PrintNovember 22, 2009
Jesse Jackson's Broken Moral Compass
Rev. Jesse Jackson's acrimonious statement, that a black congressman cannot call himself black unless he votes for healthcare, has elevated the level of vitriol by interjecting race into the health care debate. At the Congressional Black Caucus foundation's reception honoring the 25th anniversary of his presidential run Rev. Jackson said:
We even have blacks voting against the healthcare bill from Alabama. You can't vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man.
Reverend Jackson's statement was directed at Representative Artur Davis of Alabama, one of 39 Democrats and the only member of the CBC that voted against the Pelosi health care bill. Rev. Jackson's statement implies skin pigmentation, rather than morals and principles, predisposes a black person to vote up or down for a particular piece of legislation.
Ron Miller, candidate for Maryland State Senate who happens to be a black un-hyphenated American, said in a recent article titled "What Makes a Black Man?":
Rev. Jackson must be living in the past if he thinks following the crowd makes one a black man. As the generations pass, and young people assimilate without race as a barrier, we've learned that we don't need a leader to tell us what to do. We are unique individuals that are much more than the color of our skin, and we can stand on our own.There is ample evidence to suggest that the health care bills under consideration in the House and Senate will lead to greatly increased costs and a reduction in the quality of care. No less an authority than the dean of the Harvard Medical School described the net effect of these proposals as adding millions more participants to a dysfunctional system. Does ignoring evidence that doesn't line up with your opinion qualify you as a black man?
Many people know, Rev. Jackson marched with and was close to the great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1963, Dr. King delivered his powerfully emotional and famous "I Have a Dream Speech" on the mall in Washington D.C. Perhaps Rev. Jackson should reacquaint himself with Dr. King's speech and his message in general. Some excerpts from Dr. King's speech which are applicable to Rev. Jackson's outrageous comment are:
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
Rev. Jackson was, like Dr. King, a staunch opponent of abortion. Not until Rev. Jackson gained notoriety and decided to run as a candidate for the 1984 Democratic Party presidential nominee did Rev. Jackson conveniently change his position on abortion. Rev. Jackson's political aspirations took precedence over his moral convictions thus compromising his character. Rev. Jackson once said of abortion:
That is why the Constitution called us three-fifths human and then whites further dehumanized us by calling us ‘niggers'. It was part of the dehumanizing process. The first step was to distort the image of us as human beings in order to justify that which they wanted to do and not even feel like they had done anything wrong. Those advocates of taking life prior to birth do not call it killing or murder, they call it abortion. They further never talk about aborting a baby because that would imply something human. Rather they talk about aborting the fetus. Fetus sounds less than human and therefore abortion can be justified.
In subsequent years, Rev. Jackson's actions and words cannot justify his position as a leader of the black community, much less a Reverend. In 2001, Rev. Jackson acknowledged he fathered a child out of wedlock with an employee in his civil rights organization Rainbow/PUSH coalition.
In 1984, while seeking the presidential nomination Rev. Jackson referred to Jews as "hymies" and the City of New York as "hymietown".
In 2008, Rev. Jackson was taped on a Fox News broadcast saying "I want to cut Obama's nuts out" and accused Obama of "talking down to black folks".
Ron Miller eloquently summarized Rev. Jackson by saying:
Rev. Jackson's mindset is one of bondage. We shrugged off the chains of slavery and Jim Crow, only to create our own chains within the black community, demanding unanimity of thought and action, and unquestioned loyalty to one party and ideology. A black man, like all men, is meant to be free in body, mind and spirit, for we are all created in God's image. Rev. Jackson has no authority to dictate to anyone who is or isn't a black man.
Dr. King believed, as do many other Americans, it is the content of one's character that matters, not skin pigmentation. A recent American Thinker article on character aptly discusses the issue of character in modern day America. Rev. Jackson's actions and words clearly demonstrate he no longer lives and believes in Dr. King's message. Sadly, Rev. Jackson's moral compass is broken.
