Jesse Jackson and MLK Nephew Comments

I think they reflect different and related facets of a greater, many-faceted dialogue.

I agree 110% with Farris. Now we'll all see in the near future if we did the right thing. Such an important decision should never be based on skin color, gender, etc, but only on qualifications.

I really don't see the big deal about people voting for Obama because he is black. Of course that shouldn't be the only reason but there isn't there just a teensy part of you that would be excited that you could finally for once in this country's history vote for an intelligent capable man for president that is the same color as you? Imagine if the tables were reversed and whites had been inslaved and discriminated against throughout the history of this country. And then the first white man had a chance of winning. And guess what he was a pretty great guy! There would be a little part of me that would have some satisifcation in voting for him with one factor being that he is the same color as me.With that being said I think all these men were speaking from their own life experiences and I can't say anything negative about that!

Jesse Jackson ran for office twice in the 1984 and 1988. I just don't think anyone took him seriously enough to accept him as a viable cadidate. I also think there is a lot of controversy with Jackson. I'f I'm not mistaken, Sharpton ran as well. Not sure. Alan Keyes ran for President in 1996. He's conservative, which obviously puts him at political odds within the African-American community. It speaks volumes that an African-American (biracial) man has been elected to the highest office in the land, regardless of my disagreement with the him.

Ugh. Sorry...cannot STAND Jesse Jackson! I have nothing to redeem myself for and it's that kind of stuff he spews that just hacks me off. I didn't vote for Obama to redeem myself or anyone else for that matter. I voted for him because he best represents the direction I hope this country will go in. And no...I don't think they are saying the same thing because in my opinion, Jesse Jackson doesn't hold the same values or desires to have a true one nation working together.

Crick you just told who you voted for!!!!! haha :clap:

One of several essential executive leadership qualities is the ability to develop coalitions. Neither Jackson nor Sharpton have a clue about the need to embrace this quality. Obama, on the other hand, is a master at building coalitions. How else could he have won the election so decisively?Happy G'Ma

:woohoo: Couldn't keep it under wraps "officially" forever now, could I?

Last night as I watched the TV coverage of the celebration in Chicago's Grant Park, my heart went out to Rev. Jesse Jackson as I watched silent tears falling down his face. I knew in my heart that he was remembering the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and that horrible day so many years ago in Memphis. In my mind is seared forever that image of a young Jesse Jackson standing on the balcony with Dr. King, who had just been shot, pointing in the direction of the gunfire. What an awesome moment for him last night...what an awesome moment for all of us in this country. Whether Republican or Democrat, we all witnessed a great moment in history take place last night. As far as Rev. Jackson's "redemption" remark goes, I think I understand it in my own way. I am the direct descendant of slaveowners, and as such, I have experienced what I always call my "ancestral guilt" for this immoral and sinful practice that my forefathers participated in. A few years ago, I came up with my own way of dealing with it. I am an avid genealogist with a subscription to Ancestry.com. As I come across records pertaining to any ancestors who owned slaves, I make them available to the descendants of those slaves. I always post any information I find that might help others find their roots to their own ancestors who resided on my ancestors' plantations. In this way, I have found my own redemption in a way, I guess you could say. It is my way of making reparations for our shameful past. I personally think Rev. Jackson's "redemption" remark has a lot to do with those long-ago slavery days. But that's my own opinion. I could easily be wrong, but that's how I interpreted it.

