Barack Obama Is Not Jesse Jackson. But He's Not Not-Jesse Jackson Either.

And that's why this quote from the Rev. Jackson, spoken in South Carolina yesterday, is so interesting:

“If I were a candidate, I’d be all over Jena,” Jackson said after an hour-long speech at Columbia’s historically black Benedict College.

He's referring to the Jena Six -- black teenagers who feel victim to what appears to be the racial prejudice of authorities in a small Louisiana town.

But Jackson doesn't seem to understand Barack Obama or his candidacy, which is surprising, because Jackson is a supporter, albeit one who Obama has not seen fit to draw into his inner circle. (The reporter David Mendell, in his new book about Obama, has a great anecdote about how Jackson, spying Obama's daughter Sasha at an inaguration event, lifted her up and put her on a small pedestal to pose for pictures. When the cameras stop flashing, Jackson stepped away, leaving his three-year-old girl teetering on a tall block of concrete.)

Barack Obama, while acknowledging that he owes a significant debt to Jesse Jackson, is not running as the candidate of the Democratic urban machine, or as the candidate of African Americans, or as the candidate of the African American political establishment. His run , its assumptions and the way Obama interacts with the establishment is predicated on difference.

It's equally inaccurate to call Obama a deliberate foil for Jackson, who is associated in the minds of many white Democrats and non-Democrats with a type of politics that makes them nervous or uncomfortable. He certainly isn't trying to convince whites that he is less "scary" than Jackson. Now, he maybe he is less "scary," but that's an effect of Obama's personality and biography, and not anything related to choices he made during his campaign.

One Obama adviser chalks the tension up to age and experience: Obama is literally a generation away from Jesse Jackson and would therefore not be expected to share his outlook, worldview, predispositions or habits.

Comments

That quote is why Jesse Jackson no longer matters in politics. It's super harsh to actually say it, but Jena is strictly a black issue. Mainstream America doesn't care.

http://political-buzz.com/2007/09/18/exclusive-interview-with-republican-presidential-candidate-mike-huckabee/

Posted by mpp | September 19, 2007 12:41 PM

um, mainstream america does care. there is 0 tolerance for public backsliding on civil rights (at least in public cases like this, though institutional problems have gotten worse). what bothers me about jackson is this: let's assume that obama is the candidate for everyone (trying to transcend tradition dichotomies to invoke the idea that we are all americans, etc.). Comments like these of Jackson suggest that while Obama is the candidate of all americans he is not the candidate of black americans. Once again blacks get disenfranchised. Even if he wins the nom, and the general he goes in office only because, the argument goes, he was not too black. This kind of makes me sick, candidates like Jackson can't get elected for whatever reason, and when a candidate comes along who talks about katrina who does seem to personally identify with black issues they take him away. i support obama not because he is black or white or whatever, but because he seems to be saying that all voices, including black voices, need to be heard. it's so sad, politics.

Posted by JC | September 19, 2007 1:11 PM

Jena is not a stricly black issue! How i that even vaguely true??? This si a totally racist case that goes back to the worst days of American history, and international media has been all over it! For some reason, American media has been entirely ignoring this issue and this is where we're at now!
Whether or not Obama is running as a black candidate, he should be speaking out about this as a progressive. Not that I am very surprised that he would shy away from anything that might seem vageuly confrontational.

CampaignDiaries.com

Posted by Daniel | September 19, 2007 1:21 PM

Why does Jesse let the other candidates off the hook on the Jena issue?

Aren't white Democrats supposed to care about civil rights too?

Posted by Wonk | September 19, 2007 1:27 PM

Jackson may have put his foot in his mouth, but it is the reporting and massaging of the story that is the real message here. There is another candidate that seeks to directly benefit from this manufactured dispute. The tactic is designed to divide and conquer by luring african-american votes away from Obama, just like Dershowitz' slur was intended to go after Obama's jewish support. Seeing a pattern here? Hey, lets all stop playing along.

Posted by donna | September 19, 2007 1:39 PM

What about Clinton, is he not the first black president? Of course Barack cannot get involve in every single details. He needs to Call Edward and Clinton because demorat!!! loves black so much and that is why they always give some post in their goverment. Like Condi, Powell. Oooops, I guess that was republican, sorry!!!!

Posted by Tibwa | September 19, 2007 1:39 PM

Jena is in Louisiana, not Alabama. Didn't Marc also refer to actor John Mahoney in a previous post as the "late" John Mahoney, even though he is very much alive? Such sloppiness cannot be good for the Atlantic Monthly brand.

