Jeremiah Wright’s Eulogy of Asa Hilliard III (Updated)
[Guest post by DRJ]
Asa G. Hilliard III was a university professor and a “leader of Afrocentrism, an ethnic history movement that highlights historical achievement among blacks — in part to boost minority students’ self-esteem.” He died August 13, 2007, from complications of malaria while in Egypt on a study tour with students.
A NewsDay blog reports that Obama’s minister, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, wrote a controversial column in December 2007 as a eulogy of Hilliard:
“From the Wright-written eulogy for scholar Asa Hilliard in the Dec. 2007 edition of the Trumpet magazine: “(Jesus’) enemies had their opinion about Him… The Italians for the most part looked down their garlic noses at the Galileans.”
After calling Jesus’s crucifixion “a public lynching Italian style” executed in “Apartheid Rome,” he goes on to claim that white supremicists run the U.S. government:
“The government runs everything from the White House to the schoolhouse, from the Capitol to the Klan, white supremacy is clearly in charge, but Asa, like Jesus, refused to be defined by an oppressive government because Asa got his identity from an Omnipotent God.”
Fox News’ Greta Van Susteran has a video interview about the story here.
Trumpet Magazine is apparently a black-oriented magazine. I use the term apparently because the magazine’s website seems to have been taken down and the column in question is not available. Here is a minimal cached version that gives us a hint of the magazine’s content:
“» Genarlow Wilson: Justice Deferred
» An Empowerment Interview: The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan
» The Message: The Life of the Spirit – Dr. Asa Hilliard”
This blog entry speculates:
“Trumpetmag.com, the domain of the Trumpet Magazine that gave an award to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, has apparently been taken down. We can only speculate that the reason is to limit its damage to Jeremiah “God Damn America’s” friend Barack Hussein Obama.”
At this point, I think it’s reasonable to assume there may be even more to come. No wonder Wright canceled speaking engagements in Florida, Houston, and Dallas.
UPDATE: Note Pablo’s comment #12. Thanks, Pablo.
— DRJ
You cannot criticize him. You have not walked in his shoes, experienced his experiences.
All very true.
Beyond dispute
Remember, the candidate of “judgment” sat and listend to this stuff for 20+ years, and only saw fit to distance himself once it caused him political problems in his presidential campaign. Until then, all hunky dorey. Or, Baracky just happened to be absent from church every time their pastor started spewing this crap.
JD (75f5c3) — 3/27/2008 @ 11:54 amY’all want extra butter in your popcorn?
Paul from Fl (12026e) — 3/27/2008 @ 11:58 amQuite typical of the Post that it makes it sound like Afrocentrism is a theory that has any real evidence to back it up. (For those not familiar with it, Afrocentrics claim that 1)the ancient Egyptians were Negroes like the peoples of subSaharan Africa and 2)the Greeks stole everything we credit them for inventing from the Egyptians. QED, European civilization is a ripoff that cheated the blacks. Both claims 1 and 2 are demonstrably false.)
kishnevi (2b3e28) — 3/27/2008 @ 12:20 pmI still say, Hey, Obama, if we are cherrypicking the rev’s comments, show us some of the sermons full of Christian love and charity. It’s very telling that he has never offered to do that.
Note, kishnevi, that they teach Afrocentrism in order to “boost minority students’ self-esteem.” In my experience, we gain self-esteem by doing something that is hard but good, not by listening to false praise.
Patricia (f56a97) — 3/27/2008 @ 12:28 pmThe Hillary folks think of Jeremiah Wright as the gift that keeps on giving.
Mike Myers (31af82) — 3/27/2008 @ 12:29 pmthe italians were right to look down their garlic noses at the galileans. in the categories of food, wine and art, there is absolutely no comparison.
assistant devil's advocate (2172d5) — 3/27/2008 @ 12:58 pmADA, now what did the Romans ever do for Galilee?
Steverino (e00589) — 3/27/2008 @ 1:09 pmThis story seems to have peaked every day I read about it. Then another revelation arrives and there is more and more to it. “Keeps on giving” is about right. For example, Deval Patrick is showing us what we can expect if Obama wins. Then we have speculation about what Obama will do in Iraq. His former adviser, Samantha Power told us what to expect. He will make it up as he goes along.
Mike K (b9ce3e) — 3/27/2008 @ 1:23 pmHis former adviser, Samantha Power told us what to expect. He will make it up as he goes along.
