Obama wants to attend a church. He is used to black churches which are a bit more unrestrained than white churches. He is used to Rev, Wright type speakers. Now is he supposed to listen to a white church complain about his not stopping abortion every week. They do seem to be a bit too political.
There are black churches. Are they safe enough for his entourage? Is he in a difficult spot in DC?
First, look at the population demographics of Washington DC. The city is probably the largest black-majority political unit in the country. Then contemplate his denomination – he’s United Church of Christ (formerly Congregational and Evangelical-and-Reformed churches). Jeremiah Wright was not just a “black preacher” – he was a powerful voice for “liberation theology” (and GQ is not the proper place to get into a debate on what exactly that is, I think). Can he find a pastor and congregation that matches his belief structure and past worship experience expectations in that city? It shouldn’t be too hard.
gonzomax writes:
> Now is he supposed to listen to a white church complain about his not stopping
> abortion every week.
This is absurd. There are many majority-white churches where the minister doesn’t object to abortion.
No, the largest majority-black political unit in the U.S. is Prince George’s County in Maryland, which is significantly more populous than D.C.
Excuse me, Prince George’s County is the largest majority-black county in the U.S. The largest majority-black city is either Chicago or Philadelphia, I think. I can’t find accurate racial statistics for either of them.
It is not the fact that a lot of black churches exist. it is that as president, he can not go to an unacceptable one. He has to find one that is not controversial and is able to be protected when he goes. He would get a lot of flack if he picked one with a Sharpton type giving sermons the right could jump all over.
There are many majority-black churches which do not have Wright/Sharpton-type ministers. There are many majority-white churches where the minister does not preach about abortion. Obama will have no problem finding a church that is acceptable. I’m sorry, but you don’t know much about churches in the D.C.-area.
Since the OP is asking for opinions, let’s try IMHO. MOved.
samclem Moderator, General Questions
Which is the point of the question. It has to be safe. Does it have to be black? He needs to keep out of trouble and the religious right will look for anything they can to get at him.
If he goes to a safe white church, the blacks will be mad.
He could take the extraordinary, unimaginable step of choosing a church based on how it serves his family’s spiritual needs and what measures can be taken to ensure the safety of his family AND the congregants, while telling the people who want to make it be all about their political or social agendas to cram it.
How would THAT be received…?
There are also lots of churches which, while they may be majority-white or majority-black, have fair amounts of the other race in the congregation. I don’t know what you mean by “safe.” Are you claiming that he doesn’t want to choose a church in a bad neighborhood because he might get mugged? What are you talking about? In any case, if he chooses a church with reasonable amounts of both black and white members, with a preacher who doesn’t come across as a shouting nut, whose views that reasonably well match his, nobody is going to turn against Obama purely for the church he has chosen. There are many such churches in D.C. You’re simply making up a problem out of nothing.
I myself don’t go to church unless there is a coffin or a woman in a white dress up front but I was thinking how much it would suck to have the president coming to your church every week. Sure it would be exciting at first, but four years of putting up with Secret Service security would be a pain in the ass.
What? Chicago is definitely not a majority black city, and I seriously doubt that Philadelphia is either. I’m pretty Chicago doesn’t have an ethnic majority, in fact.
Okay, I googled, and according to this Wikipedia article, there are three majority black cities in the US with a population over 100,000: Detroit, Gary, IN, and Winter Gardens, FL. They do not count DC in this list, but a quick check shows that Detroit is quite a bit larger than DC anyway, so there’s your answer.
If you’re counting counties, though, that would be a separate issue.
To the OP: I am sure that the Obamas could find a church, but if they’re anything like me back when I was trying to find the right synagogue in Chicago (which I never accomplished and eventually gave up on…the shul with the ideas I liked the best met had services on SUNDAYS, which was a total dealbreaker), it’s not that simple. It might take them some shopping around, and they’re probably really, really busy, what with the moving to a new city and getting their kids settled in school and also trying to keep the world running. I wouldn’t be too concerned about the issue, although apparently Fox News is (as I learned from the Daily Show a few days ago).
Thanks, Kyla. As I said, I couldn’t find accurate racial statistics for either Chicago or Philadelphia. Both of them have more than 40% black population, if I recall correctly. It now appears to me that the largest majority-black political units are Detroit, Baltimore, Prince George’s County, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and New Orleans (if it’s still majority-black), in that order. Have I missed anything?
I’m sure there are many churches that would welcome the President and his family with open arms. But I’m sure that only a small percentage of that group would be willing to accept the very high level of security that will accompany the honor. There will have to be a 24/7 Secret Service presence at the church, background checks on everyone who works there, and security checks on everyone entering the church for services.
The sort of people who would wish the President and his family harm have never been shy about killing innocent people. Perhaps it makes more sense for the Obamas, family and friends to attend services held in one of the rooms of the White House.
O.K., now my guess is that it’s Detroit, Baltimore, Prince George’s County, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Memphis, St. Louis, Cleveland, Newark (New Jersey), and New Orleans (if it’s still majority-black), in that order.
What do you have against gay marriage?
(D&R)
Wendell, while Cleveland is minority white, I don’t think it’s majority black. There are a lot of Hispanics in Cleveland, too (mostly Puerto Rican). I don’t know about the other cities you list, though.
While DC is not the biggest majority black city, I think it has the biggest MARGIN of majority of any big city (70+% black).
In any case, the Obamas shouldn’t have any trouble finding a church, but any prospective pastors are going to have to be vetted because the political right is going to comb every inch of their history looking for dirt, especially if they do pick another black church.
There is a nice, historic AME church two blocks from the White House, he could walk there.
That’s still Detroit, which is 81.6% black, or, if you consider it major enough, Gary, Indiana, which is 84% black, or Winter Springs, Florida, which is 88.7% black. DC, by comparison, is only 55.2% black. Wendell, of the places you’ve listed, the percentage of population that’s black is as follows:
Detroit: 81.6%
Baltimore:64.3%
PG County: 65.5%
Washington, DC: 55.2
Atlanta: 61.4%
New Orleans: 67.3%
(all figures come from 2007 Census estimates)
As for Obama’s choice of church, he went to Easter services at St. John’s Episcopal, the “church of the Presidents”. As for a permanent congregation, there are plenty of UCC churches in DC, if he intends to stay in that denomination, and I don’t think he’ll have trouble finding a church that will fit his and his family’s needs.