad people in this world, regardless of color, religion, up bringing. Because one hispanic or white person does you wrong, doesn't mean that all white/hispanics are bad? Get it?

"But of course, just sweep it all under the rug. Blame the other side for not simply giving in, and accepting the wrongs; and that's what measures "helping". Or as Jimminy puts it: "We won. Get used to it." Perfect examples of "christianity" and "conservatism"."

How you got this out of my post I don't know. I don't think this has anything to do with giving in. What this has to do is People being able to see through the hate, be a bigger person. If you think that Wright is right when he slams ALL white people, that is entertainment to me and keep on writing your posts, I'll get some pop corn.

Read before you write my friend. I say if you know racism is in this country and you say inflammatory remarks to others races, well you are part of the problem. If you can be a man, and speak truth (NOT ALL PEOPLE IN A RACE ARE BAD) that there are bad people in this world, and you must deal with that person as they come. That is a man/person that is trying to make it a better world. Does that sound like sweeping under a rug?
May 10, 2008

11:53 a.m.

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LFC writes:

Wechasa-

Man I just read my post again to see if there was anything in there about saying people "should like Whites"

Are you for real. Man can wait to read what more of what you got.
May 10, 2008

11:59 a.m.

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Konyok writes:

Dugan's assertion that only "native born white Americans" were allowed to buy property in Denver outside of Five Points until 1963 is simply false. There is no doubt that jgd's non "native born" ancestors could have bought a home in early 1900's Denver.
Why quibble about such a peripheral point?
Precisely because it's peripheral.
Dugan strings together selected bits of information to create an impressionistic mosaic that frames a narrative of racism that justifies Rev. Wright's stage show. All of this is great good fun, reminds me of Rush Limbaugh's style of rhetoric. (Wechasa check the Lights Out thread ... )
We are to feel uneasy and guilty without any recourse but to abandon ourselves to self loathing. The more we hate ourselves the more righteous we are allowed to feel.
May 10, 2008

1:09 p.m.

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rg writes:

Posted by Jimminy on May 10, 2008 at 9:14 a.m. the two words uttered by Wright describing America whereas I posted the same two words and the (C)comstockers zapped me with “Watch your mouth….”

Dugan articulates a good letter in which truth permeates. I recall (I’m old) Hitler searching for a “permanent solution” and he looked across the Atlantic Ocean and saw how America conducted its own holocaust fueled by the Christian Manifest Destiny in which the Native American was decimated. Here in Denver Colorado Blvd. was the Mason Dixon Line.

Not having to save for college anymore, I save for therapy evidenced by my vote for Obama; however, Obama is half white half black: He cannot favor one color over another, and what’s more, Obama is young, energetic, and more likely to be accepted world-wide. I liked Dugan’s take on the 1776 revolution in which America’s dictator was named “We The People,” when factually, it excluded the Black, the Brown, the Red, the Yellow. From a flawed Organic Origin, America corrected itself through Amendment and Civil War. America needs a leader whose color is chartreuse. Richard Grimes, deicide: member of Time that slays all gods. http://www.geocities.com/r22037/think...
May 10, 2008

1:13 p.m.

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leftside writes:

C., anyone who takes what Rev. Wright or anyother radical preacher says as serious or factual is being foolish.

Anyone who believes that Obama sides with Wright on these radical ideas is the same fool with a different agenda.
May 10, 2008

1:14 p.m.

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ElSmiley writes:

Jim Crow, Lynchings, Church Bombings, beatings, torture, back of the bus, executions, police oppression, unequal education, slavery, do you bigots need me to continue. Reverend Wright was kind to all of you.
May 10, 2008

1:54 p.m.

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rg writes:

I revisted skeptical's comment(s) along with Charles_B's and have to conclude that Skeptical's legs need crutches. Comment entered without name-calling, obscenity, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy and quasi on topic. Richard Grimes: Deicide.
May 10, 2008

2:59 p.m.

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Konyok writes:

rg,

Hitler found inspiration in Manifest Destiny?
I'm sorry, I missed that one. Can you cite a source?
I do know that Hitler denounced the US as a mongrel nation doomed to fail because of its decadent individualism.
So, here you are paraphrasing Hitler in support of an argument for collective guilt.
May 10, 2008

3:27 p.m.

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me2 writes:

Osama told us why he hated us. He gave reasons, and if they were inaccurate, that was his perception. He might not have liked Saddam, but he held us responsible for the sanctions, again that was his misinterpretation.

Quoting his statements does not mean agreeing with him.

U.S. foreign policy is not always American in spirit and nature. Remember how we got the Shah into Iran?
May 10, 2008

3:40 p.m.

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Konyok writes:

Osama hates us because of Madonna.
Obama disdains us because we shrug and turn away from his millenial calls for Change.
Madonna hates us because we protect her from Osama.
Obama shrugs and turns away from Osama because he wants no distractons from his program of Change.
We hate ourselves because we are something less than perfect in a profoundly imperfect world.
It's all so confusing.
May 10, 2008

6:56 p.m.

