Wright on police: 'American snipers in blue uniforms'

The Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. is most widely known in America for the controversies of the 2008 presidential election, when his sermons damning America for its sins became a fixture of the cable news cycle and nearly upended a presidential campaign.

But Tuesday night at Indianapolis' Christian Theological Seminary, Wright was introduced as an intellectual, a teacher and a "true prophet of God" who strikes fear into the hearts of the powerful because he's not afraid to confront hard subjects.

And he was invited to address the topics of race, violence and human dignity — topics inspired by the aftermath of shootings of unarmed black men by white police officers in Ferguson, Mo., and in New York. It was part of an event featuring a locally made video called "Get Home Safely: 10 Rules of Survival" that's intended to be instructional to young blacks confronted by police.

Wright, 73, embraced the challenge head on, likening the need for such instruction to the warnings his parents gave him in the segregated South of his youth: Don't look a white woman in the eye. Lower your gaze when talking to a white man. Never cause a white man to feel threatened.

"We need to teach black and brown youth how to negotiate safely the militarized mindset of American snipers in blue uniforms," he said, "but simultaneously we need to fix the systems."

The systems, in Wright's commentary, range from militarized police forces to a criminal justice system that is organized around putting black people behind bars. Race, Wright said, is the 2-ton, 500-pound gorilla in the room that too few people are willing to confront.

Too quickly after grand jury decisions not to prosecute white police officers for killing unarmed blacks, Wright said, political leaders come forward and ask to let the healing begin. But, quoting black writer and professor Yolanda Pierce, Wright said: "Let us not rush to the language of healing until we understand the fullness of injury."

"We need to seriously challenge or change the way things are," Wright said. "And to seriously do that we cannot do that with watered-down statements of solidarity."

Among the leaders calling for calm has been his most famous former parishioner, President Barack Obama.

Obama came to faith at Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, which he attended for nearly two decades. Wright married the Obamas, baptized their children and dedicated their house. But by the summer of 2008, in the middle of a presidential election, Obama withdrew his membership from Trinity because of statements Wright made in his sermons that were deemed controversial. Wright retired from Trinity later that year and is now pastor emeritus.

Wright remains active on the speaking circuit, with stops in the past month in Fresno, Calif., Baton Rouge, La., and Chattanooga, Tenn., to name a few.

In Indianapolis, Wright sprinkled in humor about growing up in a household where the rod wasn't spared, joked about his light skin color and even did a passable imitation of local radio personality Amos Brown. An audience of roughly 300 at the seminary's Shelton Auditorium greeted him warmly, applauded him heartily and seconded his points with affirmations as if it were the middle of a church.

But the core of the evening was the sober issue of white authority. The "Get Home Safely" video listed rules for surviving a police encounter that included: "be polite and respectful" to police, "keep your hands in plain sight," "don't run" and "don't resist." The recurring message in the film is: "Remember, your goal is to get home safely."

Of such instructions, Wright said blacks have "a 300-year history of knowing your place and facing drastic consequences if you don't stay in your place."

Among the newest generation of children learning them is 11-year-old Khaya Barnes, a student at Crooked Creek Elementary. In the video, Khaya holds pictures of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and of Nelson Mandela — behind bars — and recites rule No. 3: "Do not get into an argument with police."

Barnes said the advice is important because "some police just aren't kind to some people."

Wright is scheduled to follow up his speech with a lecture at the seminary Wednesday morning, followed by preaching at a midday chapel service.

His appearance at the Northside seminary, a graduate school related to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), is part of the school's black history month activities. Although to some Wright might have seemed a controversial choice, the school's website says CTS "welcomes both peacemakers and troublemakers, since we recognize they are often one and the same."

Call Star reporter Robert King at (317) 444-6089. Follow him on Twitter: @Rbtking.