Jeremiah Wright NAACP

Guide Note

On April 27, 2008, Jeremiah Wright addressed the NAACP during the 53 annual Freedom Fund dinner. Wright's speech emphasized the message "different doesn't mean deficient." Wright asked for understanding and acceptance of differences, saying they're as much about culture as they are skin color.

The speech was delivered before a sold-out crowd in Detroit, Michigan. Wright defended himself regarding the widely used sound bites where he has made disparaging remarks about the United States. Those comments have come under public scrutiny because presidential candidate Barack Obama is a prominent member of the Trinity United Church Of Christ, where Wright was Obabma's minister for over 20 years. Wright pointed out that he is not a politician and he's "running for Jesus, not for office."

Wright mentions John F. Kennedy's "Ask Not What Your Country Can do for You" speech, saying that no one ever said to Kennedy "isk, what's isk?" referring to the way Kennedy pronounced the word "ask." Wright also mentions the dialect of Lyndon Johnson, Edward Kennedy and people from Boston saying they can't pronounce "cluster consonants" and their language is different, not deficient.

Fast Facts

1. Introduced by NAACP leader Reverend Wendell Anthony
2. Theme of dinner: "A change is going to come"

"If I were pushing one particular candidate I would say, 'Yes, we can,' but since this is a nonpartisan gathering and since this is neither a mosque, a synagogue nor a sanctuary, just let me say, 'We can do it. We can make a change if we try."

"I am not a politician, I know that fact will surprise many of you because many of the corporate-owned media have made it seem like I have announced I am running for the Oval Office. I am not running for the Oval Office. I've been running for Jesus a long, long, long time, and I'm not tired yet."

"I am sorry your local political analysts and your neighboring county executives think my being here is polarizing and my sermons are divisive, but I'm not here to address an analyst's opinion, I am here to address your 2008 theme, change is going to come."