Posted by Ken P | September 19, 2007 2:33 PM

The only two media entities who REALLY seem to care about this are Drudge and Fox News, two of the shrewdest and sensationalist polarizers around. Notice that neither of them care about almost all of the GOP candidates shunning the black vote debate, but they're all over this like flies on crap? Typical douse and burn journalism, which anyone with basic common sense will see through.

Posted by Armando Serra | September 19, 2007 2:39 PM

I find it ironic that most of the comments here relate to dislike of Jesse Jackson, rather than the fact mainstream political leaders have been mostly silent about the travesty in Jena. Were I a politician of any major party, I would be assume it to be an obligation to take on a major leadership role in protesting and advocating on behalf of justice in Jena. The town of Jena and its (white) leadership represent a disgrace to every American who has a moral conscience. The fact that our current President has not personally intervened in this case speaks volumes.

Posted by Jeffrey Ellis | September 19, 2007 3:51 PM

What if it were a Hispanic or Asia issue will Jackson be all over that if he were a candidate?. Eoungh of this acting white crap. Lets face it no black person in America can be president without white votes.

Posted by jay | September 19, 2007 3:57 PM

nick minucci got 15 years for beating up a black kid that who admitted he was in his neighborhood to steal a car.....why because of they said it was a hate crime. guess who said he deserved that long of a term....thats right jesse jackson...tell me how is "Jena 6" case any different???

Posted by Larry | September 19, 2007 4:17 PM

Jena most certainly IS an American problem. I may be a white woman in the Midwest but, when I first heard about the Jena case last July (thanks, Amy Goodman), I immediately e-mailed the Obama campaign. Thanks to Andrew Sullivan, I see that Obama did address the issue.

What many Americans don't realize is that the outside world is paying more attention to what goes on within our borders than most U.S. citizens. Jena most certainly does not reflect well on us. We ignore it at our peril.

Posted by GordonsGirl | September 19, 2007 5:59 PM

Jesse needs to learn some respect, and leave Obama alone. This is the man who gave us "Hymie-town" and who wore the shirt with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's blood the rest of the day after the assassination. Jesse's primary interest is Jesse. Always has been.

Posted by zenpiper | September 19, 2007 6:42 PM

Obama did come out in support for the Jena 6. The problem is he's in the middle of trying to become President of the United States. You have to pick your battles, and Obama has recognized the injustice happening in Jena. To make this issue his primary focus would take away his better good and his ability to bring this country together.

Besides the actual full injustice hasn't happened yet. Most of the six still have yet to be tried. Which means that this is still in the hands of the court system in Jena, Louisiana. I know that Mychal Bell, the first of the Jena Six to face trial, was found guilty of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit the same on June 28th. But he has the right to appeal that verdict to a higher court. And in my opinion he should.

Jesse would be better served just fighting the issue of injustice in Jena instead of name calling a fellow African American Democrat. He is doing a disservice to the American people and to the African American community. In this humble white boy's opinion.

Posted by Steve B | September 19, 2007 7:33 PM

What about justice for the kid that got beat unconscious by the "Jena 6"? Everybody has forgotton about him and how he was beat to a pulp. If it was the other way around and he was a black kid beat up by 6 white kids everybody would be wanting the white kids to rot in jail forever.

Posted by kim | September 19, 2007 7:39 PM

Jena is tragic but not what Jackson's comments were really about.

Jackson is trying to drive a wedge between Obama and African-Americans by playing the "you're not black enough" game. And it clearly out of nothing but jealousy with Jackson. Who sees Obama being loved by an establishment that never took Jackson seriously.

I would love to see Obama hit back and Jackson and tell him that he is of the old guard, and saying that Obama "is trying to be white" is the kind of ignorance that a leader like Jackson should never, ever be promoting.

I hope Obama realizes that going after Jackson - who has clearly been going after Obama - will actually help Obama in the black community, because it will show he is a fighter. And of course it would help him in other commnities that think Jackson is a loon.

But Obama is too careful and maybe rightly so - infighting among the black community might not play so well nationally. But I'd sure like to see it.

Posted by The CarpetMuncher | September 19, 2007 7:52 PM

Obama's Full Statement:

"When nooses are being hung in high schools in the 21st century, it's a tragedy. It shows that we still have a lot of work to do as a nation to heal our racial tensions. This isn't just Jena's problem; it's America's problem."

