Part of the reason people might have been surprised to hear Wright's comments about race in the United States...boils down to the fact that in many ways, blacks and whites in America still live segregated lives.
"White people don't live in our neighborhoods," Ward said. "They don't worship with us."
Fellow churchgoer Maggie Bullocks said she was not surprised that people who are unfamiliar with such fiery-tongued preaching might misinterpret Wright's sermons.
"But the United States is supposed to be a country where people can voice their opinions," she said. "You don't always have to agree."
SFGate
SAN FRANCISCO
Cecilia M. Vega, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, March 24, 2008
The Rev. Amos Brown's Easter sermon at the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco didn't have much to do with Jesus' crucifixion or resurrection from the dead and instead covered everything from skyrocketing gas prices and the subprime mortgage crisis to race relations in the United States and presidential politics.
During his fiery Sunday morning speech, he called President Bush a "one-eyed man," told the predominantly African American congregation that the country is as segregated now as it was 50 years ago and said "America is running on fumes right now ... we are on the wrong road."
It's no coincidence that Brown's raspy-voiced, roaring sermon sounded vaguely familiar to the controversial sermons delivered by Sen. Barack Obama's longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Brown and Wright are friends and graduated years ago from the same seminary class in Dayton, Ohio. Brown, whose own sermons have sparked controversy and grabbed headlines, has a picture of Wright in his church office.
"I don't want nobody to accuse me of being angry," Brown said from the pulpit. "I'm just excited about the Gospel."
Excerpts of Wright's sermons as he rails against the United States and accuses it of responsibility for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have been airing regularly on cable news stations in recent days, creating a political firestorm for the Democratic candidate for president that prompted his speech last week on race relations.
Brown and many congregants at the Third Baptist Church wonder exactly what the controversy is all about.
Wright's sermons are no different than sermons that get delivered every weekend in black churches around the country, said Gordon Greenwood, a lawyer who attends the Western Addition-area church. "And it's not just churches," Greenwood said. "You could walk into a black barber shop or beauty shop and this is being talked about all day."
Brown, who is active in San Francisco politics and is president of the city's Housing Authority Commission, came under fire in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks for a sermon he gave in which he asked what America had done to invite the attacks upon itself.
On Sunday, he told a packed church that the criticisms being hurled at Obama for his close ties to Wright are part of a conspiracy aimed at damaging the candidate on the issue of religion because there's not another negative issue out there that has tarnished his reputation.
"What you are seeing happening to Barack Obama was hatched, crafted and developed a year ago when you were sleeping," Brown told churchgoers. "This kind of nonsense does not just happen."
The sermon was met with roaring applause. Women in their best Sunday hats and pastel Easter suits stood in the isles and cheered. Men waived their hands in praise and shouted, "Amen."
"White people do not understand the experience we've had in this country," said Doris Ward, a former San Francisco supervisor who attends Third Baptist.
Part of the reason people might have been surprised to hear Wright's comments about race in the United States, she said, boils down to the fact that in many ways, blacks and whites in America still live segregated lives.
"White people don't live in our neighborhoods," Ward said. "They don't worship with us."
Fellow churchgoer Maggie Bullocks said she was not surprised that people who are unfamiliar with such fiery-tongued preaching might misinterpret Wright's sermons.
"But the United States is supposed to be a country where people can voice their opinions," she said. "You don't always have to agree."
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