By Adam Ericksen, the Education Director for The Raven Foundation, exploring the intersections of mimetic theory, the news, religion, and popular culture. This piece was originally posted on the Raven Foundation website.  

Do you remember when Barack Obama first ran for president? An old video of his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, surfaced during the middle of Obama’s campaign. The sermon scandalized a lot of people. There was such an uproar from both sides of the political aisle that even Obama had to cut ties to his pastor because Jeremiah Wright preached these words –

God Damn America!

Jeremiah Wright and the Uncomfortable Truth of U.S. History

Much of the media fixated on those words without providing the larger context of Wright’s sermon. But the larger context of the sermon was full of more uncomfortable truths about the United States. The truth that makes many white people uncomfortable is that America has failed to live up to our ideals of democracy, freedom, and equality. Continue reading “God Damn America?” →