Whoopi Goldberg | 03/20/2008 11:14 am

Let's Balance This Obama Thing Out

The race issue took center stage on the presidential campaign trail this week as Sen. Obama came under scrutiny for past controversial comments made by his former pastor. Obama delivered a speech Tuesday in Philadelphia in which he distanced himself from what he described as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s “most offensive words,” but not from the reverend.

Let’s balance this thing out. I found this interesting piece on the web and found it very thought provoking.

What do you think about all this?

Read more about: Barack Obama, Election, Politics

125 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

It is a shame that this has happened and I hope people listen to his speech. Although I am a stauch Republican and always have been I truly admire Obama as a person and a candidate and I hope this too shall pass.

By J B on 03/20/2008 11:06 am

e-mail alert

Thanks Joyce for seeing the man for who he is….genuine!

By Rose Brown on 03/21/2008 8:29 am

e-mail alert

Rose, “genuine” does not a president make! There are thousands of highly genuine people in our nation, but that isn’t what we need at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Corruption has once again totally infiltrated this election, and we’re letting it happen. May I suggest that everyone read Susan Jacoby’s new book, The Age of American Unreason, to gleen a more macro view of the causes of our entropic decline in America. Bill Moyer’s interview with her on another book may be found at this link. http://www.pbs.org/now/society/jacoby.html May you all have a wonderful, spring weekend. Truly, you all amaze me. I’m delighted with WOWOWOW — I feel that I’ve come home, at times (good home!).

By Upanaway on 03/22/2008 12:15 pm

e-mail alert

Though I totally disagree with Rev. Wright I would rather have these comments out in the open than under wraps; that way I can make informed decisions. I think Sen. Obama is one of the bravest, upstanding politicians around and it’s about time we have an honest candidate. He did the right thing and hopefully it will not affect his campaign. We want change and he is it! Whoopi - get well soon - you are missed on The View.

By Grace Peck on 03/20/2008 11:07 am

e-mail alert

Grace, I would encourage you to check out Rev. Wright’s actual sermons on You Tube. I’m so tired of half truths and distortions. I am a white woman in Chicago and not a member of his church, but from what I’ve listened to I would be a proud member. The reverend asks us to examine our own personal relationship with God, not to be examining others relationships to their Gods and to ask ourselves if that relationship is real or fake.

By Tee Zee on 04/24/2008 7:34 pm

e-mail alert

I applaud you for opening up this Pandora’s box of opinions about this group of zealots from my racial group.

By Brenda Hall on 03/20/2008 11:18 am

e-mail alert

I came out of this admiring Obama even more than I did before. I am Jewish but don’t always support Israel. I am a feminist, but the woman isn’t always right. And, as a bumper sticker I saw once said, “I love America but I think we need to start seeing other countries.” Is anyone else irritated with Clinton’s response to Obama’s speech? “Yes, issues of race AND GENDER (because it’s always about ME) are important. No, I didn’t hear or read his speech so I can’t comment.” I call baloney on that one. Of course you read it, heard it, nit-picked over it, and couldn’t come up with any cheap shots. So as usual, she is carrying on with those scorched-earth politics, denying that anyone else might have anything valuable to offer. A n HRC White House will be a lot like a GWB White House, surrounding herself with people who 100% agree with her, don’t threaten her… and as a result, cannot be groomed to take over in a leadership role. Obama is intelligent, is capable of seeing issues as being complex with opposing yet valuable views, and articulating these to work towards a better solution than “either/or.” Unfortunately it seems the electorate is not capable of this sort of thinking. Clinton is not capable of it, so people are rallying around her… or perhaps she is capable of it but she is so politically jaded that she is willing to pander her character, not just issues, to get elected.

By Carole Meagher on 03/20/2008 11:22 am

e-mail alert

Well, first of all I am so unifying I have no interest in religion. I think we need to move to EVERYONE identifying as Reformed Spiritualist. I acknowledge we all have differences, but “No religion” would stop allot of this nonsense. I mean really, we only have evidence for evolution, and our country is great because of our laws, no crazy preachers or women doing the “I talked to god”, scarlet letter crap. I really just don’t get the whole fear of some dude in the sky thing. I actually see the purpose of community, and a “spiritual” place to gather for reinforcement, but it always gets twisted and stupid-humans! Keep politics separate from the place you meditate on hope, faith, love, and being our best self. Keep it POSITIVE. I personally think Obama is weak to need someone to bring him to his christianity. I am one of the best people I have ever known, and I don’t need religion. Especially ones dominated by men. They do 90% of all crimes, especially violent ones. Why in the world would I listen to them? Come from your mind, not from your fear. Look at what works, - family, unity, food, shelter, safety, peace, no violence. Thais is what most women are about. We need women in power, the more the better this world will be. Even that crusty old man Ted Turner said so. There- a man said so, is it more valid? Anyway, I am revolted by religion, and it’s sickening it is in our politics-we are an immature country. Europe does not do this-they have matured.

