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A panel of clergy will discuss issues of race and the controversy sparked by Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., Democratic Presidential Nominee Barack Obama’s former minister, during an upcoming Juneteenth panel discussion in Des Moines.
“There is no one standard of what the church is in the African-American community. The variety or diversity of religion, even within our community, gives way for the need for people to come together to discuss what it means,” said Gary Lawson, founder and chair of the Iowa Juneteenth Observance. “What happened with Barack Obama and Wright – what does it mean? The only way to ferret that out is to discuss it.” The Church Day program, part of a week-long series of events commemorating Juneteenth, features the panel discussion on “Race in America.” The event will be held at noon on June 14 at Maple Street Baptist Church. The panel of clergy will discuss the Wright and Obama controversy and what happens when race, politics and the clergy intersect. Abraham Funchess, division administrator of the Iowa Commission on the Status of African Americans, will give the keynote address “The Observance of Juneteenth: Where Do We Go From Here?” A brief service follows.
Wright, Obama’s former pastor of 20 years, zoomed to the top of headines last March after his comments, which some labeled divisive, begun circulating publicly. Wright criticized the U. S. government and accused it of acts of racism and genocide. Obama, campaigning at the time, distanced himself from Wright, and while the controversy has dissipated, it left questions in its wake.
Funchess, who also is an ordained minister in Waterloo who will moderate the panel discussion with about six pastors, said it’s important to discuss the racial divisions and struggles still present in America — against the backdrop of Obama, the first black to lead a major political party, and his former outspoken pastor.
“I think implicit in such conversation, we’ll be able to find out, for instance, what community members and black church members are expecting of their pastors and pastoral leadership,” Funchess said.
Such questions could probe whether pastors are “just interested in the middle class or are we still concerned about the working class and the underclass?” Funchess said.
The discussion will allow pastors to gauge how in touch they are with their congregants and provide them with insights on how the community wants the church to address racism, educational disparities and other issues affecting black communities, he said.
“Even though we’ve experienced a lot of progress, there is still a long way to go,” he said. “There is a huge disparity in the black community between the haves and the have nots.”
The church has been the cornerstone of the black community since slavery and was the guidepost for how the black community developed, Lawson said. Churches can be instrumental in guiding politics, and to what extent this happens, is something that needs discussion, Lawson said.
“Sometimes we have to give the church the opportunity to express its opinion about what is happening in contemporary issues, not just preaching from the pulpit,” he said.
Funchess, who said he intends to inject his views into some of the questions posed to the panel, hopes the pastors and the audience will be engaged and unafraid to let the conversation drift into what could be uncomfortable territory.
Lawson agreed.
“I don’t think anything is beyond discussion,” Lawson said. “That is the cornerstone of democracy – to be able to discuss anything.”
Juneteenth marks the day when the last slaves in Texas learned that slavery had been abolished on June 19, 1865 – more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln. Many black communities across the state and country mark the event with educational events and celebrations.
Iowa’s Juneteenth Observance
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