Jesse, go sit down
It would be easy to ignore the Rev. Jesse Jackson. But he just stands out in that dashiki and platform shoes.
Like Stokely Carmichael, H. Rap Brown and Bobby Seale, the battle-weary civil rights activist is past his time. The ’60s and all its civil rights battles are over. And most of his old foxhole buddies are either dead or sitting down.
Jesse needs to go sit down somewhere.
It’s a new time with new problems facing the black community. Instead of fighting for the right to vote, we now fight to get blacks to vote.
Using 1960s strategies to combat the problems in 2008 is like bringing a knife to a gun fight. That’s why a growing number of black people don’t look to Jesse as the good soldier to fight these new battles.
In a recent USATODAY/Gallup Poll, 29 percent of African-Americans named Barack Obama as the person who speaks for them on racial issues. The Rev. Al Sharpton came in second at 6 percent. Only 4 percent identified Jackson, 1 percentage point in front of Bill and Hillary Clinton, but two points in front of Oprah Winfrey, who surprisingly came in last place.
Jesse reminds me of an old guy who is mad because he’s old and takes it out on kids who hit baseballs in his yard. He’s mad because he can’t run any more.
That’s just it. Jesse can’t run any more. And no one wants to see him run for office anymore. So what does he do? He disses Barack Obama, the current black Democratic presidential candidate.
Unaware that a microphone was on after a FOX News Channel interview last week, Jackson was overheard talking to a fellow guest about Obama and saying, “I want to cut his nuts out.”
Jackson was upset about Obama’s Father’s Day speech at a mostly black Apostolic Church of God in Chicago. It was a speech in which Obama basically called for black fathers to accept more parental responsibility.
To Jackson that bit of advice sounded like Obama was “talking down to black people.” More than enough reason to make him want to castrate the Democratic presidential candidate.
In what has now become fashionable footwear, the foot-in-mouth apology, Jackson said he merely meant Obama’s speech could be interpreted as if he were speaking down to blacks. And his moral message should have included stuff about urban policies and health care.
“And then I said something I felt regret for — it was crude. It was very private, and very much a sound bite — and a live mike. I find no comfort in it, I find no joy in it,” Jackson said, according to several news sources.
Now a lot of people are wondering where’s the public outrage over Jackson’s remarks? Remarks like these have the potential to dredge up memories of lynchings in which black men were often castrated before being hanged.
And where was Jackson’s racial epithet hunting roe dog Sharpton? Suddenly, he seems to have found a moment of reason. He admonished his pal Jackson and cautioned him against dividing black voters.
Obama “is running for president of all Americans, not just African-Americans,” Sharpton said to Jackson by way of the press. “We must be careful not to segregate Sen. Obama and impose some litmus test that is unfair and unproductive.”
If the mike wasn’t on, I doubt if there would be any apology. Those were the true words of a bitter, jealous man.
Alonzo Weston’s column runs Wednesdays.
This story has 9 comments. Click here to join in on the discussion.
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I am just a little curious why Jesse is being considered a bad guy by the black community all of the sudden. Is it simply because he is picking on "Mr. Popularity?" There has never been any support by blacks regarding how badly he and Al Sharpton talk about white politicians, or whoever the white "race issue" target is at the time. But now that he picks on Obama he is being bashed?
Posted by dalearch on July 16, 2008 at 6:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)We (the white community) have had to endure Jesse and Al's ridiculous rants about racism by whites for years and now that he says something bad about Obama he needs to "go sit down somewhere?" What's up with that?
Good point Rax.
I've said for years that Jackson needs to sit down and shut up. He's made his living for years by enabling blacks to play the race card and play the role of victim.
Why the sudden realization by people in the black community?
Posted by Mr_America on July 16, 2008 at 7:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)I think Mr. Washington described very well how people like Jackson and Sharpton make their living.
"There is a class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs-partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs."
Posted by comment on July 16, 2008 at 9:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)Booker T. Washington (1911)
What else can be said!
Posted by Rax on July 16, 2008 at 6:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)What needs be said is that blacks need to start being held accountable for the same "offenses" that they accuse whites of almost daily. It is too easy for them to pick and choose when they want to play the "always at the ready" race-card. If Jesse Jackson had said something equally derogatory about a white candidate he would have had the support of 99% of the black community.
Posted by azmaggie on July 16, 2008 at 8:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)Obama put himself into this compaign, he openend himself and his family up to jokes, nasty comments, stupid cartoons and magazine covers just like every other candidate. He does not have the right to cry "foul" like he does constantly simply because he is black. White politicians have had to endure this for ages as a "hazard of the job." Why does Obama deserve to be treated any better than anyone else?If he isn't man enough to take it he should get out of the race.
In this same statement Jackson used the N-word. If he had been a white man there would have been a lot more coverage and a whole lot more Blacks up in arms!!! Where is good ole Al!!!!
Posted by just_sayin on July 17, 2008 at 5:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)If people have paid attention, they'll know that Alonzo has been critical of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton in the past. This isn't new at all. KC Star columnist Jason Whitlock has done the same. I think both wrote columns with similar views condemning Al and Jesse last year during the Don Imus fiasco. Their opinions don't seemed to be related to Obama at all, since they have been criticizing Al and Jesse since before Obama was even a candidate.
Throwing my two cents out there...
Posted by Rax on July 18, 2008 at 5:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)Personally, I was speaking in general terms, not about specific people. It's nice to know that at least two out of the roughly 40 million of blacks in this country understand. However, in my opinion Jason Whitlock is one of the most racist people walking the Earth today. Do you read his stuff on a regular basis?
Posted by gettinafterlefty on August 5, 2008 at 4:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)Seems to me if you are saying that Bracka Obama Jr is the right man for the times then you must support Socialism. Bracka Obama Jr is nothing more than a Socialist that will drag us all down to the same level of misery..
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