Does anyone think that Jesse Jackson does a good job?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I debated about whether this should be posted in the pit, or here in IMHO. But here it is, and I ask that if you want to get rude about it, go start you own pit thread.
When I was in high school and college, I used to look up to ol’ JJ. And I think that in his heart, he means well, and on an ideological basis, I don’t agree with him. But it seems like he associates himself with the stupidest cases, and I think his image is seriously tarnished.

The only one that comes to mind is the case where those students started a riot at the HS football game about a year ago. They were to be suspended, and (IIRC) he got involved on the basis that it was a racial issue. He wound up looking very, very bad, IMO, and it certainly wasn’t the first time I thought that.

My question is this: Is there anyone here who thinks that he has made good decisions on what crusades to get involved with? (I guess I’m speaking in the last 5 years…I don’t know his history all that well, but I think he actually was a respectable figure in his early days.)

2

Sorry, the above portion

“and on an ideological basis, I don’t agree with him”

should read:

“and on an ideological basis, I don’t disagree with him”

3

Jesse has a lucrative business/career going as a civil rights leader/consultant. He needs to keep his profile up in order to be successful. Sometimes its hard to get enough good causes (in particular, many are preempted by other activists). He takes what he gets.

4

Jesse, Jesse, Jesse…

How far have we fallen?

A long long ways since his days as a leader in the Greensboro sit in.

I personally think that he is struggling with the fact that the Civil Rights Movements seems to have peaked when he was a young man.

He has done well for himself considering he was recruited to be a part of the Greensboro sit-in because he was the college football star and would have some drawing power to other students.

It was suggested to me once(not by a reputable source) that Jesse was in fact the man behind the assassination of MLK. Enough to make you think but hardly seems plausible.

The whole Green Bay Packers needing to explain themselves to him for firing Ray Rhodes after 1 year was a tad distasteful too!

5

Jesse Jackson is doing a very good job if you ask me. A good job at making sure the races will never be equal. If they are, then Jesse will have nothing to do anymore. That is why he is always turning things into black Vs. white issues.

6

Personally, I think he’s another Howard Stern type: An Attention Junkie.

From what I heard, he made sure he was RIGHT THERE near MLK when the assasination took place…wouldn’t surprise me…

7

Jessie Jackson is, IMHO, doing more to damage the Black People’s image than he is good. It is obvious as heck how he rushes off anywhere a Black child or person is in public distress or trouble, loudly proclaiming racism but he will drive right on by any White person in the same situation.

It is also obvious as heck that when he went to negotiate some prisoner releases that he was being used as a deliberate pawn by the dictator dejour to attempt to create some racial strife/rift among the American people. Jessie was aware of this and encouraged it to promote his ‘power’ among Black people.

8

I was a student at the University of Texas in 1997 when one of our law school professors made some VERY questionable remarks about black students during a forum sponsored by some college Republicans. IIRC, he basically said that black and Hispanic students don’t do well in school because they come from cultures where failure isn’t condemned.

Wait, I found the quotes:

“Blacks and Mexican- Americans are not academically competitive with whites in selective institutions,” he mused at a 1997 press conference in Austin. “It is the result primarily of cultural effects,” he concluded.

Anyway, this caused a minor uproar at UT. There were calls for this professor’s firing at best and tarring and feathering at worst. Even Clinton’s press secretary ripped the guy. After a few months of all this, we hear that Jesse Jackson is coming to campus.

Even though I am a fan of Jackson’s at times, I was skeptical of his appearance because he’s obviously well-known for showing up at trouble spots.

But believe it or not, his appearance did wonders to calm the situation. Yes, he called the prof’s remarks a “racist, fascist, offensive speech,” but that was tame compared to what had been said before.

I just remember at the end of the speech, Jackson told the crowd that they basically needed to get over it and get on with things and fight for campus diversity if that’s what they believed in.

Then he said, “It’s healing time,” and a few weeks later, the controversy was all-but gone.

So, that’s my Jackson story. And yeah, I think he did a pretty good job.

9

I may get flamed for this, but I have a hard time seeing how what that professor said is racist or fascist. (Anything can be offensive to somebody, so it definitely could be that.) I even went and looked up the definition of these words.

racist- a person who feels hatred, rivalry, or predjudice accompanying difference of race; belief in the inherent superiority of some races over others…

fascist-a person who believes in or advocates a system of government characterized by dictatorship, belligerent nationalism, racism, and militarism.

Maybe there’s more to what the guy said that makes it look a lot worse. But just based on what was posted, I can’t understand the uproar. Is it because he over-generalized and implied that all Blacks and Hispanics everywhere have a “loser” culture? That’s certainly offensive, but it’s neither racist nor fascist, because he’s talking about their culture, not their race. I believe the term for this is ethnocentricity.
Besides, depending on how he phrased his argument, he might have had a point. For example, I know many Latin cultures value family very highly. People moving across the country to get a job and leaving their families behind for good are a lot less common down there. The nuclear family is very strong. This is not necessarily conducive to “American-style” success. I’m not making a value judgement on this (in fact, in some ways I think we Americans should emulate that example). But it seems that this professor thought that the “American” way of measuring success was the only way. Again, ethnocentrism, not racism or fascism.

