Jakes continues to draw fire for Obama remarks (OneNewsNow.com)

Jakes continues to draw fire for Obama remarks

Jeff Johnson - OneNewsNow - 6/9/2008 6:00:00 AM

Ken Hutcherson Another African-American pastor is reacting to Bishop T.D. Jakes' high praise for the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nomination of Barack Obama.

In a CNN.com column last week, Rev. T.D. Jakes, founder and senior pastor of The Potter's House church in Dallas, praised Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) presumptive nomination. Jakes said the fact that Democrats have chosen an African-American for the first time "is not just a victory for African-Americans, it is a victory for democracy that proves that our country provides possibilities for all people.

"It is also a sign that a metamorphosis is in progress," Jakes wrote. "[Wednesday] we saw that Americans respect experience, but are interested in change. I hope that we can somehow merge the best ideas of our differences and emerge with a president who epitomizes our highest and best ideals."

Jakes also praised Obama's opponent over the last year and a half, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-New York). "I am grateful to Senator Hillary Clinton for giving, through this campaign, a chance for my daughters to see that their femininity is not a liability," Jakes wrote. "Today both my sons and daughters came to understand that their ethnicity isn't viewed by progressive Americans as a limitation or a liability."

Pastor Ken Hutcherson of the Antioch Bible Church in suburban Seattle took issue with Jakes' apparent inference that, if Obama had not received the nomination, it would have been an indication of continuing racism in America. "Absolutely. I think we all have to agree that if he [Obama] didn't get it, American, evidently hasn't even come very far since slavery," Hutcherson said sarcastically. "And, since Hillary [Clinton] didn't get it, woman's suffrage is still going on."

"We have to back down and say, 'Okay, praise God that there has been a whole new day,'" Hutcherson continued. "But then, we have to quit our emotions and open up our minds and look at: What are the qualifications for this man to be president of the United States?"

Hutcherson believes too much emphasis has been placed on Obama's race, to the exclusion of questions about the Illinois senator's record, beliefs, and plans.

"You can get excited about the first black man that's going to be the nominee for the Democrats for president. I mean, that's a first. You can get all excited about firsts. But, then, you've got to come back down to reality," Hutcherson continued. "You would always think that the first should be someone that everyone is going to believe is capable of doing a great job. You don't want the first anybody or anything to end up being a bad choice and a bad influence and bad for America."

Hutcherson says he remembers watching the firsts achieved by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and former University of California Regent Ward Connerly.

"When I look at what the first for the Democrats, [the] African-American that they have chosen, I'm excited about the first," Hutcherson concluded. "But I have no excitement about believing that that choice is going to be best for America."