Posted by
Pastor Ray on Friday, July 11, 2008 12:00:00 AM
Jesse (the Good Reverend Jackson) has done it again. This time he made an off color, crude remark about Sen. Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic nominee for President of the United States. In the past, Rev. Jackson has been “caught” making derogatory statements about Jews, with his “hymie-town” comments. The question I ask this time is “what was Rev. Jackson thinking?” I know that he quickly apologized for his desire to rid Sen. Obama of some of his body parts, but one cannot help but wonder where the Rev.’s mind was when his mouth went in motion.
In my opinion, Sen. Obama represents what Jackson cannot stand, that is someone who has captured the affection of Democrats, both white and black. Rev. Jackson especially seems to be put off by a candidate from his home base of operation (Chicago) who did not ask for, nor apparently needed his blessing to become a player in the national Democratic Party, and the eventual presidential nominee. In addition, Rev. Jackson appears upset that blacks would gravitate to someone who in Jackson’s estimation has not “paid his dues” in the so-called fight for Civil Rights of which Rev. Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton consider themselves to be the unelected leaders.
In the world according to Jesse, in order to get any “play” with the people one must have the “street cred” and “battle wounds” of the “Movement”. Sen. Obama does not fit this profile, in fact at the outset of Obama’s campaign; many believed he was not “black enough” to have his message resonate with black voters. (Boy, were they wrong!) Rev. Jackson in a moment of weakness could not hide the perceive insult from Sen. Obama, which directly cut into Rev. Jackson’s honey pot. That is keeping black folks victims of a racist white power structure. In Jackson’s mind, how dare Obama suggest that black men be responsible for the children they sire! Doesn’t Sen. Obama know that black fathers who fail to rear their offspring are just reacting to another case of “the man keeping us down?” In this crisis of foot in mouth lies the real Rev. Jackson, a man who desires to parlay a message of victimization while enriching himself as the guru of all things racist in America.
Although I remain very leery of Sen. Obama and his liberal policies that ultimately could keep blacks dependent on the government for like forever, I must agree with his sudden stance on personal responsibility and the effectiveness of faith-based organizations in addressing social ills, especially in urban areas. One would think that the “good Rev.” would be “down” with this since he runs a non-profit known as Operation PUSH. The problem for Rev. Jackson is that faith-based initiatives with government funding stand the chance of undermining his efforts to be the big fish in a small pond. With government financing, other organizations that are actually addressing community ills would be financially viable to compete for private corporate dollars, which currently fuel Jackson’s Operation PUSH. This competition is not welcome in all things Jacksonian.
Though it is difficult to witness the decline in significance of a man who has accomplished some good in the effort to balance the American psyche as it relates to race, I am buoyed by the fact that the argument for responsibility among my fellow black Americans is thrust to the forefront of this presidential campaign. Imagine if John McCain had said anything about responsibility among blacks. He would have been vilified and castigated into political oblivion by the media. Even though it was Senator Obama who raised this issue in his Father’s Day address, the issue was first thrust to the spotlight by Bill Cosby several years prior. I wonder where Dr. Eric Michael Dyson, who blasted Cosby for his comments about black responsibility, is on Obama’s remarks about the same subject. Does Dyson, like the Rev. Jackson, believe that to talk about black responsibility is “talking down to blacks”? Dyson is an Obama supporter and has been for some time. The fact is it has been and still is now time for a debate about responsibility in the black community among those who really care and are not using this opportunity for self-advancement.