I’m afraid this doesn’t help my opinion of Jesse Jackson any, which was already low for the same reasons others have mentioned.

10

The Texas law professor is Lino Graglia. While GRaglia can be hard-headed and even a little obnoxious, I didn’t consider his remarks racist. Indeed, when Graglia said that some ethnic groups do not put high value on education, he most pointedly included his own ethnic group: Italians.

He has pointed out repeatedly that, in the New York neighborhood where he grew up, virtually all the Jewish kids went to college, and virtually none of the Sicilian kids did. Is this because Jews are genetically smarter than Italians? Of course not. Is it because Jewish immigrants were richer or better educated than Siciilian immigrants? No.

Why the discrepancy, then? Because a Jewish tailor and an Sicilian tailor who got off the same boat at Ellis Island had very different values. The Jewish tailor told his children, “I’m a tailor, but YOU kids are going to study and do BETTER than I did. You’re going to be doctors and lawyers and scholars.” The Sicilian told his kids, explicitly or tacitly, “School is a waste of time- you go to school as long as the law says you have to, but as soon as you’re old enough, you drop out and come to work in the tailor shop with me.”

Was this Sicilian father lazy? Hardly- he worked VERY hard in his shop. Was he unambitious? Not at all, or he’d have stayed in Sicily. Did he not love his kids, and want good things for them? Of course he did! But his ambitions did NOT include his kids rising ABOVE him, economically or socially.

Does ANYONE doubt that Jewish emphasize academics more than Italian parents? Does anyone doubt that CHinese parents push their kids to study harder than black parents?

It wasn’t Lino GRaglia but Chris Rock who fumed, "If you came back to my neighborhood after four years in prison, you’re the MAN! Guys respect you. But if you come back after 4 years in college, people are like, ‘You pussy! Get away from me with that reading Sh–’ "

Both Graglia and Rock know that learning and education are NOT respected or valued in every neighborhood and every culture.

11

Hmmmm, what is his job?

12

On one level I like Jesse, on another…I have nothing but distaste. He is an attention junky. He Does get involved in some bad cases and blows them out of proportion so the media will pick it up all over the U.S.

I think sometimes he does make comments and take stances that do almost assure that certain people will hold grudges and not be on a level playing field.

Other times, he makes statements that leave me and quite a few people I know baffled(the Ray Rhodes incident comes to mind).

That having been said, I know Jesse’s a good guy, and I think he’s doing what he thinks is right and good for Black americans, although that’s not always the case.

Just 2 cents…

-Sam

13

I read the same study in my Intro to Soc. course last semester about Jewish and Italian immigrants and their culture and views on education.

Personally, that’s probably what said professor meant. I mean, he’s basically saying is what I’ve heard sometimes: to study and to go to school is to “act white.” I’m not saying EVERYONE is like that, but those who are make me sad, because, well, I used to be an education major.

I will say, yes, Jackson does due some good. However, his problem is that he’s too in love with himself and his public image. He’s too “out there” and “In your face”, if you know what I mean. Always out for attention.

14

ultress

I referenced this earlier, but I’ll elaborate.

From what I’ve read, he’s a consultant/extortionist.

The way it works is this: he gets word that there are some disgruntled minority workers in Corporation X. Or maybe they contact him directly. In any event, Operation PUSH contacts the corporation and demands to review their hiring/promotion/salary practices. If the corporation agrees, Operation PUSH finds discrimination. If they don’t go along, procede directly to the next step. Make a ruckus. Demonstrate outside the companies corporate headquarters or visible locations. Buy shares in the company and show up at the annual stockholders meeting. Hold press conferences. Threaten or institute class action lawsuits. Boycott their products or services.

No major corporation can hold out too long against this onslaught of bad publicity. Eventually they all come around. And what coming around involves is the institution of a minority recruitment/promotion/anti-discrimination drive. And this drive is to be coordinated and monitored by those experts in the field - Operation PUSH. And Operation PUSH is to receive consulting fees for this undertaking. And Jesse Jackson, the head of Operation PUSH, is able to receive a hefty salary for his job.

All this requires that Jesse maintain a high profile. It is for this that he needs a constant stream of publicity-generating events.

15

Somebody has to fight the hard fights. Throughout his long career, Jesse has done that. While he may have chosen the wrong fights sometimes (Decatur, Illinois), he has been right so many times and has done so much good for everybody that I think we can cut him a little slack.

Jesse, I salute you. As the Chicago Sun-Times had as their main headline on teh day he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom:

“It’s About Time”

16

I think he’s a attention-whore, who’ll do anything for some airtime. I think he’s still claiming that Johnson kid down in Kokomo, MS was murdered, even in the face of 3 seperate Autopsies. He won’t let go, even when the facts are staring him in the face.

People like him give civil rights a bad name.

17

The “Reverend” Dr. Jackson is VERY good at what he does:
-shaking down major corporations and the New York Stock exchange-he has a pretty good racket going that the Mafia would envy!
He is also an accomplished racist-remember his famous “hymietown” quote about NYC? How he maintains himself among the jewish liberals is a mystery to me.
I can see some real problems for the Democrats, if Lieberman has to serve with a cabinet in cluding jackson!