Activist priest: Bias like terrorism

LITTLE ROCK — America will never become a great nation until it eliminates the myriad social injustices that plague it, a Catholic priest known for provocative rhetoric and activism said at Philander Smith College's opening convocation Thursday.

The Rev. Michael Pfleger, the white pastor of predominantly black Saint Sabina Catholic Church on Chicago's poor south side, said America will never fulfill its promise of greatness while racial bias, poverty and street violence are tolerated.

"We will not be a great nation unless we develop in America an urban agenda and stop ignoring the cries of the disenfranchised and the marginalized," Pfleger told more than 600 cheering students, faculty and community members.

Pfleger said racial bias is "alive and well" in America and likened discrimination to terrorism.

He said terrorism in America did not begin with the Sept. 11,2001, attacks. Instead, he believes American terrorism began with the pilgrims on the Mayflower "who got lost and came upon a land and decided to take the first nation and enslave them."

"Yes, terrorism is old in America. Not only is terrorism old in America, it is seasoned, it is generational and it seems to have marinated in the very bloodstream of what we call America today," Pfleger said. "I have no problem waving the flag, but let's see the blood on that flag while we wave it."

Pfleger said his comments shouldn't be interpreted as unpatriotic.

"I, in fact, believe I am a great friend to America, and I am a true patriot," Pfleger said. "Because a good friend loves something enough to tell it the truth."

Pfleger was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1975, and in 1981 became the youngest full pastor in the diocese at 31, when he joined Saint Sabina.

Since then, Pfleger - the father of two adopted sons despite church policies - has drawn significant media attention for his pointed comments and unorthodox activism.

His better-known activities include defacing alcohol and tobacco billboards near Saint Sabina, as well as erecting billboards castigating rappers. He has also paid prostitutes to listen to him talk about leaving the occupation, and he picketed outside the Jerry Springer Show when it was based in Chicago.

Pfleger is best known for a sermon he delivered at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago in May 2008. Trinity was President Barack Obama's church at the time.

During the message, which was filmed and spread quickly over the Internet, Pfleger painted Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as a symbol of white entitlement. Obama quickly released a statement calling Pfleger's remarks "divisive" and "backward-looking."

Soon thereafter, the archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Francis George, put Pfleger on involuntary disciplinary leave "to reflect on his recent statements and actions in the light of the church's regulations for all Catholic priests."

Susan G. Burritt, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Chicago, didn't criticize Pfleger's Thursday remarks. Instead, she said the archdiocese is "strongly committed to addressing racial and other social injustices."

She cited a pastoral letter written by the bishops of the United States that said the church cannot remain silent about racial injustice.

"We would betray our commitment to evangelize ... were we not to strongly voice our condemnation of attitudes and practices so contrary to the Gospel," the letter reads.

Minnijean Brown Trickey, one of nine black students who integrated Central High School in 1957, said after the speech that Pfleger's assessment of America was spot on.

She pointed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, inner-city poverty and the lack of universal health care as evidence.

"He wasn't provocative. Not to me," she said. "It's what needs to be said, and it's the same kind of thing I say."

Walter Kimbrough, president of Philander Smith College, also said Pfleger delivered an excellent speech.

The priest was an appropriate choice for the college's 2009 school-year kickoff because of his history of social activism, Kimbrough said.

Philander Smith's mission is to "graduate academically accomplished students, grounded as advocates for social justice, intentionally changing the world for the better."

"He's really sort of lived what we want the students to do," Kimbrough said. "You can always have somebody open the year and give a really nice, polite speech. That's not what we needed. We needed someone to challenge us and say, 'We've got to do better.'"