My image is ruined. 
That really is a excellent point and said so much better than I could.
I really do think the hatred of Sharpton is out of proportion to his actions. I also think the sound bite media has a lot to do with this.
“He’s a complicated man
But no one understands him but his woman”
Isaac Hayes
You’re still stretching a bit, and while the Black Church deserved some of his ire, much of his protest was due to his belief that the store was exploiting people.
Additionally, this, which is hardly complimentary, points out that Roland Smith committed the crime after two months of the “rhetoric” spouted by Sharpton and others. I’m not saying that Sharpton left during the interim, but let’s not pretend there is a direct causal relationship. To even intimate that he responsible for people dying is desperate and despicable tactic.
So you can’t express unpopular opinions? I don’t think he was saying the Jews were keeping blacks down, as much as he was saying that they are exacerbating racial apartheid that contributed to Cato’s death. There’s a big difference there, and I would hope that you can appreciate the fact that many reasonable people view it that way.
If you’d like, but I agree it is hard to find reliable information.
What are you referring to in '99?
How is this damming evidence. They basically accuse him of being a traitor for working with a republican hatchet man to raise money. A charge he would have to answer himself, but certainly not something to hate him for. It’s especially funny to me because Stone worked for republicans who most people don’t hate nearly as much as Sharpton.
Why is this article damaging to Sharpton?
Yes, he cheated on his wife. Not admirable in the least, but hardly worthy of the level of scorn many feel for him. Even when you take into account all of the shit he’s done, he’s still pretty low on the scumbag totem pole.
I was stating that because many of the cites I’ve read state the opposite, and I wanted to save time by refuting the claims then. It was not meant as you took it, although I can see why you read it that way.
Bob Loblaw admits:
Funny thing is, I have respect for Farrakhan in a way I don’t have respect for Sharpton. Hell, I have respect for the Unabomber in a way I don’t have respect for Sharpton. I tend to assume Mr. F believes the stuff he tosses out (including the viciously hateful stuff) and that he really believes he is doing what needs doing in order to empower the folks he views as his people. Likewise for the murderous U.
Sharpton doesn’t believe a damn thing except that he is destined for greatness and other people exist only for his aggrandizement. He’s a parasite on American black political culture and drains its energy off so that far less of it advances the cause, in order that more of it can advance Al Sharpton. The man reminds me of Jerry Falwell, another of that ilk.
I have no use for him.
George Bush serves a valuable purpose too, SOMEONE needs to run the country, right? That does not mean that he automatically deserves respect for the way in which he does his thing.
Does somebody need to look out for injustice against blacks? Sure, but that doesn’t mean you need to whip up people into a frenzy, encouraging them to commit arson, murder, incite riots and general distrust of authority. I worry that thanks to his loud mouth, more reasonable and effective leaders don’t get a chance to be heard.
Damn, Bricker everytime I think I got your number, you pull shit like this.
An onion, man…an onion.
Parfait.
Because you know what else everybody likes? Parfaits.
Probably, but that really speaks to the stupidity of the American public. We can’t separate a man from the issue. That’s pathetic. Especially when you consider Rosa Parks was not the first to do what she did, nor was she the first to be picked to be the test case.
This is terrible sign about the level of discourse in this country. Even today, it remains true. Do you really think MLK would have been MLK if he’d been born 35 years later. Most would dismiss him as an agitator, and talk about his adultery and plagiary. His message would be dismissed because people wouldn’t bother to listen. It’s sad that we live in a culture where people are torn down for sport. Al Sharpton is far from perfect, but people forget that there are many people who’ve dedicated much energy to trying to discredit him, rather than his ideas.
Which your right, and can be justified. What cannot be defended, IMO, is accusing him of murder, and generally reducing him to a bomb thrower with no positive attributes. I challenge you to find 2 threads where his name comes up that someone doesn’t launch into an unsubstantiated attack on him. It’s embarrassing. My point this entire time is not to present him as a great man, just to say that the hate for him is completely irrational, and most likely motivated by deep seeded racism. Can someone hate him for non-racist reasons? Sure, but, in all likelihood, most of the information they based their opinion on is extremely biased (racist).
Dampish.
