# The Reverend Jackson **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 14, 2000, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507 "2000-12-14T07:56:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grain\_farmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e19b73/32.png) [@grain\_farmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grain_farmer)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/1 "2000-12-14T07:56:05Z")
Is this individual for real? I have watched him for quite a bit of his life as we are close to the same age. The only real difference is I’ve always worked for a living. His speeches today were completely off the wall. Is this gentleman so consumed with hate that he is no longer capable of rational thought? What purpose does he have for making the statements he made? His retoric doesn’t sound like what a man of the cloth would say. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Alpha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/2 "2000-12-14T10:06:14Z")
Are we talking Jesse Jackson, speaking in Florida this week about whether Blacks were given equal voting opportunities? ---
**Author:** ![beergeek279](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@beergeek279](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beergeek279)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/3 "2000-12-14T10:19:06Z")
I remember I saw a speech that Jesse Jackson gave in 1969 (later on, of course…I’m only 21!) where he was preaching self-reliance and love for one’s self…basically the “free your mind, your ass will follow” doctrine. Perhaps he may have been a liberal, but liberalism was different in the late 60’s than it is now. I would have called him a great man after hearing a speech of that nature. It’s a real shame for a man with that much potential to disintegrate into what we see today ☹ But today, the Reverend (which almost seems like a joke sometimes) Jesse Jackson has become a 2nd rate sideshow, performing whenever a camera turns on him. I have no idea why…perhaps that sense of controversy keeps him in the public eye? ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/4 "2000-12-14T14:17:19Z")
I think Jesse Jackson saw Al Sharpton hogging the low road and figured there was more publicity on that route. So, now it is a race to the bottom. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Ptahlis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a8b319/32.png) [@Ptahlis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ptahlis)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/5 "2000-12-14T15:00:14Z")
I land on the left side of center more often than not, but I _loathe_ Jesse Jackson. He is nothing more than a race-baiting media whore. When he shows up to spew his rhetoric forth on an issue it makes me ashamed that he is nominally on my side of the political spectrum. He so often makes much of nothing, and tries to create issues from thin air. They say “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” but when Jesse is involved it’s, “Where there’s smoke, there’s mirrors.” ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/6 "2000-12-14T15:11:12Z")
The other day, Jesse said this about George W. Bush. “We will harass him, we will delegitemize him, but the one thing we will never do is accept him.” I mean, come on!! I know, your mad about W. winning the election but what possible purpose could this serve? The truth is that Jackson does not represent most African American’s in America. As a matter a fact, many find him to be embarassing. Jesse has over 4 million dollars he’s earned in his life. This man represents the average black man??? ---
**Author:** ![JoeyBlades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a87d85/32.png) [@JoeyBlades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeyBlades)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/7 "2000-12-14T15:35:26Z")
Not that I agree with or support Jesse Jackson, but I can see some validity in his arguments… plus, having a certified redneck in the oval office probably makes him a bit nervous, to boot! ---
**Author:** ![jeel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71e660/32.png) [@jeel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeel)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/8 "2000-12-14T15:58:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JoeyBlades \* > \*\*Not that I agree with or support Jesse Jackson, but I can see some validity in his arguments… plus, having a certified redneck in the oval office probably makes him a bit nervous, to boot! \*\* Where do you get off calling Clinton a certified redneck??? ---
**Author:** ![jeel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71e660/32.png) [@jeel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeel)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/9 "2000-12-14T16:01:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ptahlis \* > \*\* He so often makes much of nothing, and tries to create issues from thin air. They say “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” but when Jesse is involved it’s, “Where there’s smoke, there’s mirrors.” \*\* That’s exactly my sentiment about him. I have to say that every time I see Jesse Jackson creating the race issue out of thin air, I think about Johnny Cochran during the OJ trial! ---
**Author:** ![tradesilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tradesilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tradesilicon)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/10 "2000-12-14T16:15:02Z")
Jeel, that was my thinking exactly!! You don’t get any red-necker than Billy Boy, not that there’s anything wrong with red necks! ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/11 "2000-12-14T16:56:29Z")
The thing you have to understand about Jackson is how he makes a living. I would like to repost a post that I submitted to a previous thread about this. > [@](#): > > 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 I’ve read recently that there is tension developing between Jackson and Sharpeton, due to Sharpeton’s attempts to move into the same field. (Sharpeton has an edge, in that Jackson is on the payroll of so many large corporations that many blacks feel that he can no longer be an effective advocate on their behalf). ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/12 "2000-12-14T17:03:44Z")
Here’s the article, in [The New Republic](http://www.tnr.com/120400/kintisch120400.html) ---
**Author:** ![egkelly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/db5fbb/32.png) [@egkelly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/egkelly)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/13 "2000-12-14T17:40:55Z")
Does anybody know if the “reverend” Al Sharpton ever paid a dime toward the judgements in the “Tawana Brawley” case (New York, 1980s?). If this bum has stiffed then plaintiffs, he should be in jail! ---
