Between the pulpit and pews, a gulf on Wright

By Campbell Robertson

updated 12:16 a.m. ET May 2, 2008

LUMBERTON, N.C. - The Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., under fire for statements that have embarrassed Senator Barack Obama’s campaign, has found staunch support in the pulpits of black churches around North Carolina. The people in the pews, however, are far less accepting.

In interviews at churches in cities and towns including Charlotte, Greensboro, Lumberton and Goldsboro, ministers expressed the view that Mr. Obama and Mr. Wright had been attacked by a superficial and biased news media. Many said they were teaching Mr. Wright’s sermons in Bible study classes. They are delivering lectures on the roots of Mr. Wright’s style of ministry and preaching against what they see as attempts to make Mr. Wright a divisive figure.

“People get fired up when they see people trying to scapegoat a presidential candidate because of a pastor,” said the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, the pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro and the president of the state branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. “And No. 2, the fact that you’re beating up on someone that’s very profound and very prophetic.”

Separating the spiritual from the political
But many parishioners are not nearly as sympathetic to Mr. Wright, saying they are disappointed with him for taking a personal dispute public with little concern for the harm it would do to the Obama campaign. (This sentiment is particularly strong among younger voters.) Others call Mr. Wright arrogant and untrustworthy, and still others say he is fighting old fights.

“He needs to take the political and keep it separate from the spiritual,” said Rita Harrison, 48, an Obama supporter who was cutting hair at Allison’s Salon in Whiteville. “Why would you risk this man’s campaign because of some personal comments? Because that’s what it is, it’s personal.”

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Nonetheless, many black voters maintain that the situation has come about because of a double standard that holds Mr. Obama accountable for Mr. Wright’s views while white political figures are not always held accountable for controversial opinions of their associates. They add that it makes them all the more motivated to support Mr. Obama.

A motivated base
While the number of white voters registering in North Carolina has been rising steadily, black voters have been registering at a faster rate. State election statistics show that of the nearly 65,000 African-Americans who have registered this year, two-thirds signed up after March 15, around the time the most controversial of Mr. Wright’s statements began being broadcast on the news.

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It is impossible to say whom these newly registered voters are supporting or why they registered. But several pastors said the Wright controversy had been driving voter participation, which churches have been particularly active in encouraging.

“It galvanizes them politically,” said the Rev. Dr. Ricky A. Woods, the senior minister of the 140-year-old First Baptist Church-West in Charlotte. “There was a sense that the church was still a faith zone where the double standard didn’t apply. Now they see double standards going on there, too, and that’s what’s causing all this galvanization.”

Though their views are not necessarily representative of those of black ministers elsewhere, many pastors here describe Mr. Wright, who belongs to the liberal, predominantly white United Church of Christ, as a friend and role model. He is a frequent guest in North Carolina pulpits, and has been a voice in state social issues for decades.

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