"There are a number of signs that the system is not working in this case. It's a problem when criminal charges are brought against some students for fighting, but not others. It's a problem when a public defender doesn't call any witnesses. And it's a problem when a prosecutor decides to try teenagers as adults for a school fight, a charge that could leave them in jail for the majority of their lives. That is why I join my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus in calling on the judge to consider all the relevant factors and calling on the District Attorney to drop the excessive charges brought in this case. And I, along with other members of the CBC, will continue to monitor this case closely."

"Going forward, we have to fix our criminal justice system. Whether it's Jena 6 or Genarlow Wilson, it's long past time for us to admit that we have more work to do to ensure that our criminal justice system is fair. We must ensure that both victims and defendants can receive equal justice under the law, regardless of race, wealth, or other circumstances."

You know, it is soooo unlike the news media to take a sentence or two out of context and manufacture a false but sensationalistic story for ratings, or a writer misquoting someone. --- yeah, that was sarcasm!

Posted by Terri | September 19, 2007 8:10 PM

Kim- You may want to familiarize yourself with the case before you make assertions that Barker was "beat a pulp."

Posted by TrishB | September 19, 2007 8:18 PM

StevenB -- Would you want to wait until "the full injustice" had been done to you, if you had been thrown into jail and charged with attempted murder, while those who had attacked you at a party and pulled a shotgun on you had gotten away with it scot free? Read the full news accounts and you will find the same racist behavior that went on prior to and during the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s.

Have you sent in a contribution to help pay the legal costs for the Jena 6? You write about this series of incidents as if it were an academic exercise for a first year law student or a TV writer, not peoples real lives.

Kim -- as noted above, you have clearly not read the full story about the "white kid" who was beaten up. While he was knocked unconscious, he was examined and released within a couple of hours, and went to a party that night. Witnesses also confirmed he had been inciting the black students by loudly bragging about how a black kid had been beaten up by his white buddies the previous night -- for attending a mostly white party. None of the white students involved in the beating were arrested or prosecuted. Nor was the white student who pulled a shotgun out of his car in a parking lot and aimed it at a black student. The black student who wrestled the gun away from him was arrested, however, and charged with robbery/theft.

What moral world do you folks live in? I can certainly see now how the expression "banality of evil" come to be

Posted by Jeffrey Ellis | September 19, 2007 8:43 PM

"What about justice for the kid that got beat unconscious by the "Jena 6"? Everybody has forgotton about him and how he was beat to a pulp. If it was the other way around and he was a black kid beat up by 6 white kids everybody would be wanting the white kids to rot in jail forever."

It starts..black kids under tree for whites. Nooses on tree. A suspension after protests. Then White Kids beat up black kid. Tried as children and minor offenses. Released back at school.

Black kids beat up white kid. Kid treated at hospital let out same day. Charges as adults, attempted murder the crime. 10 months in prison till trial date.

The issue. Racism in preference of who gets shade. Nooses as retaliation. Lack of serious response. Violence on blacks no serious response. Violence on white Overboard response. Unbalanced justice.

The whole story not just the why the boys should not just get off scott free for the incident. Equal justice before injustice. After injustice and foul play, let em go is the argument. 10 months in jail is enough for the actual crime in this case.

Posted by Dee | September 19, 2007 8:49 PM

What does the 'Reverend' Jackson mean by 'acting white'? Is that supposed to be a pejorative? He's just as racist as the next guy. He along with the other 'Reverend.' Regardless of the justice/injustice of the Jena case, Jesse Jackson should just keep his racist mouth shut. He has lost all credibility.

Posted by Frank | September 19, 2007 9:47 PM

After seeing pictures of the kid who was beaten up I have a very hard time feeling any pity for the one's who were responsible. I think violent criminals like that deserve to be in jail, I don't care what race they are. If there is an problem with people of different races not being treated equally under the law, that issue certainly needs to be addressed. But please, let's not excuse the actions of these criminals by pretending they are victims. What they did was reprehensible.

Posted by Jerome | September 19, 2007 9:55 PM

After hearing what the white kid who got beaten up said and did, I have a very hard time feeling any pity for him.

Posted by expatjourno | September 19, 2007 10:42 PM

I must note that I have not heard or read anyone until Marc, that the problems Obama faces with African American 'leadership' is that it is generational.
Jackson has a son roughly Obama's age that is a congressman in Washington. His children being around Obama's age, he is probably reacting to Obama as someone would addressing 'the younger generation'.
Jackson for the most part backtracked because probably after the words came out of his mouth he realized Obama was not the young neighbor down the street who is friends with his kids anymore.

