On the June 25 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, discussing Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) June 23 speech on religion in politics, co-host Sean Hannity claimed that the head of Obama's church, Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, “has a very black-separatist point of view.” Hannity then played a video clip of his and co-host Alan Colmes' conversation with Wright on the March 1 edition of Hannity & Colmes and further asserted that the church, Trinity United Church of Christ, is “all about the black community. ... [I]t's a black-separatist agenda.” However, Hannity did not play the portion of the March 1 interview in which Wright specifically stated that his church's point of view does not “assume superiority, nor does it assume separatism.”
During the March 1 program, after explaining that Trinity's philosophy does not “assume superiority nor does it assume separatism,” Wright continued: “We have no hierarchical arrangement. When you say an African-centered way of thinking -- African-centered philosophy, African-centered theology -- you're talking about one center. We're talking about something that's different, and different does not mean deficient, nor does it mean superior or inferior.”
As Media Matters for America noted, Hannity made similar allegations on the March 20 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show in which he claimed that he “discovered” via Trinity United Church of Christ's website “that the pastor of the church has very Afrocentric and separatist views.” Hannity also selectively excerpted from Wright's March 1 appearance to support his claim that the church is “separatist,” leaving out the same portion of the interview in which Wright addressed those claims.
From the June 25 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:
HANNITY: I gotta -- we talk about being divisive. Well, we had his pastor on this program. Remember -- who has a very black-separatist point of view about the black church. “Dedicate ourselves to the black community, the black this, and the -- ” Well, I confronted him over this. Let's look at Obama's pastor right here, who he now distances himself from.
[begin video clip]
HANNITY: It seems to be, when you say, “The black community, black family, black work ethic, black community -- ”
WRIGHT: Key word is “seems.” Key word is “seems.” It seems --
HANNITY: It seems -- sir, sir --
WRIGHT: -- to an arrogant, ignorant person. I'm asking you -- have you answered me? How many books [unintelligible] have you written?
HANNITY: Sir, I'm going to say this whether you like it or not. I'm gonna get my words in.
[end video clip]
HANNITY: It's all about the black community, the black -- it's a black-separatist agenda. Now, he -- this pastor was supposed to be at his announcement this winter, when he said he was going to announce for president. All of the sudden, at the last minute, Barack Obama disinvited him.
From Wright's March 1 appearance on Hannity & Colmes:
COLMES: I want the public to understand where your church is coming from, because you're being accused of being a black-separatist church, and thus Obama is being accused by default of being a black separatist. Could you straighten that out for us, please?
WRIGHT: OK. The African-centered point of view does not assume superiority, nor does it assume separatism. It assumes Africans speaking for themselves as subjects in history, not objects in history. It comes from the principles of Kawaida, the second principle being Kujichagulia, which is self-determination -- us naming ourselves -- and not saying we are superior to anybody. We have no hierarchical arrangement. When you say an African-centered way of thinking -- African-centered philosophy, African-centered theology -- you're talking about one center. We're talking about something that's different, and different does not mean deficient --
COLMES: Aren't there black churches --
WRIGHT: -- nor does it mean superior or inferior. The whole notion of hierarchical, one's superior, “let's be separate because we're better,” that's nothing -- has absolutely nothing to do with --
