What If Sen. Obama Was Sen. O'Blarney: A Fictional Scenario
This provacative post was caused by a guest (a supporter of Obama, and Pastor Wright) on the O'Reilly Factor, who stated "Blacks have never enslaved anyone." This is a false statement, on it's face. Africans practiced slavery, on other Africans, before Europeans started sending ships down the African coast. Further, African Americans owned African slaves, and even fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. These are facts, not opinions. Here's an interesting hypothetical scenario.
What if a (fictional) White pastor said the following:
"Blacks ENSLAVED Black men before the White man ever CAME to Africa! We LEARNED it from them! The Black man BROUGHT this EVIL into western civilization!"
Were I a politician, I wouldn't want to be associated with those comments. I could say that I "understand where he was coming from," even though I disagreed with the conclusion he arrived at. I doubt any explanation could satisfy the public, and rightly so. This is an "inverted parallel" of what's happening to Obama, over pastor Wright's comments. Imagine Sen. Barack Obama was Sen. "Barry O'Blarney," and he was trying to defend my fictional pastor's statement. There is no excuse for tolerating such hate, in my fictional scenario, or the world we live in..
Sen. Obama has has a huge challenge ahead of him. He has the nomination within his grasp, if he can surmount this obstacle. Perhaps he can find a "middle way," and refute his former pastor, while appeasing the base that Wright appeals to, in the Black community. Today's speech is a crucial moment in his campaign.
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