Rev. Jesse Jackson is part of our nation's history. I remember chanting 'Run Jesse Run' back in 1984 and 1988. I voted for him twice. He has been a lifetime hero in my household.
That ended today.
Rev. Jesse Jackson proclaimed his support of Obama last year. However, today, he slammed Barack Obama while talking informally with reporters. Jackson said that he wanted to 'cut his nuts off'.
Joking about castration is wrong whether it is done by KKK leadership or by PUSH leadership. Telling reporters that you want to castrate Barack Obama in private while touting him in public is two-faced.
Jackson is upset at Obama for his clarion call to the Black community to accept personal responsibility for our children and our families. I guess that Jackson took it personal in light of his own history of out-of-wedlock babies and such.
Jackson was dead wrong. His son, Jesse Jackson Jr. has released a harshly worded statement that reads:
"I'm deeply outraged and disappointed in Reverend Jackson's reckless statements about Senator Barack Obama. His divisive and demeaning comments about the presumptive Democratic nominee -- and I believe the next president of the United States -- contradict his inspiring and courageous career. Instead of tearing others down, Barack Obama wants to build the country up and bring people together so that we can move forward, together -- as one nation. The remarks like those uttered on Fox by Reverend Jackson do not advance the campaign's cause of building a more perfect Union."
"Reverend Jackson is my dad and I'll always love him. He should know how hard that I've worked for the last year and a half as a national co-chair of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. So, I thoroughly reject and repudiate his ugly rhetoric. He should keep hope alive and any personal attacks and insults to himself."
Jesse Jackson (the father ... not the son) lost my respect today. People that talk about of both sides of their face deserve no respect.
Of course, Jackson issued some mealy-mouth apology. I'm not going to even publish it. You don't say in front of reporters that you want to 'cut off his nuts' and then expect that an apology will fix things.
Obama is a better person than most of us, including me! His campaign issued the following statement, "As someone who grew up without a father in the home, Senator Obama has spoken and written for many years about the issue of parental responsibility, including the importance of fathers participating in their children's lives. He also discusses our responsibility as a society to provide jobs, justice, and opportunity for all. He will continue to speak out about our responsibilities to ourselves and each other, and he of course accepts Reverend Jackson's apology."I imagine that we will be seeing the full Jackson tape over and over in the coming days. The media will tie Jackson's comments to Jeremiah Wright. The media will make this into a Black leader vs. Black leader issue.
Jesse ... just shut up!
13 comments:
Hello there,
This is disappointing to see because Reverend Jackson is a member of the black clergy (in some circles)... and it is disappointing that his own son had to repudiate the comments made by his father in order to distance himself from the fallout....
One thing that is vitally important among those who call themselves leaders is a level of maturity that includes a willingness to communicate with each other directly about our concerns and grievances rather than going PUBLIC with petty comments that amount to bashing.
Reverend Jackson made a grave error and he will never know just how deep the chasm will be that results.
{shaking my head}
Thank you for reporting on this unfortunate incident.
Peace, blessings and DUNAMIS!
Lisa
Lisa - Jesse Jackson and Bill Clinton both appear to be seriously jealous of Obama's success within the Black community as a political leader. Both allowed their jealousy to overcome their judgement as they made comments caught on tape.
Jesse seriously damaged his legend yesterday...
This just made me sick to my stomach, Villager. I don't know what else to say.
Obama represents a new paradigm for Black politicians, in which it is no longer necessary to pander to the traditional black leadership establishment in order to gain any ground with the electorate.
This threatens, irritates, and frightens Jackson because is the most concrete indication that his era and his brand of politics has become obsolete.
I say, good riddance.
BWBT wrote:
"Reverend Jackson made a grave error and he will never know just how deep the chasm will be that results."