**Author:** ![keno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f9ae1b/32.png) [@keno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keno)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/14 "2000-12-14T21:05:49Z")
Al Sharpton has not paid anything to the former DA We haven’t put people in jail for not paying civil damages since we did away with debtors prisons ---
**Author:** ![JoeyBlades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a87d85/32.png) [@JoeyBlades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeyBlades)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/15 "2000-12-14T21:50:48Z")
Don’t confuse “country hick” with “redneck”. Clinton is no redneck, at least not by the redneck standards we set here in Texas… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/16 "2000-12-15T05:37:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ptahlis \* > \*\*I land on the left side of center more often than not, but I _loathe_ Jesse Jackson. He is nothing more than a race-baiting media whore. When he shows up to spew his rhetoric forth on an issue it makes me ashamed that he is nominally on my side of the political spectrum. He so often makes much of nothing, and tries to create issues from thin air. They say “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” but when Jesse is involved it’s, “Where there’s smoke, there’s mirrors.” \*\* May I just say, Ptahlis, that this sums up my feelings about Jesse Jackson perfectly? Does he get off sexually on making an ass out of himself? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/17 "2000-12-15T18:07:23Z")
What’s the most dangerous place in the world? Between Jesse Jackson and a camera. He’s another race-baiter, just like Sharpton, Farrakhan, Khaled Muhammed, and George Lincoln Rockwell. As overt racism is in the decline in the US, Jesse has moved into the business of manufacturing it. Now the apparent fact that Democrats are too dumb to work a voting machine is evidence of white racism. Ho hum. What else is on? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Barkhorn1x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barkhorn1x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkhorn1x)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/18 "2000-12-15T18:58:37Z")
It amazed me to see the Rev. Jackson hugging and mugging w/ his new found Jewish friends here in Florida soon after the Election Debacle. Has everyone forgotten about the “Hymietown” (sp?) slur and how Jackson went off on the black reporter who wrote the story, not because it wasn’t true, but because he did not appreciate a fellow black airing dirty laundry in public? Jackson, seeing bigotry everywhere and his hand out to white America, is symptomatic of a Civil Rights era mindset that sees all issues through the prism of racism. This mind set all but ensures that; a. The Democratic party continues to “take blacks for granted”, and ignores their issues b. The Republicans will continue to ignore their issues Jackson, Sharpton, Spike Lee and Maxine Waters (black racists all) just don’t see that they are in a political “box”. They end up talking to themselves, and what they are saying has little impact on the rest of us. Regards, Barkhorn ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/19 "2000-12-15T19:25:48Z")
Whatever your opinion of Jackson may be (mine isn’t very high) you have to admit that there is a need for someone to carry the banner of outrage over the shoddy election process now in place in Florida (and much of the rest of the nation.) The fact that four or five times more votes were voided in urban and high minority counties than in those in the rest of the state is certainly a civil rights concern. Just because our legal system has resolved the last election does not mean the problem has gone away. Someone has to keep harping on the issue or the public will forget and do nothing to rectify a major obstacle to fair and accurate elections. Don’t supose that just because Jackson has made big stinks about problems that may not even exist at other times, that this current crusade is an unworthy one. I, for one, am pleased to see Jeb Bush also taking up the cause, but he is no more trusted by Black Floridians than Jackson is by Whites. Here you have two men on opposite sides of the political table striving for the same thing yet there isn’t a chance in hell that they or their folowers will ever agree to join forces in the effort. Sad. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507/20 "2000-12-15T19:50:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Elmer J. Fudd \* > **The fact that four or five times more votes were voided in urban and high minority counties than in those in the rest of the state is certainly a civil rights concern. Just because our legal system has resolved the last election does not mean the problem has gone away. Someone has to keep harping on the issue or the public will forget and do nothing to rectify a major obstacle to fair and accurate elections.** The public has a very short memory when it comes to this, then. This very problem has been around our system for ages. (Clinton was elected without a majority, and you can go back to Harrison in 1888 for the same thing.) Now, that first sentence bothers me. So what if 80% of the votes were concentrated in urban/high minority areas? Could it have been because the ballots were not punched correctly, rather than over racism? I mean, Jackson and Sharpton both get their kicks off of situations like this, where they can exploit and twist what is a concern into “evidence” of overt, state controlled racism. They will twist and bend and misquote until they have people jumping to their tune. It’s how he maintains his profile so he can continue to blackmail American Corporations into making those big buck donations to his Operation PUSH. (See IzzyR’s article he linked to, it’s very informative.) I would have supported a state wide recount, if there would have been a solid set of guidelines in place before hand. There wasn’t such guidelines, and Gore was more interested in recounting areas in which he had the strongest chance. Not very fair to those miscast ballots in, say, small town, Fl, is it? Jackson is a racebaiter, and does so for monetary gain, rather than a sense of justice or duty. His legacy will be one of hate and mistrust, and you don’t have look to far to see that legacy already in place. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reverend-jackson/45507.md?page=2)