Reverend Doctor Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. was born in Philadelphia on September 22, 1941. His father, Jeremiah Wright, Sr, was a Baptist minister, who pastored Grace Baptist Church, from 1938 to 1980. He completed his elementary education in that city and then went to Virginia Union University, a historically black school (HBUC). After three and a half years at Virginia Union, Pastor Wright left school and entered the United States Marine Corps. He transferred from the USMC into the United States Navy where he served as a cardiopulmonary technician. After six years in the military, Pastor Wright transferred to Howard University where he received a bachelor's degree in 1968 and a Master’s degree in English in 1969. His second Master’s Degree was from the University of Chicago Divinity School. His Doctorate was received from the United Theological Seminary. In addition to Pastor Wright is the recipient of eight honorary doctorates.
Reverend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. became Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ (TUCC), a largely Black megachurch located Chicago, on March 1, 1972. Within a matter of months he demonstrated an understanding and deep commitment to help TUCC achieve its motto and vision. The motto, "Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian", was a phrase coined by his predecessor, the Reverend Dr. Reuben Sheares, and was officially adopted by the congregation shortly after Pastor Wright began his ministry. He retired on February 10, 2008, after 36 years of service as the senior pastor of that congregation. Since 1972, under Dr. Wright’s leadership, the membership of Trinity United Church of Christ grew from 87 members; and currently exceeds 8,000. Dr. Wright has lectured at seminaries and universities across the United States and has represented TUCC and The United Church of Christ around the world. He is recognized as a leading theologian and pastor and has published four books and numerous articles.
Relationship with Barack Obama
The title of Senator Barack Obama's book The Audacity of Hope was inspired by a sermon written by Pastor Wright. Senator Obama first met Wright and joined his church in the 1980's while he was working as a community organizer in Chicago prior to attending Harvard Law School. Obama and his wife, Michelle, were later married by Wright, and both their children were baptized by him. Senator Obama's connection to Pastor Wright first drew attention in a February 2007 Rolling Stone article that described a speech in which Wright forcefully spoke about racism. At this point, Obama claimed that Wright "is like an old uncle who says things I don't always agree with". Pastor Wright had previously told Senator Obama that the senator would probably have to distance himself from him during his campaign due to some of his inflammatory speeches. Pastor Wright was appointed to Senator Barack Obama's African American Religious Leadership Committee on December 4, 2007, and he was removed on March 14, 2008. Obama decried and denounced Wright's positions. On Tuesday, Senator Obama delivered a speech addressing not only on his relationship with the pastor, but on the role of race in his candidacy and the country as a whole.
Controversies
During the course of the 2008 campaign, Pastor Wright's beliefs and past remarks have become closely scrutinized. Critics have accused Wright's Black liberation theology of promoting black separatism. Wright has rejected this notion by saying that "The African-centered point of view does not assume superiority, nor does it assume separatism. It assumes Africans speaking for themselves as subjects in history, not objects in history."
In 1984, Wright traveled to Libya and Syria with Reverend Jesse Jackson and Minister Louis Farrakhan in a peace mission which resulted in the freeing of United States Navy pilot, Lieutenant Robert Goodman who was shot down over Lebanon. (The media only said that Pastor Wright went to Libya with Louis Farrakhan to meet with Gadaffi – there is no mention that Jesse Jackson also went and nor that it was a peace mission.) Pastor Wright was quoted as saying that "When [Obama’s] enemies find out that in 1984 I went to Tripoli to visit Colonel Gadaffi with Farrakhan, a lot of his Jewish support will dry up quicker than a snowball in hell." He added that his trip implied no endorsement of either Louis Farrakhan’s views or Qaddafi’s.
In 2007, Trumpet Magazine (which is published and edited by Wright's daughters) presented the Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Trumpeter Award to Farrakhan, whom managing Editor Rhoda McKinney-Jones said "truly epitomized greatness." Wright is quoted in the magazine: "When Minister Farrakhan speaks, Black America listens. Everybody may not agree with him, but they listen...Minister Farrakhan will be remembered as one of the 20th and 21st century giants of the African American religious experience." Obama, on the other hand, has both denounced Farrakhan and rejected his endorsement.
In addition, Wright has said that Zionism has an element of "white racism"; still, the Anti-Defamation League says it has no evidence of any anti-Semitism by Wright. Another of Wright's controversial sermons took place following 9/11, when he suggested the attacks were a consequence of violent American policies and proved that "people of color had not gone away, faded into the woodwork or just 'disappeared' as the Great White West went on its merry way of ignoring Black concerns."
When tapes were put for sale by the church after Wright's retirement, ABC News publicized several controversial sermons. In the sermons, Wright accused the federal government of crimes against people of color, including selling drugs to blacks, creating the HIV virus to infect Blacks, and perpetuating racism that led to disproportionate imprisonment of Blacks. In one sermon, Wright said that the United States was responsible for the September 11th, 2001 attacks and urged Black Americans to ask God to "damn America." (They failed to mention the end of the statement…until she changes her ways and begins to treat all her citizens as equals).
Pastor Wright's comments were heavily critical of the United States Government, saying of the events of September 11, 2001: "The stuff we have done overseas is brought right back into our homes". In other sermons, he said "The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color", referring to AIDS origins theories, and "The government gives them the drugs [referring to the Iran-Contra Affair], builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people...God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme".
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