Detroit – In an apparent endorsement of the hate-speech of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama’s former pastor, the NAACP Detroit branch this morning named the former Trinity United Church pastor as the keynote speaker at its 53rd annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner. The Detroit branch is the NAACP’s largest and one of its most historic, and the April 27 dinner at Detroit’s Cobo Center is billed as the organization’s largest national sit-down dinner. The invitation to Wright by the NAACP – coming quickly on the heels of controversial comments including a call for African-Americans to sing “God damn America,” not “God Bless America,” claims that the U.S. government had spread the AIDS virus to kill blacks, and anti-Semitic remarks against Israel – reflects the appeal of Wright’s Afrocentric, hate-laced rhetoric to America’s biggest mainstream civil rights organization, even as Obama has tried to marginalize Wright’s comments as they threatened harm to his presidential candidacy. “Rev. Wright has challenged the nation, challenged our comfort zone and stimulated nation-wide discussions on the issues of how we must move forward together as both a nation and a people. We look forward to his participation here in the city of Detroit,” Detroit NAACP branch president The Rev. Wendell Anthony said in prepared remarks. Wright’s presence may put pressure to boycott the event on more moderate black leaders like former Detroit mayor Dennis Archer, who the bracnch will be honoring with a Life Time Achievement Award. Archer is currently chairman of Dickinson Wright, a Detroit-based law firm and corporate board member for Johnson Controls Inc., Compuware Corporation and Masco Corporation.