By Anistasia Beaverhousen on 03/20/2008 11:33 am

e-mail alert

Anistasia, very well put! I don’t think morality and ethics are highly correlated with religion, I’m tired of politicians catering to religious interests, and I have a deep suspicion of people who blindly turn to religious dictates to guide their lives. Wars, repression, racism, misogyny, ethnic cleansing - the list of tragedies instigated and perpetuated by religion is truly shameful. This country is faced with tremendous domestic problems and it still has a responsibility to help improve, or staunch the destruction, on the world stage. We need leaders who can rationally evaluate situations based on all available data, distill wisdom from history and experience, and temper decisions with compassion and humanity. The men have messed things up royally; we need women in power to fix things. BO has honed his passionate oratory during many years of performing in churches, and perhaps knowing this has made me immune to his “eloquence.” I cannot wrap my head around the notion of a presumably intelligent man who has spent two decades being spiritually dependent on such a man and in such an environment of “faith” - I also think that Obama is weak to need such a support system. I know, he is just a man, but we need more than “just a man” to lead this country in such challenging times. I found BO’s speech to be cleverly constructed to distract. The issue is not whether he is responsible for his preacher’s vile beliefs, the issue is not whether he remains the victim of persistent racism, the question is how can I believe that he is strong and wise enough to lead the (barely, still) most powerful and influential country in the world when he has needed such a poisoned environment for spiritual guidance? How can his much heralded hope spring from such weak roots? We need someone stronger and wiser. All this talk of hope and racial conversation is interesting but I don’t know if we have the luxury of make it an immediate priority when we have rogue states developing nuclear capability, the economy on its way to ruin, American influence internationally waning …. No, we need a strong, wise, informed leader who will not tolerate nonsense. I think BO has shown himself to fall far short.

By Fai Men on 03/21/2008 1:30 am

e-mail alert

Thank you Fai. RACISM is NOT an issue if women unite and run over half the world. Women do not have an innate need to segregate, dominate, and kill others. We simply do this when following a bunch of our men because we believe we need them to protect us. They have proven to be killers and destroyers. RACE is NOT an issue ladies. A woman in power is the ISSUE. We do not NEED religion to tell us how to act ethically. We naturally act morally when left to our own instincts. Men left to their own, wreak havoc!!! It is a fact, like evolution, and gravity. Their is no elephant in the room. Their is only the domination of the world by male dominated religion-it poisons everything. Africa— lets solve Africa. Give the women the power and the guns and take away the men’s power. Let them run things for ten years and you will have a country to contend with. But, men do not want this. They want to send them food, or whatever and enable the men to continue their dominance that is NOT working. That’s race on race extermination. Not even that catholic Bono see’s he is part of the problem, he has no solution due to his religion. Sexism is the real enemy, get rid of that and racism will disappear. So will 90% of all the other ills of the world. How will we know if we do not try it ladies? How will we know? It really pisses me off that so many women are still hanging onto men’s idea of things, of their reality. It is not real, like god whispering in men’s ears to create new religions, it is not real. There is no evidence, and women are their own worst enemies. We can not blame anyone but ourselves. Shame on us!!!!!

By Anistasia Beaverhousen on 03/21/2008 12:51 pm

e-mail alert

I so agree with you ladies. He tried to come out as a man reaching across the aisle with the most divisive man sitting on his back. And that comment about his grandmother, what a “nice guy”.

By helene lorraine on 03/23/2008 1:32 am

e-mail alert

What an excellent point, we cannot blame anyone but ourselves. Thousands of years of violent tribalism, with no end in sight, fueled by men using religion as one of their tools of mass manipulation. Repressed women in a majority of the world may not have a choice, but we women in the U.S. certainly do - what is our excuse for not trusting ourselves in power? Shame on us, indeed.

By Fai Men on 03/26/2008 12:27 am

e-mail alert

Lucille, if Jesus Christ came back right now — he wouldn’t finish his first sermon before FoxNews was mocking him on-air for his radical, bleeding-heart viewpoint! I think the Wright-Obama issue has become big because so many of the punditry/media elite are not active members of a community of faith. If they were, they would KNOW that their are plenty of people saying and believing plenty of things you won’t agree with … but the point of a community of faith is that you all put it aside in humility, to act in service to a higher entity. I believe Obama completely when he makes the differentation between a spiritual advisor and a political advisor. In their ignorance of the practice of religion, the media somehow thinks every clergyman is perfect — which is anything but the truth! Going to church every Sunday should not make you feel as though you are better or purer than anybody else; it should make you feel forgiven. From what I’m reading, it sounds as though it’s the Clinton campaign that’s working to keep this issue on the front burner. Shame on them. I think Obama has received better advice on how to act like a Christian father and husband from “wild” Reverend Wright than Bill CLinton got from Billy Graham, or whoever his spiritual advisor is.

By MW C on 03/20/2008 11:39 am

e-mail alert

Whoopie, That’s a good one. I think race and religion is the problem with this country. Sen. Obama has a right to listen to who he wants because he is an American. Reverend Wright has a right to say what he wants because he is an American. As an American White Woman I what to see change. I wouldn’t listen to Reverend Wright any more than Jim Baker or Jimmy Swaggart. But If Joal Olseen ever fell from grace it would break my heart. People may change their minds about what they say and can be forgiven. Words will hurt you and the people around you. Think before you speak is a good thing to remember. Stupid things have come out of my mouth, but if it leads to change for the good I think Reverend Wright should just keep talking. I saw Swaggart on TV just the other night.

By Tammy Moore on 03/20/2008 12:35 pm

e-mail alert

Frankly, the issue of race and racism is always center stage. Like the elephant in the room, we ignore it, glance at it, whisper about it, condemn it and snicker at it but it stays in the room. Similarly with racism, there’s always an underground dialog going on in our respective communities but no one has ever elevated it to a nationwide dialog. Until now. Unless we start talking about race and class—-the other elephant in the room, these issues won’t go away. They’ll just sit there and give off toxic fumes like they have for years. So I get why you didn’t write your own piece here, Whoopi. Instead, taking the lead from Senator Obama, you’re starting the dialog here on Wowowow. Hope the readers here get the point and don’t view this as a nice one-time conversation.

By Karen Batchelor on 03/20/2008 12:56 pm