Mar 18, 2008 10:23 pm US/Central
Exploring Role Of Black Church In The Community
Sen. Barack Obama Gave An Historic Speech On Race Tuesday In Response To Uproar Over His Former Pastor's Remarks
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Political historians believe Tuesday is one of those defining days in American history, when people in this country are forced to have "the talk." Sen. Barack Obama had to put the issue of race on the table in a speech and face it head on.
CBS 2's Diann Burns reports the turn of events opens the door for a look at the power of the church in the black community, and the influence of race on every aspect of a culture in America.
Listeners flooded the switch board at WVON to react on Cliff Kelly's radio show to Obama's speech.
"The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, struggles and successes, the love and, yes, the bitterness and biases that make up the black experience in America," Obama said in Philadelphia Tuesday morning.
The speech was a chance for Obama to go on the record on the controversy over the sermons by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and to put the significance of the black church in an historical context when it comes to politics in America.
"For the men and women of Reverent Wright's generation the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away..." Obama said.
Obama's speech conjured up emotions for the generation that lived in the era that defined the civil rights movement in this country where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a preacher, was leading the front lines to win the right to vote, for equality and to raise the consciousness of America from the pulpit.
"A lot of people hear Reverend Wright's comments and think 'how can this person be a person of the cloth?'" said UIC's Tyrone Forman, an associate professor of African American Studies. "I think part of what he was speaking to, and I think is very central to the black church, is a social gospel."
"Many African Americans go to church, not only to find spiritual support, but also support and understanding of the world they exist in," Forman added.
Trinity United Church in Christ is one of the largest churches in Chicago. Close to 10,000 people attend on Sunday, and the congregation is diverse -- racially and economically.
Historians say Trinity underscores the notion that church in the black community is the foundation for progress, where the poorest of the poor sit among the wealthy and the powerful.
"We're all in same place, and all there for different reasons, but it's certainly around the sense of hope and feeling of being uplifted," said Cheryle Jackson of the Chicago Urban League.
And so when politicians court black voters, they go to church.
"I think it will be amazing to look back by all accounts," said Chicago Public Schools Board President Rufus Williams. "This is not the last of the issue of race in this run to the White House and beyond."
The pollsters are working overtime right now to gauge the impact of the Obama speech in his effort to save his presidential campaign.
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