He did say something in a speech once that I really liked. I can’t remember the exact wording, but it was something like ‘the saddest thing in the world to me is when I am walking the street alone at night and am frightened to hear footsteps behind me, only to feel relief when I turn and see white faces’. That admission of a serious problem with the black community and showing how it effects EVERYONE’S perception of his race makes up for a bit of showboating…
TMI post coming up…
avert your eyes…
you have been warned…
Once, several years ago :shudder: I was hugged by Jesse Jackson. Couldn’t do anything about it. I really didn’t want to be hugged by him, but I couldn’t look like a dick. So I allowed him to place his arms around me. … Now you now my terrible secret.
He seems to be doing more to worsen race relations in this country than to help them. In general, white people are not racist, but Jackson seems to try to weave isolated incidents into a tapestry of institutionalized racism pervading every aspect of society. In order to address racism, the first thing to do is to be truthful about where it exists. Exaggerations in either direction serve no one.
Plus, he’s been known to hug known Communists. 
JJ perpetuates “cry-baby-ism”.
We need another MLK.
When I want to make a point about something that is developing and appears to be a ridiculous situation, I usually proclaim: You know you’ve formed the right opinion when Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson show up and make a mockery of what ever is going on.
Nothing confirms the confidence in the opinions I form like knowing that JJ and Al Sharpton disagree. Beats an IQ test.
I’ll bet you liked it…
Thanks for the responses. I do like the fact that he emphasises working and staying off drugs. That is a positive. He should focus more on that.
I kinda don’t like him either. It seems like he tries to elevate racism instead of calming it like MLK did. And he does seem to showboat alot.
(JJ speaking:)
Saddam Hussein, you have gone from the desert tent
to high rent.
Now pawzun gas you wield
against Desert Shield.
But the many nations
favor negotiations.
And Ku-wait
cain’t wait.
So what’s your plan
in the desert san’?
(Saddam, turning his head to an aide, hand against mouth)
“Can you tell me what he just said?”
All joking aside, JJ is a bit of an enigma. I remember one time his making a point (in a doubly-rare moment of non-rhyming lucidity) to a high school class (7 or 8 years ago) he was speaking to that “Today’s problems are not a man in a hood, but a hood in the 'hood.” (In reference to crack dealers) His whole speech was really thoughtful–in direct contrast to the clownish buffoon that we all know and love.
I wondered the same thing back in August – Does anyone think that Jesse Jackson does a good job?
It’s good to have a person who is willing to talk about race relations and even say some controversial things. He has managed to make a lot of people understand racial issues better and has been good at encouraging minorities to take some responsibility to get an education, fight for their communities, etc.
Unfortunately, Jesse Jackson sometimes goes overboard. One of his most recent screw-ups was the case of Raynard Johnson in Mississippi. This was the case where a the guy hung himself in his front yard. Three autopsies were done, including one by a person hired by the family, and all three concluded that it was a suicide. The family refused to accept that it was a suicide and claimed that he was murdered because a white girl liked him. In addition to rejecting the autopsy findings, the family claimed the belt he used to hang himself wasn’t his. Because of Jackson’s invlovement, the FBI went to investigate and found that it was Raynard Johnson’s belt, and it was a clear suicide. Thre really was nothing to indicate murder, but Jesse Jackson jumped in and made it an issue, and he should have known better.
I guess this is a long way of saying that JJ does some good, but he can be foolish. But the other option is to have Al Sharpton as self-appointed spokesman. JJ might make bad decisions, but Sharpton deliberately lies (e.g., Tawana Brawley.)