Posted by vwcat | September 19, 2007 11:13 PM

Obama was the first candidate to speak out about the Jena 6!!

In fact, I never heard anything at all about the Jena situation until I saw someone mention it on the Obama website. Where was the media back when this first started happening? Instead of worrying about what Jesse said about Barack, maybe the media should think about why this story has gone unreported for such a long time.

Also, the people who think the Jena situation is not about race are living in denial. When the punishment (or lack thereof) for getting into a fight is wholly different depending on the color of the attacker, that is just plain wrong.

No reasonable people are saying that the black students who attacked the white kid should not be held accountable, but they were charged as adults and accused of using a deadly weapon. The weapon? Their shoes! One of them has been in jail for months because of an unfair bail amount and being charged as an adult. In stark contrast, when the black kid got beat up by the white kids, pretty much nothing happened. That, along with the nooses in the tree incident and the intimidation from the local authorities helped contribute to the later incident.

Finally, assuming the "acting white" comment was actually uttered by Mr. Jackson, that's about as stupid as saying that hanging nooses in a tree as a message to black people is simply a prank. Whatintheheck is Barack supposed to do? Stop his entire campaign and stay in Jena until it's all over? Show up and grandstand for the press? That is probably what Jackson would do.

By the way, Barack was a community organizer and civil rights lawyer when he was starting out in Chicago, so, instead of running around trying to get on TV and/or get his name in the papers as Jackson and other publicity hounds like to do, he was actually working to help people, a quest that continues from then to this day with his candidacy for president.

Obama '08

Posted by Michael James | September 19, 2007 11:53 PM

Michael - No, Obama waited (9/13) until HRC had already released a statement (9/12). Both campaigns were pressured by a radio show.

Posted by ObamaNotTheFirst | September 20, 2007 4:33 AM

1. Obama has taken the correct tack with Jackson, ignoring him as irrelevant.

2. The inequity of the charges in Lousiana is just plain wrong. In some areas of the south there are those who are still waiting "for the South to arise again"

3. I am waiting for ANY candidate to call for a federal investigation to see whether federal hate crime charges should be levied at the noose hangers and possibly even the DA. Since apparently Louisiana law, there ain't no such thing as a hate crime.

And hmmm... a guy points a shotgun at me and I take it away..

If I am black and he is white, it's theft
If I am white and he is black, I'm a hero.

Society needs to evolve. Unfortunately there are people out there who are still peeing in the gene pool.

Posted by Manny Marshall | September 20, 2007 10:08 AM

Obama should ignore Jesse Jackson it does not warrant a response. Obama can deal with this issue just as any other Africian American would if he chooses to. Not everyone has a loud mouth and jumps on the band-wagon. Although he is running for President and should be visible during this historic case we all know that everything is political. Is Jesse running for President?

Posted by Renee | September 20, 2007 10:32 AM

I am truely amazed at some of the comments I have read so far. I'm a 22 year-old college student and I can not believe there are Americans who still fail to recognize the racial injustice within this country. I have many college buddies in Europe and Asia, and they themselves come to me with questions about our racially imbalanced system. Sadly, I myself can't even answer every question pertaining to why blacks this or why whites that? Lastly, this isn't the first, nor will it be the last racially intensified matter in the 21st century. The question is, when is enough going to be really enough. Because apparently, going on 400 some-odd years isn't.

Posted by Jamaal Banks | September 20, 2007 11:03 AM

As usual, the press took something out of context and ran with it. How come they didn't take the Jena 6 story and run with it? This is why a lot of times, people don't believe the media now.

Posted by L. Bates | September 20, 2007 11:11 AM

Jackson an Sharpton continue to feed on the envy from the "poor black man" period. The two have set back race relations thirty years. The American Justice system looks at a situation on the facts presented. This being, Multiple Men attaking ONE Man.(no matter what color). Justice Will Be Served! No room for Race Religion or anything else.
The only way to rectify the situation would be to release all black youths involved and reward them with some kind of financial windfall and an apology from the entire white race-- this would be the only way to silence those two windbags.

