Monkeybot

OK, I'm not out to defend Jesse Jackson and every single statement he's ever made. I think we can all agree he's an extremely flawed public figure. And remember, I'm the one who called him a Grade-A media whore a couple of pages back. So I don't have a very high opinion of Jackson. However....

What I don't see is how Jackson is "keeping people in poverty" or how he is "worse than a lynch mob" (!). Hey, maybe he is all these things and more, but I just don't see why people are blaming Jackson and not, y'know, racism.

For example, a report came out some months ago in which employers were more likely to hire people with "white" names than "black" ones, all other qualifications being equal. For example, Jill and Greg were more likely to be asked back than Ebony and Rasheed. That, to me, indicates unconscious racism -- or at the very least, a strong possibility of such-- of which Jesse Jackson is a tangential part, if any at all.

Or look at the Florida debacle in Election 2000. Blacks were overwhelmingly stripped from the voter rolls for, well, no apparent reason. This is modern-day disenfranchisement. And we're saying that Jesse Jackson is the real problem?

I guess what I'm saying is, HOW is Jesse Jackson keeping people down? Throw me a bone here. Do you have any concrete examples of people slacking off directly because of something Jackson said or did?

I have no problem with criticism of Jackson, I just think it's pretty ludicrous to blame him for ALL of the problems black Americans face today.

Tristan Scott

Please Loren, you must be in some kind of denial here. You appear to practice discrimination in most of your posts on this subject. Racial discrimination is still rampant in this country, it has just been held in check, pushed into the closet if you will, by civil rights legislation. Actually there is less open discrimination in the south, but it is alive and well in most of the middle states and in urban areas of the whole country.

Ut

I'm completely offtopic here, but I must say: If I were an employer, me too I wouldn't hire someone named Ebony. I mean, what a ludicrous name! I wouldn't hire someone named Ivory either

Blixy Sticks

How about an applicant named Vagina or Syphillis? Would you hire them?

RED DAVE

Just a quick note to say that I am extremely gratified at those who are not letting the conservatives, neocons and other racists on this board get away with it.

Honor role to come.

RED DAVE

donaldkilroy

Since one or more of you keep asking for specifics about Jesse Jackson and are unlikely to read the book I suggested (or look at least look into it a little - like the first person who responded to my initial posting suggesting this book did when he read and posted/quoted a review by an African-American who read the book), then I offer the following snips from that book/review:

Now, if I may be the one to ask a couple questions in return. Where has any of the monies he has collected over the last 40+ years have actually gone to start and finish a successful project that actually benefited the African-American communities he so adamantly professes to crusade for and help whenever and wherever he can?

And lastly, why hasn't the IRS audited him and his organizations for which we all know he comingles and misuses funds for his own personal gain. For example, he paid more than $40K to the mother of his illegitimate child and pays her $3K a month from his tax-exempt charitable organizations for support. How is this legal?

Quite frankly I'm a little perplexed by some of the replies posted that, for a lack of better terms, supports Mr. Jackson.

Oh, and I don't know if anyone knows this or not...but I gather (according to O'Reily last night) there was a protest by African-Americans outside a Sheraton hotel somwhere (I forget where) to protest Jesse Jackson's 32nd annual Rainbow/PUSH conference. Also, did anyone know there is actually a "National Day of Repudiation of Jesse Jackson"? I didn't...that is until I came across this article by Reverend Peterson this morning. Very interesting...it's amazing what kind of information you can find on the internet (yes yes...I know, take it all with a grain of salt as anyone who is anyone can post anything on the internet ).

Anyhow, I hope some of the above examples sniped from Mr. Timmerman's book/review answers some of your calls for 'proof' or 'support' regarding Mr. Jackson and how he has done far more harm to not only the African-American community, but America as a whole.


donaldkilroy

Blixy Sticks

donald,

You have to admit it is rather humorous to watch the white apologists hang their hats on a hook made of jello.

Wow, I'm now a Neo-con racist. I informed my wife of such and she nearly pissed her pants.

donaldkilroy

Hmmm...I also recall studies and "investigative reports" by local news channels about how people respond to callers on the phone. Like apartment rental communities, agents were more likely to accept appointments from people who "sounded" white and turned away others who sounded African-American, Hispanic or of any other ethnicity other than "white."

Why do you think this is? Could it be that "stereotypical fear" thing? Like, when Jesse Jackson was quoted as saying if he were walking down the street and four African-American men wearing street clothes were approaching him he'd cross the street (I think that's how the example went, not sure, so anyone feel free to correct me on this), yet if they were white he'd keep walking...?

Anyhow...I think it's pretty pathetic to judge people by the sound of their voice, let alone their skin color.

donaldkilroy

donaldkilroy

*chuckle*

livius drusus

The statement that is being challenged is not that he has done more harm than good in a larger sense, or that he is an unethical hypocrite and media whore. I haven't seen a single person on this thread deny that, or claim that Jackson is some kind of role model of activism instead of a bald opportunist. What is being questioned here is Loren's claims that Jackson "does more harm to the blacks than the KKK ever did" and that "Jesse Jackson's words harm *FAR* more than any lynch mob."

That is what needs to be proven, preferably with actual examples of quotes from Jackson that are *FAR* more harmful to blacks than the KKK or lynch mobs ever were. Your list of ethical lapses and dirty deals doesn't even come close, I'm afraid.