Bellelo "The Jeremiad and Race in America"

A Jeremiad is a long literary work, usually in prose, but sometimes in poetry, in which the author bitterly laments the state of society and its morals in a serious tone of sustained invective, and always contains a prophecy of society's imminent downfall. The most recent example I can think of was on March 18, when Barack Obama voiced his view that although the nation’s founding document was stained by this nation’s original sin of slavery, nonetheless “the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution.” His dream, like King’s, was deeply rooted in the American dream. Obama, King, Roosevelt, Douglass, and Lincoln offered a jeremiad that we might call progressive, one that asserted a deep faith in the nation’s promise, articulated at the founding but always painfully incomplete. It is a jeremiad because he was speaking the truth about reclaiming the community’s fundamental goodness and promise. However this progress takes time due to two things, the powerful potential of American ideals, and the courage of American citizens.
In Obama’s speech, he managed to do it without explaining why he was willing to associate with and take advice from an obvious racist with dangerous, divisive views that he infected others with. And he didn't bother to address why the other congregants in his church were clapping, dancing, and shouting approval for the slurs the Rev. Wright was making!
Ask yourself this question, "If someone I met made a habit of speaking vile and offensive racist slurs on a repeated basis, would I choose to associate with them on a close, friendly basis?" If your answer is yes, then Obama is your man. He chose to make a racist a close friend, and to consult with him on his most important choices in life. He chose to associate, commune, and congregate with people who boisterously supported a man as he made some of the most vile slurs and promoted some of the most depraved lies known to man; lies that only our most hated enemies would ever repeat. Those are Obama's actions. Judge Obama by his actions, not simply by what his mentor and advisors say, but by what Obama does after they say those horrible things. And please keep in mind that his close personal advisor has not withdrawn, repudiated, or even apologized for those hateful smears on the reputation of this great nation.