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Obama battles back in race row
18/03/2008 17:47 - (SA)
Philadelphia - US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Tuesday criticised his preacher for racially charged rhetoric but said he could not disown the man who baptised his children and officiated at his wedding.
Obama sought to quell a firestorm of controversy ignited when attention was called to frequent sermons from the pulpit by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, which the Illinois senator attended for two decades.
Wright, who retired recently, has railed that the September 11 attacks were retribution for US foreign policy, called the US government the source of HIV/ Aids and expressed anger over what he called racist America.
"I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community," Obama, who would be the first African-American president, said in a speech about race and politics in America.
Obama said Wright's remarks were not simply controversial but instead "they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic."
Race discussions
Flare-ups over race have roiled the campaign trail as Obama battles for the Democratic nomination with New York Senator Hillary Clinton, who would be the first woman president. They are vying for the right to face off against Republican candidate Senator John McCain in the November election.
The Obama campaign is worried the uproar over the pastor's comments could cost him support with white voters in states like Pennsylvania, which holds an important voting contest on April 22.
Obama said: "Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course.
"Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely."
But he said the snippets of Wright's sermons circulating on cable television and the internet in recent days do not tell the whole story about Wright.
'He's like family'
The presidential candidate said: "As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptised my children.
"Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect."
The Wright comments have threatened to overshadow Obama's central message that he would bridge divisions in the US, including those involving race.
'Not an exercise in affirmative action'
Last week, Geraldine Ferraro, a Clinton supporter and 1984 vice presidential candidate, attributed Obama's lead in the Democratic race to his being black.
Obama said the discussion of race took a divisive turn when it was implied "that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it's based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap."
Hillary Clinton's advisers have had little to say about the controversy involving Wright, deflecting questions by saying the issue was something voters would have to keep in mind.
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