I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think that Al Sharpton has done more to break the binds of Blacks to the Democrats than any Black Republican today.
Here is Al Sharpton on Thursday's Tom Joyner Morning Show, in for Tavis Smiley.
Bill Clinton "The First Black President".
I never liked Bill Clinton, although he is was a better president that either George Bush. Two things stand out in my mind as reasons why he was never a friend of black people, even as black people embraced him, both from the 1992 election.
1. He went into the Rainbow-PUSH convention and attacked Sister Souljah, which to me was calculated to clown Jesse Jackson. However you feel about SS or JJ, he was attempting to prove to whites that he could be tough on blacks, knowing that black were not going to vote for George Bush.
2. At the Democratic Convention, when he delivered his acceptance speech, I waited to hear him acknowledge the nation-changing events at Little Rock Central High in his home state, which happened in his lifetime, as he was describing those life changing events. It never happened. He was not going to go there while he was busy trying to get at least a few southern moderates to vote for him.
Yes, I know it was just politics, and Ron Brown was highly influential in the Democratic party at that time, but I was never able to warm to him after that. Therefore, I highly resent the representation of him as the first black president.
SS called him a draft-dodging, dope-smoking, womanizing fool. HIGH FIVES!
Posted by: brotherbrown at August 19, 2005 01:21 AMbrotherbrownbrotherbrownbrotherbrown...breakitdown!
You are absolutely correct. That was Clinton's FIRST move...attacking Souljah for her anti-crime stance...Clinton's move anticipated Giuliani's foray into a Harlem mosque following his election...of course, the NYPD were roundly trounced on that excursion, but Rudy G. sent the message that he was not gonna be soft on that "criminal/subversive" element...
the highlights of Al's speech follow logically from Clinton's first steps out of the box...style over substance. nice job bb.
Posted by: Temple3 at August 19, 2005 10:46 AM
Can't *stand* the man's conk, but I find myself agreeing with him very often (yes, including this bit).
Yes, let's pause for at least a couple beats before conferring Blackness on the melanin-challenged. I wonder if the opposite holds as well -- will Al come out against the stripping of Blackness, a la, oh, let's say, Colin Powell?
Posted by: memer at August 19, 2005 12:40 AM