Black Liberation Theology: Mainstream Myth

Baldilocks is black, female and conservative. Responding to a column by John Derbyshire at NRO, She writes:

...columnists Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom at did their homework on Black Liberation Theology and the "black church":

Most black churchgoers belong to congregations that are overwhelmingly African-American and are affiliated with one of the historically black religious denominations such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) or the National Baptist Convention. Rev. Wright's Trinity Church, on the other hand, is a predominantly black branch of a white denomination that is not part of "the African-American religious tradition." The United Church of Christ (known until 1957 as the Congregational Church) has a little over a million members; a mere 4 percent of them are black. Fewer than 50,000 blacks in the entire nation worship at a UCC church.
In contrast, 98 percent of the National Baptist Convention's 4 million members are African Americans. Add in black Methodists and Pentecostals, as well as other black Baptists, and the total comes to more than 14 million members of an organized, predominantly African-American church.

I don't think that there was enough outrage at the cravenness of Jeremiah Wright when he held up other black people as his rhetorical shield against criticism of his lunacy. The Thernstroms wonder about this also and suggest that he may have convinced many whites that his beliefs are mainstream among blacks, a concern I share. If someone with Derbyshire's resources can't be bothered to find out this information, what about the average white Joe?

Vivian Paige is a local blogger, a black female and a Democrat. She is also the daughter of a black minister, so she has some credentials on what is preached in black churches. On March 17th she had this to say on the subject:

The story of Barack Obama’s pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, hit the MSM over the last few days. But it is a story that has been simmering for quite some time. A quick Google search reveals a Rolling Stone story from over a year ago,with quotes from Wright that I’ve never heard in a pulpit. Obama, no doubt realizing that Wright might be a problem, disinvited him from his presidential announcement. Yet until the stuff hit the fan, Wright remained a part of the campaign, his testimonial only having recently been removed from the candidate’s website.

[quotes Obama on Wright]

I’m having a bit of trouble with Obama’s statements here. The only plausible explanations I can come up with for not hearing these kinds of statements is that he didn’t go to church very often or he wasn’t very close to the pastor. Neither of those things makes much sense. After all, this is the church he was married in. This is the church that his children were baptized in. And this is the church that he has donated a lot of money to.

For Obama to say that he’s never heard these things strains credibility.
...
I’m not buying that Wright only said these things when Obama was absent. The very things that Obama says attracted him to this church and its pastor -”a congregation that does not merely preach social justice but acts it out each day” - belie that. Obama’s statement was an attempt to mitigate the damage, just as his disinvitation was. What Obama has demonstrated that he’s just another politician, willing to do and say whatever is necessary to get elected.

Paige's comments were done after some soul searching. She deserves praise for her honesty.

I struggled with whether to say anything about this at all. I’ve tried very hard not to write negative stuff about Obama, but I could not remain silent in the face of is duplicity on this.

I honestly don’t know if the Democratic Party can unite after this primary. We had a unique opportunity to discuss the issues of race and gender. Instead, both issues have been trivialized. And its a damn shame.

It is discouraging to people of good will when group solidarity trumps all. It is encouraging to see and hear people who will stand up for the right. I applaud Vivian Paige; I am discouraged by many of the comments which represent a "circle-the-wagons" approach in defense of Obama.