Op-Ed: Geraldine Ferraro Objects to Obama Linking her with Rev. Wright

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In Tuesday's racial reconciliation speech (or a speech that was of political necessity), Barack Obama mentioned Geraldine Ferraro's name linking her comments with those of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

This quote is directly from Obama's speech: ''We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias.''

How can Obama compare her remarks with Rev. Wright's? For one thing, Ms. Ferraro was analyzing Obama's presidential candidacy by saying that he is ''lucky to be black.'' It's an accurate assessment because blacks have more positions of power and influence in American society than ever in this nation's history. Also, there are more biracial and multi-racial people now. It's a distinct advantage for anyone that is biracial or multi-racial. You are part of the global, cosmopolitan demographic. You're chic. If you truly think about it, Ferraro was complimenting Obama.

In regard to Rev. Wright's comments, he was spewing hatred and venom from the pulpit. They were extremely divisive and shameful to be uttered anywhere, especially in a church.

Ferraro had this to say yesterday after hearing her name being mentioned in the same breath with Rev. Wright: ''To equate what I said with what this racist bigot has said from the pulpit is unbelievable. He gave a very good speech on race relations, but he did not address the fact that this man is up there spewing hatred.''

Obama also hinted at Ferraro's remarks when he said that some people view his presidential candidacy as an exercise in affirmative action. I suppose the implication means that he isn't qualified to be president now and the major reason for his viability is due to his race.

Ferraro astutely observed why Obama couldn't completely renounce his association with the Rev. Wright: ''Their base is African-Americans. They're looking at that and they're trying to walk a very thin line. They don't want to offend the African-Americans, and this is the way he did it.''

Hopefully, this racial discussion will simmer down soon because the national economy and our foreign policy objectives are much more important than the heated comments of a racially bigoted pastor. The United States doesn't need a return to 1968 regarding race. Overall, we have come very far in my lifetime of 44 years regarding race in America. Unfortunately, there will always be people like Jeremiah Wright and David Duke. The real answer lies in how the majority of the American public reacts to these firebrands. Giving them undeserved attention doesn't help the country.