“Mak[ing] it up as he goes along” means that he will continue to exercise his judgment, based on new information that comes in as the situation in Iraq changes over the next ten months (until the next president is inaugurated). That means he will continue to exercise his judgment based on new information that he will have access to as the president-elect, and as president.
What’s batshit-crazy is that Obama is denying that he will continue to exercise his judgment. He’s made his plans, and he’s sticking to them. His judgment now is so good that he’s going to suspend all future judgment that might interfere with it.
A truly honest politician would have to admit that, depending on what happens in Iraq, he might decide that our soldiers should stay there longer. But Dem primary voters (and especially superdelegates!) don’t want to hear that! The don’t want to hear that they might vote for Obama in November and then there is some tiny chance he could change his mind later, in light of new developments.
Think of how much could happen in Iraq in the next 10 months. I don’t know what will happen, but the situation will probably be very different than what it is today.
So Obama is promising to stop thinking, lest he think bad thoughts. It’s utterly ridiculous, especially for a candidate whose claim to the presidency is his “judgment.”
Daryl Herbert (4ecd4c) — 3/27/2008 @ 2:42 pmWhite men killed Black Jesus. That’s all you need to know. Poor Black Baby’s Jesus’s Soul is crying out for vengeance. We’ll kill the Jews last.
nk (34c5da) — 3/27/2008 @ 3:06 pmTrumpet is Wright’s magazine. He seems to have gone to ground. That is if you can consider the 10,000 sq foot TUCC financed mansion he’s retiring to “ground.”
[EDIT: Here’s a link to a story on the house Wright’s church has financed for him. — DRJ]
Pablo (99243e) — 3/27/2008 @ 4:19 pmThe Wayback Machine has much better archives, though unfortunately, they don’t have Dec ’07 cached. Note the Publisher’s page, and also the address for letters to Trumpet. 400 West 95th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60628. You may have seen that address before.
Pablo (99243e) — 3/27/2008 @ 4:34 pmSteverio #7. I can’t believe nobody’s said it yet:
The aqueduct.
Sean P (e57269) — 3/27/2008 @ 4:46 pmWhat the Romans did for Galilee?
kishnevi (03a14b) — 3/27/2008 @ 5:45 pmPretty much they destroyed it all and enslaved most of the survivors. That was in the late 60s CE. Those that want the details can read them in Josephus.
Well they did take down the Temple in the Bar Kochba and Masada rebellions. A lesson for the
narciso (c36902) — 3/27/2008 @ 5:57 pmrabblerousing that Reverend Wright suggests.
Of course, there is the ‘inconvenient truth’
that Mary Lefkowitz brought out that much of
those conclusions are bunk; as authentically
African as Ron Karenga’s Kwanza movement. Technically, Romans like Middle Easterners are
olive skin peoples. Their is a lot of overlap between Middle Eastern, Italian & Spanish. To use one interesting example; Saddam looked Latin if not for his language and mannerisms; one Syrian plotter behind the Madrid and London bombings; Mustafa Setmarian could be Michael Moore’s cousin.
kishnevi, its a joke. Monty Python film reference – Life of Brian. Text of the scene here.
SPQR (26be8b) — 3/27/2008 @ 6:03 pmSPQR–unfortunately it’s not a joke for me.
אני יהדי
If it wasn’t for what the Romans did for Galilee and Judea, there would be no Israeli Palestinian conflict.
kishnevi (03a14b) — 3/27/2008 @ 6:23 pmnarciso–all us Mediterranean peoples tend to look alike. I’ve been mistaken for Cuban, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Arab (by Arabs, no less). And I’m Jewish.
Of course, there was a comedy routine that Jackie Mason used to, based on the premise that Italians are Jews who don’t know it. “Mangia, mangia!” equals “Ess, ess, mein kind!” and so on.
kishnevi (03a14b) — 3/27/2008 @ 6:25 pmWright is a liar. Period. There is no way a PhD in Theology from the University of Chicago would not know his Bible. Yet knowing his Bible, he lies to his congregation, about the facts it relates and their historical context, for his own political purposes.
He taught Obama well. How to lie convincingly to his congregation.
nk (34c5da) — 3/27/2008 @ 6:30 pmthe missing links….there’s always google
billie (0e1a30) — 3/27/2008 @ 10:28 pmBarak Obama, is the Black equivalent too David Duke! And his Chickens are coming hoooooooooooome to roooost!
Ed O'Shea (56a0a8) — 3/28/2008 @ 6:47 am