Watching members of the "OLD Guard"_be it Bill OR Hil, OR Jesse OR Bob J. OR Andrew Y. OR Geraldine_etc., having full-blown "CAN'T HELP IT" moments, during which they open their big fat mouths and OUT comes their TRUE thoughts and feelings about Obama is quite interesting to me!
Btw Villager: I absolutely agree, Bill and Jesse are indeed VERY jealous of Obama. H*ll, I say it goes deeper than that. IMO, they're actually "HATIN" on Barack__as in, they really HATE the man for daring to represent the future and dethroning them WITHOUT their permission.
Why Barack, how dare you?_lol!
BOC almost summed it up for me.
The only thing I would add:
Barack "threatens, irritates and frightens" not just Jackson_but MANY members of the "OLD Guard" because strong evidence seems to indicate that their "era and brand of politics has become obsolete."
Hey Jesse is a sad example of a leader.
www.zookersradio.com
WWOD?
What Will Obama Do?
Keith - Have you had any other thoughts on the situation in the past 24 hours?
Ajuan - 'Good riddance' ... I agree with you. Jesse Jackson has been on the public scene for 40 years. MLK was only in the public eye for 10 years. It is more than time for Jesse to step down from the public eye. Only his ego keeps him going...
Truthiz - Thank you for sharing the feedback from other media sources. I think that we have seen the end of the Jackson-era...
Obama does speak down to African Americans. Obama also perpetuates false stereotypes about AAs. During the course of this campaign I've been closely following and reading many of the blogs. Posters comments along with media reaction confirms for me that racism is alive and well and that white people do in fact believe the many false stereotypes that are out here being applied to the entire African American race. AAs have heard the stereotypes so often that many also believe the myths and the myths become their reality. AAs don't have jobs, etc. largely due to institutionalized racism and the stereotypic portrayal of AAs makes it easy to place the blame on them in order to justify their condition and alleviate guilt. Obama takes the AA vote for granted and in order to gain white conservative votes he attacks AAs, which I find morally reprehensible. Because he has lived in both the AA and white worlds he knows the psyche of both groups and he uses this knowledge to his political advantage. AAs are so used to being beaten down that they often do not feel the insult as would other races who are subjected to similar conduct. He also knows that the symbolism that he represents to the AA community also causes AAs not to criticize or place demands upon him. Obama knows this and knows that he will not lose AA support although he continuously insults them. Last, Obama need not worry about any negative impact from Jackson's comments. They will help him in that they further reinforce to the voters he is trying to attract that he is not aligned with Jackson.
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Why Jesse’s Testy: Obama’s ‘Tough Love’ for Black Community
Welcome to the “I had no idea that was being recorded” club, Reverend Jesse Jackson! Standing room only.
On Sunday, the man who until relatively recently was the most viable black presidential candidate in the country’s history went a little off message, you could say, on the set of Fox News. Believing that his mike was off, Reverend Jackson whispered to a visibly uncomfortable Dr. Reed Tuckson that Barack Obama had been “talking down to black people” and that he desired to “cut his nuts off.” While it’s debatable as to whether Obama has been “talking down” to black people, and indeed how effective castration would be as a remedy, it’s true that Obama has frequently offered so-called “tough love” to black audiences throughout the presidential campaign. Focusing mainly on themes of education and parenting, Obama hasn’t shied away from criticizing aspects of black culture that he sees as contributing to the some of the problems the black community faces in America today:
• On Tuesday at a town-hall meeting in Georgia, Obama dismissed rapping and basketball as career aspirations: “You can’t find a job, unless you are a really, really good basketball player — which most of you brothas are not. I know you think you are, but you’re not. You are overrated in your own mind. You will not play in the NBA. You are probably not that good a rapper. Maybe you are the next Lil’ Wayne, but probably not, in which case you need to stay in school.”
• On June 15, in a Father’s Day speech in front of a predominantly black audience at the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago, Obama decried absentee fathers: “What makes you a man is not the ability to have a child — any fool can have a child. That doesn’t make you a father. It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.” He also mocked the unwarranted celebrations surrounding minor educational accomplishments: “Don't get carried away with that eighth-grade graduation. You're supposed to graduate from the eighth grade!"
