Another Reverend problem for Obama?

Many Thanks to Sheri in comments for the report on the latest mailer from the Obama camp (I believe this is the link to her blog *UPDATE*–This is GRL’s blog*– if not, it is someone who got a similar letter):

There are 2 letters inside – one from the Rev. Joseph Lowery – having been described as a respected, electrifying reverend and who has been given many superior awards, one by NAACP naming him the Dean of the Civil Rights Movement. A good man, in other words. He walked with Rev. Martin Luther King from Selma to Montgomery. He praises BO – and all the change he’s going to bring to America.

I guess Obama wants to have a preacher on his side for once who is a “good guy”.  One who really has some civil rights movement “cred”.  Well, Mr. Lowery may have been such a person until he too was corrupted by this political season.  In case nobody remembers, it is Rev. Lowery who in January was one of the first to stoke the race-baiting fires.  His was, in my opinion, some of the most egregious of such race baiting in the lead up to the SC primary.  Does this ring a bell ?:

In an address to the Hungry Club at Butler Street YMCA in downtown Atlanta, the Rev. Joseph Lowery re-stoked the fires on Wednesday when he told the largely African-American audience that “a slave mentality” was fueling black doubts about Obama’s chances of capturing the White House.

The report comes from our AJC colleague, John Hollis, who was at the event.

“No matter how much education they have, they never graduated from the slave mentality,” Lowery said of those who have advised Obama to wait, or have doubted his ability to compete in a general election.

“The slavery mentality compels us to say, ‘We can’t win, we can’t do,’” said Lowery, an avid Obama supporter and a co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Pretty inflammatory rhetoric coming from someone who now wants to court our votes.   Basically Lowery was telling black people that unless they back Obama there is something psychologically wrong with them.  To support Clinton (or Edwards) is to have a slave mentality.  And who do you think is the “Master” in that allusion?  That’s quite an accusation from one who walked with the man who asked us to judge people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. 

I have read that many people say his speech was “misinterpreted”.  They say he meant that in general the African American community still has a “slave mentality”.  I disagree.  Lowery is not only a preacher, but a shrewd politician.  The race baiting that occurred prior to the SC primary was calculated and coordinated and Lowery’s speech was perfectly timed to coincide with the smears of both Bill and Hillary.  The above speech was given on Jan. 16th.  The race baiting had begun in earnest during the first week in January when both the media and the press distorted quotes by Hillary and Bill (the MLK/LBJ and “fairy tale” quotes).   They needed something in between that and the primary on Jan. 26 to keep the innuendo that the Clinton’s were in fact racist in the air.  Lowery played the perfect role in doing just that. 

But before anybody charges me with cynicism (I take the coming charges of racism for granted at this point) and that I am taking the reverend’s words out of context, I will be happy to provide some.  This is from a speech Rev. Lowery gave at UNC-Greensboro on January 17th, 2007:

Also… although I can’t remember exactly where it fit into his speech, the Reverend touched on political parties and political affilation. Of himself, he said, “I’m not a Republican and I’m not a Democrat… I’m a Methodist.” Of the political parties, in general, he stated, “One of ‘em takes us for granted and the other just takes us.” (emphasis mine)

So who’s the cynic, him or me?