Not quite sure if this is the right forum, it’s not quite a rant, probably not a great debate, doesn’t involve elections, move if it you wish.
Now I know it’s arguable that Sharpton is no longer the spokesman for the Negro in the US, that probably falls to several people including Obama, Lebron james and Jay Z, but for a time Sharpton was THE go too guy whenever an outrage had been committed against the Negro, even after the whole Tawana Brawley bullshit lie was exposed.
So how and more importantly why did that happen? How did he push Jesse Jackson out of that role and why didn’t Jesse fight harder or at all against him?
And the idea of black Americans having a “spokesman” is either ridiculous or racist. (Or both, of course.)
If the notion is that black people all have essentially the same set of views that one or a few prominent black individuals can speak for, that’s ridiculous (not to mention kind of racist). If the notion is that only one or a few prominent black individuals should be entitled to a position of public influence where white people pay attention to them and know who they are, that’s racist (not to mention fairly ridiculous).
I wasn’t sure about the thread on Helen Keller’s virginity, but figured it might fit within our zany, whacky know-it-all culture.
This is OP is tilting the scales against you, I must say. What else you got? Anything on moon landings? Pyramids? If you want to go straight to the deep end, you could start extolling the many virtues of Trump. We love talking about those.
Okay, other people have already covered the problems with the OP. So I’ll address the question.
There is no official position of spokesman for Black America. All it requires is a person’s willingness to put himself forward for the position by being willing to make a public statement anytime the media is reporting on a topic that involves black people.
Jackson is 76 years old. He seems to have lost interest in being a public figure and is fading into retirement. He’ll still attend events but he appears to no longer be available on call.
Sharpton seems to be willing to say something whenever anyone points a camera at him.
Obama is a former President. He’s going to uphold the dignity of the office by not spouting off on any topic. And as a former President, he’s bigger than just a black leader; he represents the entire country.
Lebron James, Jay Z, Dave Chapelle, Kanye West, Colin Kaepernick, and Spike Lee are all entertainment figures. They may be famous but they lack the gravitas to be seen as spokesman.