Posted by R.J | September 20, 2007 6:38 PM

To Trish B: I HAVE familiarized myself with this case. The white student was beaten unconscious for goodness sake. While I don't condone hanging a noose, it is certainly not a "get out of jail free" card for the black students that did the beating. From what I have read, I understand that the white student was not the same student that hung the noose(s) from the tree. He was attacked because he was white, which is in itself a hate crime. The students who did the beating should be punished. If I was the white kid I would sue the pants off of the boys that beat me too. It's sad that Sharpton and Jackson and Co. are defending these thugs because it's sending the message that it's OK to beat somebody up because of their race and the NAACP will come and march on your behalf. What do they think a march will do anyways? They are trying to bully people. Hopefully the prosecutor won't let them be bullied by these race baiters.

Posted by KIm | September 20, 2007 7:36 PM

Here's an excerpt from the website of Eddie Thompson, a minister in Jena setting the record straight about what actually happened in Jena:

�The actions of the three white students who hung the nooses demonstrate prejudice and bigotry. However, they were not just given �two days suspension� as reported by national news agencies. After first being expelled, then upon appeal, being allowed to re-enter the school system, they were sent to an alternative school, off-campus, for an extended period of time. They underwent investigations by Federal and Sate authorities. They were given psychological evaluations. Even when they were eventually allowed back on campus they were not allowed to be a part of the general population for weeks.

�No black children demonstrated the days after the noose incident, as reported by CNN--with the possible exception of an uncorroborated report by one of the "Jena Six" who claims that black students gathered under the tree in a form of protest. This event was not witnessed by any school officials. Therefore, Reed Walters did not come to the school to break it up and send the black students back to class, stating that he could �end their life with a stroke of the pen.� In fact, to this day, there has been no demonstration by the black population of Jena, neither at school or anyplace else, except for the family of the Jena Six and protesters from other cities.

�The speech given by Reed Walters that included the now infamous statement �I can end your life with the stroke of a pen� was not given to a group of black students. It was given during a speech to the entire student body in an assembly called by the school's principal to calm a community that was pulling their children out of school because there were two fights one day with racial overtones. Two girls, one white and one black fought. Another student was taken to the emergency room to receive stitches.

�Jena does have racial problems. Jena does have bigotry and prejudice, just like every other town in America, perhaps even worse than some. If there were no racial problems, there would have been no nooses hung from a tree. There would not be one white student beaten and six black students charged with attempted second-degree murder. The local ministers would not have hurriedly called a meeting to deal with the issue. The cameras of the world would not have focused their lenses on Jena.

�The national news media has not mentioned a single time that there was an FBI investigation into the hanging of the nooses and the conduct of Reed Walters that concluded there was no criminal activity or �hate crime� involved. The report is available to the media, along with court records and sworn testimony, none of which has been reported.

�There was no �fight� on December 4, 2006 at Jena High School, as the national media continues to characterize the event in question. Six students attacked a single student who was immediately knocked unconscious. According to sworn testimony, they stomped him, as he lay �lifeless� upon the ground.

�Justin Barker, the white student attacked, was not the first white student targeted by these black students. Others had been informed they were going to be beaten, but stayed away from school and out of sight until they felt safe.

�CNN reported that there were �obviously no witnesses to the fight.� In fact, over thirty eyewitnesses, students and teachers, were questioned immediately following the attack, all of who implicated one or more of the black students arrested in the case. In fact, some of the accused black students did not stop stomping Barker until they were pulled away from him by some of the teachers, according to testimony given in the trial of Mychal Bell.

�The media continues to make the point that Justin Barker �attended a party� later that evening, insinuating that his injuries were not very severe. The Barkers, by no means a wealthy family, face medical bills already over $12,000 from the emergency room visit. Imagine what an overnight visit would have cost. Justin Barker was advised to remain hospitalized but decided he would not let the event keep him from participating in the once-in-a-lifetime, traditional Ring Ceremony at First Baptist Church in Jena, where class rings are presented to the upcoming senior class.

�The fight on December 4 was unrelated to the noose incident, or any other incident that occurred earlier in Jena that week. The media keeps reporting otherwise. There are three different boys named �Justin� involved in three different events that the media have morphed into the �Justin� who was attacked on December 4:

A. A juvenile named Justin, whose name was not released to the media, was one of the boys who hung nooses from the trees in September.

B. Three months later, Justin Sloan, not a student at Jena High, fought with one of the black students, Robert Baily, at the fair barn when a couple of black students tried to enter a private party. The next evening, at �Gotta Go� store, Justin Sloan and Robert Baily confronted one another in the parking lot. There were two other black students with Baily. As they ran towards Sloan, Sloan rushed to his truck to get a shotgun, which the black boys wrestled from him and fled.

