April 28, 2008
Wright Says Criticism Is Attack On Black Church
by Jesse A. Hamilton
NPR
WASHINGTON - The Rev. Jeremiah Wright 's speech before the National Press Club this morning was not intended to be a political one. It was billed as the start of a religious gathering, and he came to talk about the black religious experience in America.
He mentioned Sen. Barack Obama only once in his main speech, but the controversial relationship between the candidate and his former Chicago pastor was a major subject in the follow-up question period.
Through the banks of TV cameras and rows of print reporters, he spoke to much more than the banquet room where a few hundred gathered for breakfast. Wright presented an unapologetic -- even defiant -- manner, arguing that the criticism against him wasn't really about him.
"This is not an attack on Jeremiah Wright. This is an attack on the black church," he said. "This is not about Obama, McCain, Hillary, Bill, Chelsea." He said he was not going to sit back and let his church -- comparing it to his mamma and grandma -- be attacked.
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