Was the Rev. Wright right, or wrong?

1 comment March 17th, 2008

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s fiery sermons escaped notice of the mainstream press, even though the retired pastor of Chicago’s Trinity Church of Christ, Barack Obama’s home church for 20 years, features prominently in Obama’s books.

Wright’s words are interpreted differently depending on which side of American history you’re on. Whites created the country for their benefit — blacks were denied citizenship and counted as three-fifths of a man for census purposes. Naturally, any retelling of the national tale has a different slant if the teller is descended from people who were not considered fully human by the vaunted Founders.

I don’t buy everything Wright says — I don’t think the U.S. government created the AIDS virus, and I think the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary and saved upwards of a millionĀ  American lives — but I understand his basic themes.

I liked this article from The Guardian about Wright and his effect on Obama’s campaign. I’d like to know what you think of it.

Cops writing citations motivates kids to class

5 comments March 17th, 2008

Mayor Morrissey’s decision to have police issue citations to students who are in school but not in class is working. The first day of Hizzoner’s new policy saw cops write 89 citations to high school and middle school students.

The word that cops were writing citations to appear in court on truancy charges was a motivational tool that prompted kids to skedaddle to class rather than loiter in halls.