Jeremiah Wright

Jeremiah Wright was pastor and spiritual advisor to Barack Obama until the two became estranged during the 2008 presidential campaign over Wright's controversial sermons and public remarks. The media frenzy that contributed to the rift came after Wright had already retired as pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago's tough South Side, where he had served since 1972 and where Obama had embraced Christianity as a young community organizer in 1988. A scholarly, fiery, Black preacher, Wright was not afraid over the years to criticize U.S. culture and government. In March 2008, a month after his retirement, a handful of video clips featuring strident excerpts from his sermons found their way into television campaign coverage and were aired repeatedly. In one, Wright said America deserved God's damnation for its hostility toward its own poor and toward other nations. Obama at first defended Wright's "prophetic" voice and Trinity's impressive record of community service under his leadership. But the candidate eventually distanced himself from the pastor, making a speech in March of 2008 that placed his relationship with Wright in the context of the nation's history of race relations. Obama resigned his Trinity membership in June 2008, and was elected president that November. Wright's title at Trinity is "pastor emeritus."