Angry is the new Uppity

Last night I took a break from gorging on old BSG episodes to watch Across the Universe. This is an excellent movie, full of great scenes, and will be included in my sooner-or-later-to-be-published list of Most Underrated Movies. More on that at some indefinite future time. But for now:

On Tuesday Barack Obama gave a speech on race, in part to blunt widespread "criticism" of him in connection with well-publicized clips of his preacher friend, a Mr. Jeremiah Wright, speaking forcefully against injustices which, in Mr. Wright's perception, have been perpetrated against black people. (You can find plenty of commentary on Obama's speech elsewhere.) Of course, the Rush Limbaughs and Bill O'Reilleys of this world refuse to admit that any such injustices have ever occurred, or that if they did, they happened way back when, in the long long ago, and have now ceased to have any political or social relevance. And to speak on such issues is to "play the race card", or "race-bait", or to engage in "class warfare".

Which is bad enough. But when a very black person, like Mr. Wright, speaks of such things with a raised voice, and uses "foul language", and agitates loudly and unapologetically for action against these fake injustices, then it is not merely an impolitic offense to be condemned by all upstanding patriots everywhere, but rather it is an atrocity, a crime against nature, so awful that it apparently tars anyone within earshot and renders them unfit to be considered a citizen in good standing, much less to hold elected office in this great nation. So, surely, anyone who sits and listens to a deranged hatemonger such as Mr. Wright -- an Angry Black Man -- is himself an America-hater, a "dangerous radical" who is intent upon the destruction of our society and all it stands for.

Which brings me back to a scene in Across the Universe where a shop window television is showing a clip of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr giving a speech. He raises his voice. He is emotional, he is frustrated, and he is forcefully, volubly lashing out against injustices perpetrated against his black brothers and sisters. And yes, he is Angry. As we all should be. About a lot of things.