But hey, how about that George Bush, huh? Hell of a leader!
Bullshit! Prove it. Prove that Sharpton encouraged anyone to commit arson. Show me where he encouraged or suggested violence. This keeps getting repeated with no evidence to back it up. Having a protest is not encouraging people to commit murder.
Yeah, and the Son of Sam said he had advice, from a 2000-year-old dog. So?
That’s right. And a decision that let some cops go free was no excuse to riot. Yet it happened anyway.
Let’s not pretend that Sharpton had nothing to do with it.
It, of course, being Freddy’s Fashion Mart.
Here’s the Rev. Al’s et. als. take on Tawana Brawley. NOTE: This is very disturbing, but note that he offers not one cite to back anything up.
I’ve actually met Rev. Al Sharpton through my work. Kathy Jordan Sharpton, the Rev. Mrs. Al, is one of the nicest people I have ever met.
Bob Loblaw, I’ll keep this short. I am white. I was born in England, but grew up in America. I’ve served on my Diocesan Commission on Racism, nearly lost a job because I objected too strongly to a coworker’s racist remarks, and acknowledge the existence of exactly *one * race – human. A few years ago, when a bunch of white supremacists thought it would be amusing to try to take over this board, I was on the front lines fighting them. They lost. The town I grew up in didn’t have a black family in it until I was a teenager, but I grew up fighting prejudice all the same because my best friend had handicaps and I was an immigrant.
Nevertheless, I do dislike Mr. Sharpton because of the racist remarks he has made against Jews and his actions in the Tawana Bradley case. I do not stand for racism in any form, and I’ll continue to fight it as I have been for most of my life.
When I first read your allegation that I must be a racist because of my dislike of Mr. Sharpton, I took offense. Now, I will simply say that if you continue to choose to believe that, despite my credentials, so be it. It says far more of you than it does of me.
With exactly as much respect as you deserve,
CJ
Why is this Bob poster calling everyone here a racist when they aren’t? Is this some sort of joke?
Oh yes. I forgot to mention. One of my personal heroes is a man named “Absalom Jones.” I suggest you look him up. He’s a hell of a lot better role model than Mr. Sharpton in my opinion.
CJ
You’re right, it’s all a coincidence that protests he lead wound up with people on the other side being killed.
Leaders take responsibility for the actions of the people they lead. If he’s just one loudmouth in the crowd, we wouldn’t be talking about him. He styles himself a leader in the community, he can fucking well take responsibility when protests he leads get out of hand.
What are you referencing here?
Let’s also not pretend that he’s responsible. Is Colin Powell responsible for the dead in Iraq? Is the Saudi Royal family responsible for 9-11? Is the LAPD responsible for the King riots? Is our consumer culture responsible for all the people killed by the Unabomber? Are video games responsible for crimes committed by people who play them? Is McDonald’s responsible for people getting fat?
Crazy people don’t typically need provocation. So what if someone can be loosely connected to a tragedy, it doesn’t make them responsible, and connecting them is an intimation of responsibility. It’s wrong, factually and morally.
Back in those days, that sort of thing was generally ruled an accident. Same with Laura Bush who drunkenly killed her boyfriend in an intersection collision in the early 70s. Even assuming that Sharpton was responsible for the deaths in these incidents, which even the conservative web pages stay far short of saying, the difference is that after mocking Ted Kennedy or Laura Bush, people don’t cut off what they have to say. People cut off what Sharpton (and Jackson) have to say entirely. Look at all the posts above of “I won’t listen to him at all” and they do the same thing on the various news shows.
Last week Trent Lott, R(acist) Miss got a lot of time to pontificate about judicial appointments on TV. You may remember his previous encounter at Strom Thurmond’s birthday party when he wished that Thurmond had won in 48 so we wouldn’t have these problems. Thurmond’s candidacy was racist and segregationist as their only issues. He got a beating, but now, he’s back blathering. So he said last week: President Bush should pick the best man, woman or minority, as though minorities were not men or women. No pit thread here. Trent Lott will still get his say without being cut off. The reaction to him will continue to be mild to annoyed. But not Sharpton or Jackson. The reaction will be as seen in this thread. Because Sharpton and Jackson’s opponents are racist to their bones.