Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Senator Barack Obama’s former pastor and former friend, has been much in the news recently. Indeed, throughout the United States, it is fair to say Wright is now a household name, thanks to extensive media and internet coverage of his old and new sermons and speeches. Many believe Wright has irreparably damaged Senator Obama’s chances of becoming president of the United States.

I am not convinced. For me, the question is simple and straightforward: Is Obama responsible for Wright’s views? Isn’t Obama his own man? Hasn’t he written two elegant and eloquent books on his ideas and ideals? Hasn’t he traveled to virtually every state in the country talking to all who wish to hear him? All indications are that Obama is a unifier. So why all the trouble for Obama?

Surely, many of us have friends, relatives, advisers, or ministers who are racists, sexists, or who express bigotry or inflammatory rhetoric that we neither agree with nor utter ourselves. Should we each be tarred by the views of our associates? Must we all disown our "uncles"? If not us, then why is it appropriate for Obama? It is not appropriate and the entire episode smacks of something ancient and insidious. I shall say more about that later.

For me, Obama is responsible for himself and his views. Reverend Wright is responsible for his as well. And, each of the rest of us is responsible for ours. (I have shared some of mine through this blog for the past 18 months.)

As a constitutional law teacher, I am generally committed to broad free speech rights, for myself and for others. This means that, in my view, each of us, including Reverend Wright, has the right to speak freely and directly about anything and government can’t silence us. Instead, those inflamed by remarks should respond with their contrary views. If you contest or detest Wright's views, explain why he is wrong with your own sermons, speeches, or behaviors. Isn't that the American way: uninhibited, robust, wide-open, even caustic debate. Haven't you watched CNN or FOX News lately?

At times, this position ensures that someone or some group will express views that I strongly support; while other times it guarantees that others will engage in speech that I find reprehensible. Nonetheless, with quite limited exceptions, I value free speech above government restraint. Free speech is important to democracy. It is important to prevent tyranny by the richest, most powerful speakers, who often have far greater influence not because their views are better, but because they have the resources to ensure that their views are aired.

So Reverend Wright can speak. And so can Senator Obama. And, I will not make the Senator responsible for the Reverend’s views. Some may hold Obama accountable for attending a church with Wright as the pastor for over 20 years. They may be skeptical of Obama’s claims that he has shared none of Wright’s views about the country. Reasonable people can disagree on the significance of Wright’s influence. Having read Obama’s books, I have decided Wright has had no negative influence.

But there is another important point: Neither Wright nor Obama speaks for all African Americans. Nonetheless, I fear in some unconscious way, some Americans cannot resist blaming Obama for Wright’s free speech. This is an ancient device which, when unpacked, is little more than a declaration that all African Americans must think alike and all are responsible for the perceived transgressions of any. This device is seductive, but quite unsophisticated.

No African American speaks for all any more than any white person speaks for all. I will judge Senator Obama by his own words. I will not be distracted by a racialized political sideshow. I am convinced Obama loves this country, despite its longstanding faults. I am convinced he has the talent and voice to heal a broken land. I support him for what he says might become of us. He is ambitious for this country in unique ways. I don't agree with him on every issue, but I will resist the political distraction which seeks to diminish him by what someone else has said.

It has been a long time in this country since any orator has captured the imagination and hopes of many Americans. Obama’s spirited orations of hope, love, and change cannot be dismissed because another orator has a quite different message and style.

If Obama loses, it should be based on his own message, not Wright's. Having run such a noble campaign, he deserves to be judged not by the color or tone of another's message, but by the content and character of his own.