We're All Responsible
- When Obama describes his first experience at Trinity United Church of Christ, he recalls a moment when stories "of survival, and freedom, and hope—became our story, my story," and suddenly those people were just Black and so much more than Black (52).
- In those moments, Obama and the whole congregation believed it was possible to use the past to build a better future because "the church contains in full" the various tragedies and triumphs that "make up the Black experience in America" (58).
- It's a complex history and incredibly multifaceted, but the kicker is that we're all responsible for it.
- The history of African-Americans is irrevocably tied to the dark parts of our past. Reverend Wright "contains within him the contradictions" of the Black community as they try to reconcile the tragic parts of their past with a country that doesn't extend true equality to them, even today. The services at Trinity provide an outlet for those frustrations.
- Louis C.K. said it best: "If a person tells you that you hurt them, you don't get to decide that you didn't."
- The things Reverend Wright said, while undoubtedly controversial, are indicative of a specific truth white people don't necessarily understand—and under no circumstances do they have the right to devalue it.