One of those nuances...I'm not sure it is here, but in other threads and perhaps a little bit here, I'm seeing some confusion, I think, between the ideas of (1) voting for someone because they are black and (2) having voted for someone or nearly deciding on him, celebrating and counting in the fact that he is black and all the implications that carries for our history, now, and future. I think that it is in this second way that the election of a candidate who is biracial or black can have reconciliatory (not quite right form of the word, but I'm tired) and redemptive overtones for the entire nation, black, white, etc. No, that is not to say that any particular individual white person has to personally atone for things done long ago. It is recognition that the legacy of those things done long ago still hurts all of us today...and that this event has the power to bring some healing--reconciliation and redemption, which are, after all, preacher talk for what Dr. Phil would call healing, resolution, partial closure, etc. These words are also two sides of the same coin in Rev. Jackson's context. I actually find it interesting that he used the words "reconcile," and "redeem" which are so much more neutral than a lot of words we would have heard in the old days. These words also involve the self healing the self, not the self demanding or giving from or to another. A few decades ago, I think we would have heard something more like "forgive" and "make amends." But, you reconcile yourself to something; you redeem yourself by new thoughts or actions. Using these words takes out any shades of entitlement and at least lessens, maybe eliminates, the feeling of judgment being passed. Semantics. But words are Jackson's coin, so I think it is fair to look at them closely. Context can matter greatly, too. Anyway, when some people talk about voting for someone because they are black, I think/hope that, more often than not, they do not mean as in "score one for my side"; they mean, at least in part, that this potential for healing is a part of the package that the country needs. A different candidate, although black, may or may not have brought that to the polling booth--as others have pointed out, we've had black candidates before that did not attract the same affirmations. Maybe because I was born and mostly raised in Chicago, my feelings re Rev. Jackson are more warm and positive. While he doesn't seem to have played well on a national level, his local, regional, and focused interest good works have been meaningful for many. Certainly, he has devoted his life to the pursuit of things he believes promote social justice. In his youth, ambition sometimes seemed to get in the way, but overall he has always struck me as an earnest, hard-working person even if I haven't always agreed with every idea or piece of rhetoric. So, again, I think the two comments are two different valid ways of looking at the same thing. ETA--I agree raven, to see him so much older now, coming to see this event, witnessing for the martyrs without bitterness, drawing the line from one point in history to the next, was powerful. I was glad to see him there.

Hadley, thank you so much for your insightful post. You have taken what is in my heart and put it into words in a much more eloquent way than I could muster. In my own opinion, you are right on the mark.... I have always respected Jesse Jackson. I may not have agreed with him at times throughout the years, but I have always respected the man and his ideals. Sure, the man has made mistakes in his life...who hasn't? But I have seen him now for many, many years try to reach out to his fellow man. He has earned the gray hairs he now has on his head. Yes, he messes up from time to time. But at least he tries to carry the torch. He's done a whole lot more in his lifetime than I have...

I agree with Crick...100%. I look at Obama as a wise man who offered me hope and did not look at him as a black man. Of course it is obvious...but I also notice people who have red hair and freckles...crooked teeth and a goofy laugh....asians with the best hair...so on so forth...Obama being black had nothing to do with my vote...plain and simple. I do however agree with Farris, we have along way to go.....Jessie Jackson, is supposed to represent GOD, for someone who has taken on this task, he sure says some idiotic things. Jackson has done some amazing work as an intermediary , maybe he should choose to do more in this arena...instead of politics...JMHO

Does anyone else find it interesting - and somewhat...sad - that the old guard has taken a back seat (or has maybe been pushed to the side? I don't know) in this election? The people who were at the forefront of the so-called "black community" - Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Andrew Young, John Lewis etc - were largely invisible during Barack's rise and ultimate election. This started even before Jesse and Andrew's idiotic comments several months ago, so I don't think this was Obama getting revenge on them. It seems like they were passed by by this new guard, one that did not reach out to them for guidance, or see the struggle as they did, as they'd experienced it. To see Jesse crying on election night...I sort of think that perhaps he and the others didn't realize that their time had passed, that they would have to pass the baton sooner rather than later, that they would not play a larger part in seeing a black person reach such a lofty goal. Perhaps it is also difficult knowing that the person who achieved this feat did not come from that tradition of having an ancestral history and culture in this country (on his "black" side, I mean). I don't know...I have no idea what is in Jesse's heart, but these are some thoughts I had when I saw him weeping that night.