Jesse Jackson is just another establishment politician who wants to protect the status quo and the neoliberal experiment! /s
(I could have gotten more catchphrases in there, but got bored.)
Sure, but heâs no Don King!
Sure, but heâs no Don King!
And Don Kingâs no King Don!
It might be worthwhile for younger readers to go back and really look at, and appreciate, the role that Jesse Jackson played in the civil rights effort â in getting a too-rigidly-fixed country to wake up to the changes that were going to take place but still maintaining that that change could come within the system, not by violence. Listen to his speech at the 1984 Democratic convention and try, as best as possible, to hear it as it was received by those who lived in that time, not in our world today. I was a (white) product of the Old South, but my pride - and, frankly, shock â at being able to vote for him in the Dem primary that year equaled, and maybe even surpassed, my pride in voting for Barack Obama 24 years later. I doubt we would have gotten to 2008 without the efforts and achievements of Jackson - he was the brash, challenging young black man who nevertheless did not give into anger. There are many people who still have great respect for what he did and accomplished and who will, rightly, place great importance on his endorsement.
It might also be worthwhile for them to do some homework on HRC and find out she isnât the evil witch of the east
That, too. 
True to some extent. But Jackson is also not universally loved even with the black community of the MLK old-guard who view/viewed Jackson more as a new-guard hanger-on and whose grandstanding personality in the late 70s early 80s, particularly his âHymie townâ comments back then, really drove the post MLK civil rights coalition into a ditch. I mean who were the two of the three young men murdered in Philadelphia MS, during Freedom Summer for fucks sake?
While I donât ascribe to a sins of the father" mode of thought, his sonâs criminal convictions fro corruption also doesnât help the Jackson âbrandâ.
Iâve had my doubts about Jackson over the years for the reasons you list and more. But I remember during Obamaâs first inauguration ceremony they cut to him, and he was crying. That was touching and helped tip the scale back the other way. Thereâs plenty of flawed people who are nevertheless genuine, committed advocates for a cause.
Agree that Jackson had/has flaws (esp the âHymie townâ comment!!) and was never as universally admired as others within MLK orbit or accepted by them â but he was much, much younger, so some of that would be expected but that youth allowed him to be heard by those who had started to tune out King, Abernathy, Lowery, etc. My point was that there is a great distance between what Jackson did, and didnât, do and a flip dismissal as âestablishment politicianâ (implication being shallow, manipulative, duplicitous). He shouldnât be judged, and dismissed, out of the context of his time. Like Muhammad Ali (whose funeral Jackson just attended) he sometimes did and said things that made you wince or shake your head ⌠but he held his head up and kept on going, for decades, pushing for things he truly believed in - which included peace. That wasnât so easy to do in those days. And I know what you mean about that cut-away, Mattinpa, but I believe it was election night that they announced the results: 
True enough, but point to me any politician or public figure in America thatâs universally loved and I would tell you thatâs the second coming of Jesus ChristâŚ
Donât get hung up on a word I used while trying to be diplomatic. The harsher version is this. Many within the black community thinks he is an asshole and a conman, and some even believe (yes this is CT territory) he was in on MLK getting assassinated. I can respect some of the things Jackson has tried to do over the years, but he has some baggage.
[quote=âlestatdelc, post:12, topic:38967â]
some even believe (yes this is CT territory) he was in on MLK getting assassinated
[/quote] Wow. You really went there. Thanks for this bit of insight on your psyche. But very âdiplomaticâ.
No, I am telling you what black people of my generation (and older) have told me about their views towards Jackson. Nothing to do with âmy psycheâ. But sorry if those views are out there by black people. But please tell me I should be whitesplaining to black people I know personally how they should view Jesse Jackson.
BTW, you might want to Google Steve Cokely.
So, do we vote for Trump? I donât think so⌠I am not waiting for the perfect canidate⌠Jesus may return one day, but until he does⌠We may have to compromise a little⌠Sorry to break that to you!
Note kendyzdadâs use of the âsnark tagâ.
/s
ThanksâI remembered an outdoor gathering and just assumed. My bad.
I rest my caseâŚ
Hah! Is that what that is? Had no idea. Thanks - now Iâll know before I get all riled again.
As for the comments re: Jackson made to you by blacks that you know, I donât doubt that you are reporting accurately but Iâd like a little equality here. Taking what some blacks say about Jesse Jackson and assuming that itâs a commonly-held opinion among all blacks and, further, that we whites should defer to their judgment is no different than saying that what some whites say about HRC, or about Trump, reflects what you, or I, or any other white person thinks about them. (I DO realize you didnât go quite that far, but your comments could be read that way.) Good heavens, I would curl up and DIE of shame if it were assumed that I shared the views of some of my white acquaintances and even relatives!!
But flawed hero, asshole, or deadly conspirator, it seems that weâre all agreed Jackson is not simply one more âestablishment politician,â which was the comment to which I (apparently mistakenly) took exception.
Jesse Jackson is the sole politician that Bernie Sanders has ever fought for that I am aware of.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/12/bernie-sanders-jesse-jackson-campaign
Well worth the read.