{"id":542,"date":"2008-04-05T19:59:00","date_gmt":"2008-04-05T19:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"\/blog\/post\/2008\/04\/05\/An-elder-responds-to-statements-about-Michelle-Obama-and-Jeremiah-Wright.aspx"},"modified":"2008-04-05T19:59:00","modified_gmt":"2008-04-05T19:59:00","slug":"an-elder-responds-to-statements-about-michelle-obama-and-jeremiah-wright","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebirdfeeder.us\/blog\/2008\/04\/an-elder-responds-to-statements-about-michelle-obama-and-jeremiah-wright\/","title":{"rendered":"An elder responds to statements about Michelle Obama and Jeremiah Wright"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted by: "visionaries4"    <\/h3>\n

Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:46 pm (PDT) <\/h4>\n
\nAn elder responds to statements about Michelle Obama and Jeremiah
\nWright
\nDate: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:30:07
\n+0000<\/p>\n

========================================================================
\nTo
\nThe Editor:
\nAs a 78 year old American of African descent, I feel
\ncompelled to respond to all this "much ado about nothing" when it comes to
\nthe statement that Michelle Obama made about the fact that this is the first
\ntime in her adult life that she has been proud to be an American.\n<\/div>\n

\n
\nThe
\ncountry needs to hear this from the Black perspective.\n<\/div>\n
\n
\nLong before I was
\nborn, my grandfather Joseph Burleson, owned a considerable amount of land in
\noil rich Texas. Because during that era, Blacks could not vote, nor could
\nthey contest anything in the courts of the United States, my grandfather's
\nland was STOLEN by his White neighbor. My grandfather, who was literate and
\nbetter educated than my grandmother, drove to town. Seeing my grandfather
\nleave, the covetous neighbor asked my grandmother to show him the deed to
\nthe property. He snatched it. She could not insist that he give it back, nor
\ncould she have reported this THEFT to the sheriff because of the fact that
\nBlacks had no rights in the 1800's. The prevailing law at that time was he
\nwho held the deed owned the land. Do you think that is something that I am
\nPROUD OF? Right now I should be living off the oil and gas royalties. In
\n1934 when my dad drove us to Texas to meet his family, when he stopped to
\npurchase gasoline, his daughters and wife were not allowed to use the
\nwashroom. As a man it was easier for his to relieve himself in the bushes,
\nbut not for the females. We were, however, reduced to having to go in the
\nbushes, also. Do you think I am PROUD OF THAT? In 1938 when my oldest sister
\nwent to enroll in Hyde Park High School, she was told by the counselor
\nthat she did not want to take college preparatory courses, she wanted to
\nstudy domestic science. Do you think I'm PROUD OF THAT? Of course, when
\nBeatrice Lillian Hurley-Burleson went to school the next day, that was the
\nlast time anyone thought that the Burleson girls wanted to study domestic
\nscience.\n<\/div>\n
\n
\nWhen in 1943 my parents attempted to buy the 2 flat at 5338
\nSouth Kenwood, where we had lived since 1933, in Hyde Park, Chicago, IL we
\nwere told that we could not buy it because there was a restrictive covenant
\nthat said that the property was never to be sold to "Negroes."\n<\/div>\n
\n
\nDo you
\nthink I am PROUD OF THAT?\n<\/div>\n
\n
\nIn 1950 when I graduated from college, I was
\nunable to get a job because I was considered "overqualified." the code word
\nfor they would not hire me because of my race. All of the want ads called
\nfor Japanese Americans or Neisis ( the word given to Japanese Americans at
\nthat time). Do you think that was something that I should have been PROUD
\nOF? I understood that America was trying to make up for the interring of
\ninnocent and patriotic Americans who were our enemy by association.\n<\/div>\n
\n
\nMy
\ncousin's barbershop was bombed in Mississippi in the 50's because he was
\nencouraging Black people to register to vote. His wife who had earned a
\nMasters Degree from Northwestern University lost her position as the
\nprincipal of the local school because of the voter registration activities.
\nIs that something I should be PROUD
\nOF?     \n<\/div>\n
\n                                                                                                               
\n
\nNow we get to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the pastor of the Obama family. Rev.
\nWright like so many religious zealots overstates many things, that many of
\nhis members do not agree with. To suggest that Senator Obama should leave
\nthe church of his choice is not only a double standard, but it is absurd.
\nWould any of the talking heads who are so alarmed by Rev. Wright's thoughts
\nand speeches suggest that Catholics should abandon their faith or denounce
\nand reject the Pope because so many priests have olested children.
\nThese children were exploited and taken advantage of and they had no choice
\nto even know they could resist, reject and denounce. To me the situations
\nare parallel, except for the fact that the priests behavior is a physical
\nviolation of the innocence of children who are marred for life; and the
