The Washington Examiner reported this week that the reverend who gave Obama’s inauguration prayer and who the president awarded the Medal of Freedom in 2009 said at a weekend rally in Forsyth, Georgia, that the “level of hatred and bitterness” in this election season would result in all whites going to hell. Joseph Lowery, 91, a patriarch of the civil rights movement and a co-worker with Dr. Martin Luther King, told The Monroe County Reporter that he held this same belief at the height of the civil rights movement, but eventually he decided that perhaps only “most” whites wouldn’t make it into heaven. Now he’s back to his original opinion.
During the rally Lowery also remarked that he “doesn’t know what kind of a ni—- wouldn’t vote with a black man running. … All that he did with the stimulus was genius. Nobody intelligent would risk this country with Romney.”
The local mayor, John Howard, distanced himself from Lowery’s comments: “The Bible doesn’t say anything about white or black to go to heaven. I have great number of black and white friends. I’ve been in the military. I make friends with everybody. I’m too old for enemies.” Another local paper said Howard was considering televising the event in his city, but decided after Lowery’s comments that it wasn’t going to happen.
Lowery has since backed off his original comments about white men going to hell, saying they were a joke, and he also says he “doesn’t remember” making the other statement.