• On February 28, in front of a predominantly black audience in Beaumont, Texas, Obama criticized the lax nutritional standards of some parents: “Y'all have Popeyes out in Beaumont? I know some of y'all you got that cold Popeyes out for breakfast. I know. That's why y'all laughing … You can't do that. Children have to have proper nutrition. That affects also how they study, how they learn in school."
• On January 20, Martin Luther King Day, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Obama addressed prejudice in the black community: “We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community. For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as competitors for jobs instead of companions in the fight for opportunity.”
• On July 15, 2007, at the Vernon Park Church of God in Chicago, Obama again focused on parenting: “There's a reason they go out and shoot each other, because they don't love themselves. And the reason they don't love themselves is because we are not loving them enough.”
• On June 28, 2007, at a Democratic debate at Howard University, Obama discussed the relationship between homophobia in black communities and the lack of education on AIDS: “We don’t talk about this. We don’t talk about it in the schools. Sometimes we don’t talk about it in the churches. It has been an aspect of sometimes homophobia that we don’t address this issue as clearly as it needs to be.”
• In April 2007, according to the Washington Post, Obama told a group of black South Carolina state legislators: “In Chicago, sometimes when I talk to the black chambers of commerce, I say, 'You know what would be a good economic-development plan for our community would be if we make sure folks weren't throwing their garbage out of their cars.’”
• On March 4, 2007, in a speech in Selma, Alabama, Obama returned to the issues of education and parenting: “I don't know who taught them that reading and writing and conjugating your verbs was acting white, we've got to get over that mentality.”
What to make of all this? There’s no reason to believe Obama’s critical messages are anything but sincere, but they happen to be good politics as well. The black audiences at which he directs his “tough love” almost always respond with approval or applause, and his support among black voters has been rock-solid, regularly racking up 80 to 90 percent of the black vote during the Democratic primaries. Meanwhile, Obama is partaking in what’s basically tantamount to a long-running Sister Souljah campaign, demonstrating to white voters that he’s not beholden to the black community nor scapegoating whites for its ailments. So it’s ultimately a win-win. Unless Jesse Jackson gets ahold of some scissors, and then nobody wins. —Dan Amira
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CeCe - I appreciate the information that you provided to us with your comment. I hope you find reason to visit our blog often in the future.
I appreciate the candid comments that Obama is delivering to African Americans about personal responsiblity. We can all use the overt reminders. And if it helps him get elected ... GOOD!
Political Science Lesson:
Some White folks use political power for retribution or revenge purposes. Those folks are terrified that if he gets in, that Barack will 'do unto them' what was done unto Black people for centuries.
What Barack is doing at this stage is moving to the center. He's trying to reassure those 'scurred' white people, of which he'll need a plurality of their votes in order to occupy 1600 Pemnsylvania Avenue, that he can give his people 'tough love' if necessary.
He's walking a serious tightrope right now in which he can't appaar too closely aligned with us right now, but can't stray too far in the other direction, either.
Eyes on the prize, people. He's gotta get elected first.
Monica - You're absolutely right about the need for us to remember that he is running to be POTUS ...not president of the Black Chamber of Commerce or local NAACP Branch. We need to give him permission to succeed in his quest...
I'm here today by way of a long time blogger buddy,OG_Original Glamazon !
I was completely appalled by Jesse Jackson's remark,but not totally shocked that he said it. I've always felt like he was "talking out of the side of his neck" & I'm certain that if we dig a bit deeper WAAAYYY back...there are plenty more bones that would start flying.
Love,Peace,& keep the excellence flowing !
T.
Sister Girl - Props to OG for the drumbeats that sent you here.
I agree with your assessment of Jesse Jackson. He has been walking a fine line for a number of years...
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