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Obama's Ex-Pastor Cancels Speeches
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
HOUSTON -- The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, presidential candidate Barack Obama's
controversial former pastor, has canceled plans to speak at three services
at a Houston church on Sunday, the church's pastor said.
The Rev. Marcus Cosby, pastor at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, told Houston
television station KTRK and the Houston Chronicle that safety concerns had
prompted Wright's decision.
Cosby told the Chronicle that Wright cited three reasons for canceling: "the
safety of the institution to which he has been invited; the safety of his
family, which has been placed in harm's way; and for his own safety."
Wright also canceled his appearance Tuesday in Florida at a Tampa-area
church. The hosting church said it asked Wright to cancel his scheduled
three-day appearance because of security questions.
Wright had been expected to be in North Texas over the weekend to be honored
by the Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, but it was unclear whether he
would still be attending.
"His schedule is pending," Joan Harrell, minister of communications for
Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where Wright was pastor for
nearly four decades, told The Dallas Morning News for its Tuesday online
editions. The newspaper said that she wouldn't elaborate.
A call to the church placed before business hours by The Associated Press
was not immediately returned Wednesday.
Videos of remarks Wright has made have been circulating widely on the
Internet and news programs. Wright's sermons to his predominantly black
congregation have included him shouting "God damn America" for its treatment
of minorities. He has said the U.S. government invented AIDS to destroy
"people of color" and has also suggested that U.S. policies in the Middle
East and elsewhere were partly responsible for the 2001 terrorist attacks on
New York and Washington.
"I think we have taken Dr. Wright out of context with sound bites," Cosby
said. "After all these years, I am not going to kick him to the curb over
sound bites."
In a speech last week, Obama sharply condemned Wright's remarks and the
preacher's refusal to acknowledge progress in race relations. But the
Illinois senator refused to repudiate Wright.
In North Texas over the weekend, Wright is supposed to speak at a Saturday
luncheon at Paul Quinn College in Oak Cliff and be honored that night at
Friendship-West Baptist Church in the Red Bird area.
Frederick Haynes III, pastor of Friendship-West Baptist, said Tuesday night
that the Dallas events are "all systems go," but he acknowledged that
security issues could keep Wright away.
"We're going to honor him," he said. "The question is, basically, regarding
his presence."
Obama's Ex-Pastor Cancels Speeches
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
HOUSTON -- The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, presidential candidate Barack Obama's
controversial former pastor, has canceled plans to speak at three services
at a Houston church on Sunday, the church's pastor said.
The Rev. Marcus Cosby, pastor at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, told Houston
television station KTRK and the Houston Chronicle that safety concerns had
prompted Wright's decision.
Cosby told the Chronicle that Wright cited three reasons for canceling: "the
safety of the institution to which he has been invited; the safety of his
family, which has been placed in harm's way; and for his own safety."
Wright also canceled his appearance Tuesday in Florida at a Tampa-area
church. The hosting church said it asked Wright to cancel his scheduled
three-day appearance because of security questions.
Wright had been expected to be in North Texas over the weekend to be honored
by the Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, but it was unclear whether he
would still be attending.
"His schedule is pending," Joan Harrell, minister of communications for
Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where Wright was pastor for
nearly four decades, told The Dallas Morning News for its Tuesday online
editions. The newspaper said that she wouldn't elaborate.
A call to the church placed before business hours by The Associated Press
was not immediately returned Wednesday.
Videos of remarks Wright has made have been circulating widely on the
Internet and news programs. Wright's sermons to his predominantly black
congregation have included him shouting "God damn America" for its treatment
of minorities. He has said the U.S. government invented AIDS to destroy
"people of color" and has also suggested that U.S. policies in the Middle
East and elsewhere were partly responsible for the 2001 terrorist attacks on
New York and Washington.
"I think we have taken Dr. Wright out of context with sound bites," Cosby
said. "After all these years, I am not going to kick him to the curb over
sound bites."
In a speech last week, Obama sharply condemned Wright's remarks and the
preacher's refusal to acknowledge progress in race relations. But the
Illinois senator refused to repudiate Wright.
In North Texas over the weekend, Wright is supposed to speak at a Saturday
luncheon at Paul Quinn College in Oak Cliff and be honored that night at
Friendship-West Baptist Church in the Red Bird area.
Frederick Haynes III, pastor of Friendship-West Baptist, said Tuesday night
that the Dallas events are "all systems go," but he acknowledged that
security issues could keep Wright away.
"We're going to honor him," he said. "The question is, basically, regarding
his presence."
