From “Black Prophetic Patriotism: Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Jr.’s Message, Ministry, and Legacy” edited by Jonathan Chism and LaMont Johnson
Even Barack Obama himself referred to Wright’s “ridiculous propositions,” “outrageous comments,” and “very different vision of America,” which he referred to as “divisive and destructive,” something that not only makes me angry but also sadden me.
The condemnation of Wright, reminiscent of the condemnation of King after his “Beyond Vietnam” speech, indicates an agitation at the level of the core values of the nation. Herman and Peterson conclude that the media firestorm around Wright is indicative of the fact that Americans “cannot stomach powerful criticism of U.S foreign policy and domestic inequalities and racism” Every society has cultural myths, “flattering fiction,” or “strategies of cohesion,” and when one makes radical rhetorical moves outside of the cultural myth, then condemnation and demonization are often the response. In the case of African Americans in particular, most Americans can only hear social critique in the orbit of the social control of the American jeremiad. The American jeremiad limits the political choices of the social critic and does not allow for assessments of structural flaws in America, and therefore functions as a discourse of social control. Understanding the American jeremiad is essential to comprehending Wright’s controversial rhetoric.