\npriests behavior is a crime. Rev. Wright's speeches are just words, that one
\ncan listen to or not, the members have a choice. Should Governor Romney
\ndenounce and reject the Mormon Church because some of their members practice
\npolygamy? As Senator Obama has previously stated, we have entered the silly
\nseason.\n<\/div>\n
\n
\nBarack Obama is an adult, and most importantly, he is an
\nexceptionally intelligent adult. Like most of us adults, fortunately, we do
\nnot accept all we hear or see. If we did, the world would be more amoral,
\ndebased and perverted than the world of today is. I see all these "so
\ncalled" ponderings an attempt to marginalize the candidacy of Senator Barack
\nObama. I cannot truly call this racism because some ignorant Blacks have
\nalso spoken disparagingly about him.\n<\/div>\n
\n
\nI accept this as the darker side of
\nmankind who because of their own inadequacies, they project their
\ndeficiencies on others. Barack Obama is a very rare individual, the likes of
\nwhom the world seldom sees. Like most geniuses, they are often
\nmisunderstood. They are objects of envy and jealousy. They are suspect
\nbecause they soar above the average man who does not have the intellectual
\nability to understand the greatness of special people. They are also targets
\nto be pulled down to the level of the mediocre who cannot stand to see an
\nindividual with deep convictions and high standards.\n<\/div>\n
\n
\nWe have not seen a
\nphenomena like Barack Obama in many years and many generations. Like Ghanda,
\nlike Jesus, like Einstein, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., like Mother
\nTheresa, genetically, intellectually and spiritually, these people offer the
\nworld so much, but they are often aligned and misunderstood.\n<\/div>\n
\n
\nBarack
\nObama is a Christian in the true sense of the word. A true Christian loves
\nhis fellow man unconditionally. A true Christian wants the best and tries to
\nbring out the best in his fellow man. A true Christian wants to unite and
\nbring the world together in peace and harmony. This is what Senator Obama
\nstands for; but, unfortunately, he has had to get off point to answer these
\nfalse charges, innuendoes, and just plain lies.\n<\/div>\n
\n
\nWe are in the presence of
\nan angel unaware in Senator Barack Obama; and this country needs him, more
\nthan he needs us. He is the only person at this time in history who can
\nrestore respect for America with the worlds' people. Because of his family
\nbackground, the influence of his beloved mother who instilled great values
\nin him, the influence of his absent father who vicariously inspired a son to
\ngo to Harvard as the father had done, the influence of a minister who
\nbrought him to an understanding of the value and meaning of Christianity,
\nthe influence of a brilliant Harvard educated wife who inspires him and
\nkeeps him grounded; he is the epitome of a citizen of the world. He is of
\nthe world because the world is in him; and this is what America needs to
\nbring us out of the abyss to which we have sunk in the eyes of the
\nworld.\n<\/div>\n
\n
\nLike, Michelle Obama, after living in this country all of my 78 years,
\nloving my country and not understanding why my country has not loved me, I
\nnow for the first time in my adult life feel PROUD OF MY COUNTRY because I
\nsense a maturing, a recognition of talent and character, and not color, and
\na field of candidates aspiring to lead this nation coming from very diverse
\nbackgrounds of gender, religious beliefs, national origin, ethnicity, age
\nand experiences. This to me is the HOPE that America is coming into her own
\nand will begin to CHANGE and will embrace the philosophy upon which this
\ncountry was founded, where all men are created equal and are entitled to
\nlife, liberty and the pursuit of
\nhappiness. \n<\/div>\n
\n \n<\/div>\n
\nNow I truly believe, YES WE CAN! For further information:\n<\/div>\n
\nContact: Helen
\nL. Burleson, Doctor of Public Administration
\n(708)
\n747-0919<\/p>\n

Forwarded by Pat Harper
\nKaren Taylor (415)
\n310-6711\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted by: "visionaries4"    Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:46 pm (PDT) An elder responds to statements about Michelle Obama and Jeremiah Wright Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:30:07 +0000 ======================================================================== To The Editor: As a 78 year old American of African descent, I feel compelled to respond to all this "much ado about nothing" when it comes to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebirdfeeder.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebirdfeeder.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebirdfeeder.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebirdfeeder.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebirdfeeder.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thebirdfeeder.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebirdfeeder.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebirdfeeder.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebirdfeeder.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}