In a sermon delivered shortly after the September 11 attacks in 2001 , Wright made comments about an interview of former U.S. Ambassador Edward Peck he saw on Fox News . Wright said : Wright spoke of the United States taking land from the Indian tribes by what he labeled as terror , bombing Grenada , Panama , Libya , Hiroshima , and Nagasaki , and argued that the United States supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and South Africa . He said that his parishioners ' response should be to examine their relationship with God , not go " from the hatred of armed enemies to the hatred of unarmed innocents . " His comment ( quoting Malcolm X ) that " America 's chickens are coming home to roost " was widely interpreted as meaning that America had brought the September 11 attacks upon itself . ABC News broadcast clips from the sermon in which Wright said : Later , Wright continued : Clips from a sermon that Wright gave , entitled " Confusing God and Government " , were also shown on ABC 's '' Good Morning America '' and on Fox News . In the sermon , Wright first makes the distinction between God and governments , and points out that many governments in the past have failed : " Where governments lie , God does not lie . Where governments change , God does not change . " Wright then states : The United States government lied about their belief that all men were created equal . The truth is they believed that all white men were created equal . The truth is they did not even believe that white women were created equal , in creation nor civilization . The government had to pass an amendment to the Constitution to get white women the vote . Then the government had to pass an equal rights amendment to get equal protection under the law for women . The government still thinks a woman has no rights over her own body , and between Uncle Clarence who sexually harassed Anita Hill , and a closeted Klan court , that is a throwback to the 19th century , handpicked by Daddy Bush , Ronald Reagan , Gerald Ford , between Clarence and that stacked court , they are about to undo '' Roe vs. Wade '' , just like they are about to un-do affirmative action . The government lied in its founding documents and the government is still lying today . Governments lie . He continued : The government lied about Pearl Harbor too . They knew the Japanese were going to attack . Governments lie . The government lied about the Gulf of Tonkin Incident . They wanted that resolution to get us in the Vietnam War . Governments lie . The government lied about Nelson Mandela and our CIA helped put him in prison and keep him there for 27 years . The South African government lied on Nelson Mandela . Governments lie . Wright then stated : The government lied about the Tuskegee experiment . They purposely infected African American men with syphilis . Governments lie . The government lied about bombing Cambodia and Richard Nixon stood in front of the camera , " Let me make myself perfectly clear ... " Governments lie . The government lied about the drugs for arms Contra scheme orchestrated by Oliver North , and then the government pardoned all the perpetrators so they could get better jobs in the government . Governments lie . ... The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color . Governments lie . The government lied about a connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein and a connection between 9.11.01 and Operation Iraqi Freedom . Governments lie . He spoke about the government 's rationale for the Iraq War : The government lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq being a threat to the United States peace . And guess what else ? If they do n't find them some weapons of mass destruction , they gon na do just like the LAPD , and plant them some weapons of mass destruction . Governments lie . Wright then commented on God and government : And the United States of America government , when it came to treating her citizens of Indian descent fairly , she failed . She put them on reservations . When it came to treating her citizens of Japanese descent fairly , she failed . She put them in internment prison camps . When it came to treating her citizens of African descent fairly , America failed . She put them in chains , the government put them on slave quarters , put them on auction blocks , put them in cotton field , put them in inferior schools , put them in substandard housing , put them in scientific experiments , put them in the lowest paying jobs , put them outside the equal protection of the law , kept them out of their racist bastions of higher education and locked them into positions of hopelessness and helplessness . The government gives them the drugs , builds bigger prisons , passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing " God Bless America " . No , no , no , not God Bless America . God damn America — that 's in the Bible — for killing innocent people . God damn America , for treating our citizens as less than human . God damn America , as long as she tries to act like she is God , and she is supreme . The United States government has failed the vast majority of her citizens of African descent . These sermon excerpts were widely viewed in early 2008 on network television and the internet
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Jeremiah Wright controversy