Ooooo ... wehavebeenwaitingonthisoneforfreakinEVER ...
Dear Mister Jesse Jackson:
With all due respect, and we mean it, we knew you would sooner or later attack Barack Obama like this. "Acting white?" You couldn't resist, could you? As much as we give you major props for your role in civil rights and sincerely honor your contributions to improving things, you are lost in the past, my man.
Mr. Obama, also a black person like yourself, has wisely decided not to climb about the race, class and oppression train. If he's not bro-enough for you, sorry, but he seems good enough -- or is it black enough? -- for Oprah and doggonit, that's enough for many here in 2007.
Just because he isn't rolling the classic urban agenda like you had hoped doesn't mean that he doesn't have minority interests -- and those of many others, at heart.
It would seem clear that there are many thoughtful minority people in this world who, despite many very real challenges and hurdles to clear, are sticking to a program of personal responsibility, and they are talented enough, well-educated enough and thoughtful enough to be seen as individuals, rather than have someone like yourself rabble-rousing a collective agenda that has no relationship to their own.
Rather than ride the old rhetoric, which has lost its sting over a host of issues, including yours, Mr. Obama seems to us like he's speaking to the here and now. And he doesn't have to rhyme to get his point across, either.
Shame on you for what you said. We wonder if you didn't smack Mr. Obama publicly because you are jealous of his political success. We're just sayin ... don't be such a hater, sir. Cause you aren't keeping hope alive. You seem now to be trying to kill it.
Your pal,
Miss Andrea
-- Andrea Billups, The Washington Times
Comments (5)
Why are Jackson and Sharpton never called on the carpet for comments like these? The double standard is becoming laughable.
Posted by Chad | September 19, 2007 5:50 PM
Andrea just called Jackson on the carpet.
So has other writers.
Jackson says he didn't say "acting white."
Posted by Mr. Unite Us | September 19, 2007 7:24 PM
Jesse has a lot of nerve. No one accused him of acting white or selling out when, as a presidential candidate, he succumbed to media pressure and denounced Farrakhan. Readers, forget your feelings about Farrakhan and consider this: One cannot get any "blacker" if they align themselves with the Nation of Islam. Such an alignment endows one with a degree of racial credibility that is nearly iron clad. Now, roughly 25 years later, Jesse has the audacity to question someone elses race authencity when he, in the eyes of many black folks, committed a sell out move that is second only to anything done by Clarence Pedleton. This is not hyperbole. Jesse's "sell out" has been recorded in the annals of popular black culture. There is an old "Living Color" skit in which Homey the Clown (played by Damon Wayans) seeks to find the best way to sell out in order to have a face to face meeting with "the man". After several unsuccessful attemptes, Homey is successful after he, like Jesse, denounces Farrakhan.
Welcome to the corruption of the civil rights establishment.
Posted by Al From Bay Shore | September 20, 2007 5:57 AM
Not only are Jesse and Al lost the the swamp of the past, they are lost in the swamp of 'black racism'. They fail to recognize the value of individuals, the advantages of self responsibility, the pride of personal success, or the benefits of assisting their own brothers and sisters. What a shame for their talents to be such a waste.
Posted by Jim | September 20, 2007 9:41 AM
Check out this site (ActingWhite.com) for a different take on what Jesse might be up to.
/JC
Posted by James C. Collier | September 21, 2007 2:19 PM