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You're correct. There isn't really a schism between white evangelical churches and black evangelical churches--the evangelical church, particularly the megachurch, is far more racially diverse than mainline congregations tend to be. It's their only good point.
The problem that is not being reported on (because, as was witnessed during the McClurkin fiasco, if you're not in the community you have NFI about the in-fighting that goes on in it) is the growing schism between old style black churches and the evangelical ones. I hate the fact that Wright's church is being propped up by both Obama defenders and detractors as somehow representative of the Black Church. It's not.
I repeat, this time with Caps Lock of Frustration: THE BLACK CHURCH IS NOT A MONOLITHIC ENTITY, ANY MORE SO THAN THE BLACK COMMUNITY. There are divisions in many places--open and affirming churches like Riverside in NYC vs. Religious Reich-style megachurches, AME vs. your old time Southern black churches, etc. There are many black Christians who take serious issue with Wright's separatist theology and his comments, and who think the "Gov't cooked up AIDS to kill black folks" nonsense is batshit insane. The vast majority of these folks are not right wing Bushies who run behind 700 Club shit, they are progressive, good liberal people who lived through the Jim Crow era and are too busy fighting actual institutional racism to be chasing shadows. They are folks who stand solidly behind the CBC and other organizations. I say "they" but these folks are in my family, I had a long talk with my mom (also a Clinton supporter) about this over the weekend. This is a black woman in her 60s who is a veteran, and a retired federal employee. She has seen more racism--blatant, subtle, institutional, you name it--for longer than some of y'all have been alive (self included). She is the first one to distrust the government, and believes in LIHOP (being a nurse, she worked in the shelter at 14th street after 9/11). I say this not to brag about how bad ass my mom is (and she is), but to establish her cred on this stuff. She is appalled by Wright's comments and said he was ignorant. She puts him in the same category with Black Israelites. But then again, my mom is a black Evangelical and her Pastor, egomaniacal asshole that he is, spends most of his time teaching his congregation how to improve their lives by using the Bible instead of spewing batshit against The Man. That's something I can respect even if I think basing your life on a several thousand year old anthology written by desert nomads is kind of dumb.
What Wright said may be news to most white people, but this is a conversation that's been happening for a long time in the black community and there is NOT a consensus. There are many who feel the way my mom does. This shit is way more complicated than either side is portraying it, and it's kind of maddening, largely because I grew up in the black church. It's a dangerous game that's being played, and I believe there are black Obama supporters who are playing this BS to the hilt to get money and votes and to bully black Clinton supporters into switching sides. "Unity" my ass.
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