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anderson writes:

gary, jgd, and perhaps others, make the remarkable claim that we are not influenced by history--I suppose on the idea that that we were all born tabla rasa (Ayn Rand made this claim for example)--and, presumably, that who we are today has nothing to do with yesterday. I happened to believe I was influenced by my parents, their parents, and their parents before them (even those who were dead before I was born) and their world. As Mother's Day is nigh, I'm reminded that I would likely not be here but for my mother's nurturing and chances are I might not have followed in part my father's career (in the military) if he had not done this before me.
May 10, 2008

6:59 p.m.

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anderson writes:

C. Dugan: it's evident that one of the worst crimes in a America today, for a certain segment of America, is raising the specter of racism. If you're white, you have some privilege to utter this word, even if it results in you being called names (as you were here). But if you're a person of color, like Wright, you have no such privilege.
May 10, 2008

7:07 p.m.

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anderson writes:

If Ed Quillen's "The Committee that really Rules America" were ever seen in the public eye, we would see they are all white. I've been waiting for years for the committee to issue a memo on racism, telling us when and how we can identify racism since my news sources (talk radio and cable TV) tells me daily that someone falsely raised the issue and should be condemned for it. I'm still waiting. I suspect the committee thinks racism doesn't really exist after all.
May 10, 2008

7:17 p.m.

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me2 writes:

Weschasa, did you read lately that blue eyes are only a few thousand years old? All people had brown eyes before this mutation And most of the World is made up of people of color, some color or another, but not white.

Those blue eyed whites had better hate and discriminate quickly before they are out paced by the non-whites.
May 10, 2008

9:14 p.m.

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LFC writes:

Weschasa-

Good job avoiding anything I had to say. Not even a response to me except how much you despise conservatives. Great talking to ya.
May 10, 2008

11:24 p.m.

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ElSmiley writes:

Pitiful bigoted fools, Americans for justice are over the racism, hate, and over the inane BS that the dominant culture has been filling peoples heads with for years. Thats right bigots your time running America is over, and look at the state we are in. Thank the Lord the winds of change a blowin' and, sabes que, y'all had better recognize what's happening. Nowadays, baby got back : )!
May 11, 2008

1:34 p.m.

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rg writes:

Yo Konyok: It was cynicism, sarcasm, disparagement: Hitler didn’t look across the Atlantic ocean in search of a final solution; however, the point is: “Final Solution” was achieved by the Furor and the White man which does not include me because my Irish ancestors suffered near-same inequality when they came over. The “Final Solution” did not enjoy its thrust as Jews and Native Americans still survive. And: I don’t think I should be $liable for the Black man’s plight that had its origin in slavery because the African sold the African to the White man as much as the White man rounded up Blacks to ship to other nations. Richard Grimes: Deicide.

Deicide Corner: “Start out understanding religion by saying everything is possibly wrong. . . . As soon as you do that, you start sliding down an edge which is hard to recover from. . . .” -- Richard Feynman
May 11, 2008

5:45 p.m.

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Reason writes:

Anyone remember MadLibs? Old Grouch provided a fun one.

Perhaps the confusion comes from the constant mis-use of the word "hate". The empty minded, idle brained, "__________" throw the word out as if it were, somehow, a magic indicator of what an individual is actually thinking, saying, or presenting. The only thing it indicates is the vacuousness of "_________", and the complete lack of any ability to understand the reality of complexity in the surrounding world.

Apparently, "________" actually believe that just hurling words, and using epithets to characterize people with ideas, will, somehow, serve to gain them credibility, and a veneer of veracity they otherwise lack, and have no idea whatsoever of how to achieve. And, expecting a "_________" to even try to make the slightest effort to learn the difference between "hate", "annoyance", "disgust", "dislike", "scorn", and the host of other potential responses and personal feelings is very much like expecting a goldfish to learn how to recite Shakespeare.

So, whenever someone comes along and says something that a "__________" doesn't like, or doesn't agree with, and doesn't understand - which is just about any constructive idea in the potential universe of ideas - the only response the "________" has is to screech "hate". And he/she does, at the top of his/her lungs, since screeching, skreeking shreeking, and senseless noise making are all the "___________" has as reply. Reason, judgment, and calm discussion are all as alien to "__________" as Shakespeare is to the previously mentioned goldfish.

I don't hate "____________". Rather, I find them irritating and annoying a great deal of the time, and hilariously absurd almost all the time. Sort of like a cageful of __________, 7 year old minds (if that much), in 50+ year old bodies, each trying to prove how much . . . bigger? . . . louder? . . . emptier? his/her . . . whatever . . . is than the other guy's/gal's. Better than a visit to the monkey house at the zoo.

Pick a demographic or person and fill in the blanks, it's great fun(I thought Old Grouch was particularly entertaining). Talk about vacuous posts...geez. DO IT AGAIN, DO IT AGAIN *claps excitedly*
May 13, 2008

10:51 a.m.

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gary writes:

Yep, you idiots do not understand anything....My point...trying to change history to meet your needs today... You continue to try and change history to co-inside with what you want today. Then tell me that I am a bigot or racists...your only defense. HA,,

What happened in the 1500's,1600's and since then happend folks.
Todays population is not responible for what happened back then and noone needs to apologize to anyone for anything...period.

Go ahead and keep trying to put guilt trips on someone because of what happened in the past.

It does not work any more!!

Nuff Said

Home › Opinion › Letters to the Editor

Rev. Wright is right

This letter has not been edited

C. Dugan, Denver

Published May 9, 2008 at 6 p.m.

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