C. On December 4, six black students at Jena High School attacked Justin Barker, who is neither of the previously mentioned young men.

�It has been reported that the school has two standards of justice since white students who attacked a black student were not treated as the black students who attacked a white student. No group of white students attacked a black student at Jena High School. Fights that have occurred have always been handled equally. This was not a fight. This process was taken out of the hands of school officials when the ambulance was called to bring Justin Barker to the hospital for the attack. Both the appearance of the ambulance and Barker�s visit to the emergency room requires an investigation by law enforcement.

�National news organizations, which continue to call it a �fight,� suggest that there was no reason to involve the District Attorney�s office. If a young female student had been raped in a bathroom on campus, the school officials would do all the investigations required under their policy, but they would also report the crime to law enforcement. Criminals, adults or students, are not allowed to rape or assault students with impunity simply because it happened on a high school campus.

�The �Jena Six� have repeatedly been held up as heroes by much of the race-based community and called �innocent students� by the national media. Some of these students have reputations in Jena for intimidating and sometimes beating other students. They have vandalized and destroyed both school property and community property. Some of the Jena Six have been involved in crimes not only in LaSalle Parish but also in surrounding parishes. For the most part, coaches and other adults have prevented them from being held accountable for the reign of terror they have presided over in Jena. Despite intervention by adults wanting to give them chances due their athletic potential, most of the Jena Six have extensive juvenile records. Yet their parents keep insisting that their children have never been in trouble before. These boys did not receive prejudicial treatment but received preferential treatment until things got out of hand.

�The entire black community of Jena is not being heard in this controversy, just the parents, relatives, and close friends of the Jena Six. The black community of Jena has not been involved in the protests and demonstrations called by national race-based organizations. Some state and national race crusaders have chastised them for not �rising up� with the parents to force law enforcement to �free the Jena Six.� Many do agree that the charges seem wrong, but they also know the criminal history of the boys referred to as the �Jena Six.� It is their neighborhood these boys have terrorized. Not even all of the parents claim that these boys should be set free with no consequence for their actions. One of the parents was interviewed, saying that the boys should suffer the fair punishment for their actions. He suggested that simple battery would be an acceptable charge. With one exception, the local black pastors do not support the demonstrations. They have been openly criticized for their lack of cooperation with the national race crusaders. One of them counseled the �Jena Six� families to not stir controversy for controversy�s sake. The black pastor was openly condemned by a local radio personality sympathetic to the cause of the black parents. The rhetoric grew so intense that the black pastor was referred to as Reed Walter�s �house Negro� on the local radio talk show. The pastor is consistently accused on this show of working in cooperation with Reed Walters in a plot to undermine the �Jena Six.�

http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorI
D=17296&id=32967

Posted by Steve Sailer | September 21, 2007 12:58 AM

As an African American man, Mr. Jackson offends me on many different levels. Yes sir Mr. Jackson..I am sure you would have "been all over Jena". You are everywhere a camera is. You are an icon in your own mind. You have never been a part of a single piece of legislation in this country. You have never held an office. You are a "reverend" that has never had a church. It is sad that when an educated, humble, energetic, african american "difference maker" steps into the lime light..the "good Dr. Reverend" feels the need to express his inadequacies and jealousy in his 2007 version of "I have a dream". I shouldnt have to tell a "foremost expert on racial equality" this...but black is something you are, not something you "try to achieve". Stop kicking your leg out to "trip up" a man who has fought the same struggles that you claim to fight. Maybe if Mr. Obama got on a private helicopter to the Hugo Chavez compound for Mojitos...he would be "black enough"...?

Posted by Oscar | September 23, 2007 11:41 PM

Write the idiots!

Reverend Al Sharpton
Born: October 3, 1954

1941 MADISON AVE #2
NEW YORK, NY 10035
Utilities Connected Here In His Name
Phone I got for this address was disconnected

522 HANCOCK ST Apt F
BROOKLYN, NY 11233
[phone] (ACTIVE)
Utilities connected here in the name of Kathy Sharpton

1902 DITMAS AVE
BROOKLYN, NY 11226
Utilities Connected Here In His Name

3300 WALL BLVD #3E
GRETNA, LA 70056
his mother's house

Martin Luther King III
Born October 23, 1957

234 SUNSET AVNW
ATLANTA, GA 30314
[phone] (ACTIVE)

Posted by Orangalo | October 2, 2007 10:58 PM