Free Republic

Last month racist writing on a dormitory door shook Grand Valley State University in Michigan. Much like the notorious Oberlin College racism hoax, the incident caused much turmoil on campus, as reported by MLive: Students who live in the residence hall said they were surprised by the incident, saying signs of racial tension haven’t been present in the past. One resident, Andrew Seawood, a freshman from Stevensville, said the slurs were upsetting because the residents of Copeland typically get along with one another. “It was a little surprising when they did say something was written,” he said. “Everybody gets along...

LANSING, MI -- A group of two dozen activists rallied at the state Capitol on Tuesday, promising to launch a ballot campaign to repeal Michigan's "stand your ground" law if lawmakers fail to update it. The Rev. Charles Williams II, Detroit head of the National Action Network, said that the group supports 2nd amendment and self-defense rights but believes Michigan's law goes too far and does not encourage residents to "choose peace" when the option is available. "We're going to go to every community across the state of Michigan and we're going to get 'stand your ground' repealed right here...

Saturday, March 08, 2014 The Black Hitler of Harlem Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog The Black Hitler was a Chicago community organizer who moved to New York. Somewhere along the way he picked up a gold lined cape, a purple turban and a stepladder on which he used to stand while giving speeches outside the stores of Harlem's dwindling Jewish community.  The cape and the turban were combined with Nazi style military shirt and jackboots, for the quixotic uniform of a man who is remembered today as a pioneering labor leader-- but was known back then...

February 11, 2014 Al Sharpton shows off his French at White House dinner Eddie Scarry From a White House pool report on the state dinner taking place at the White House Tuesday evening for French President François Hollande: Al Sharpton said he’s been practicing his French and he offered some at the press’ urging. “Oui oui oui.” Sharpton is one of dozens of celebrity guests attending the dinner. Others include singer Mary J. Blige, who will also perform, comedienne Mindy Kaling and Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert.

...celebrity boxing promoter Damon Feldman says he got Zimmerman to agree to engage in a celebrity boxing match for charity. However Sharpton, the civil rights activist and leader of the National Action Network, is warning people against being quick to label Zimmerman a celebrity. "We must be very careful not to glorify or in any way sidestep the implications of making someone whose only claim to fame was killing an unarmed young man named Trayvon Martin into a cultural celebrity or hero," Sharpton told CNN. "It is perfectly legal for him to exploit his fame but we should never forget...

Did Al Sharpton just stumble into some unfortunate phrasing, or did he take an intentionally vulgar shot at Rand Paul? On his MSNBC show tonight, discussing the fact that Paul recently raised the most salacious scandal of Bill Clinton's presidency, Sharpton said "Rand Paul is really going to try to do the Monica Lewinsky on the Democrats as a way of countering the war on women that they're doing with legislation and all kinds of things." I'm inclined to believe the sly Sharpton knew exactly what he was doing. View the video here.

As a mainstreamed reverend enjoys access at City Hall, community leaders recognize change; but some still nurse grudges.Two decades ago, Rev. Al Sharpton was the ultimate civic iconoclast, speaking what he called truth to power, organizing rallies and attacking the establishment on behalf of the oppressed. Today, he’s under fire for being too mainstream. Last summer, another prominent black voice, Cornell West, attacked the National Action Network founder in a radio interview as a too-complacent “house negro” of Barack Obama’s “plantation,” failing to hold the president accountable for drone strikes or talk about “Wall Street criminality.” And as he emerges...

A top aide to the Rev. Al Sharpton will be getting $170,000 a year from taxpayers to serve as chief of staff to Chirlane McCray, Mayor de Blasio’s wife. The mayor confirmed the prominent position that his wife is set to play at City Hall with the appointment of Rachel Noerdlinger, who has worked for Sharpton since 1999.

The Rev. Al Sharpton got all gussied up, donned a lab coat, and stood behind a nifty chemistry set to lecture the likes of Fox News, climate-change deniers, and the right wing in general on why global warming is a fact. It happened as part of Sharpton’s “Politics Nation: Science Lab” segment on MSNBC Friday, using the arctic winter freeze besetting much of America this weekend as a springboard. “These right wingers are boiling over with denial,” he said. “Just because it snows in winter doesn’t mean the planet isn’t getting warmer. Remember a UN panel said there’s a 90...

Al Sharpton is celebrating Bill de Blasio’s appointment of Zachary W. Carter as the chief lawyer of the City of New York. The announcement by Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio regarding the appointment of former Judge Zachary W. Carter as Corporation Counsel for the City of New York is an unprecedented and huge step for progress. Zachary Carter personifies the forward movement of fairness and equality in the criminal justice system. I have known Zachary Carter for many years and worked with him as he prosecuted the Abner Louima case and he has done legal work for National Action Network...

On Thursday, a town hall meeting hosted by Al Sharpton and the National Action Network to address gun violence exploded into a revolt against “Chicago Machine” politics, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and the aldermen in City Hall, with panel and audience members calling to vote out their elected officials. One 82-year-old preacher even called for “Tea Party” style meetings in some of Chicago’s south side communities such as Altgeld Gardens and Trumbull Park.

The White House is apparently turning to guilt to drive Americans toward Obamacare. First lady Michelle Obama told “Keeping it Real with Reverend Al Sharpton” that children owe it to their mothers to enroll in Obamacare.

Continuing the White House rhetoric that young people aren’t invincible, First Lady Michelle Obama provided more reasons millennials should sign up for Obamacare: in case they “slip at a club” or “cut a finger” while cooking for the first time. The Rev. Al Sharpton interviewed FLOTUS about her husband’s healthcare law in a pre-recorded interview that aired on his radio show Thursday. The First Lady told the MSNBC host that getting young people signed up was an important goal of Obamacare outreach. “We need young people signed up too for this, because it’s not just about moms and babies, it’s...

Rev. Al Sharpton on the "Tom Joyner Morning Show" on Wednesday: "So a really good Christmas message is to really emphasize healthcare and health insurance among our families, your child, your niece, your nephew, particularly young people that think they are invincible, let them know they are not, and the time is now to sign up. That's a real Christmas message and it's something that gives some reason for the season other than toys"

Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly on Tuesday again exposed MSNBC’s Al Sharpton for deceptively editing a video, this time to make it appear the Factor host was disparaging Nelson Mandela within hours of his death. “Sharpton uses the occasion of Nelson Mandela's death to dishonestly attack people he doesn't like,” said O’Reilly. “They don't come lower” (video follows with transcript and commentary): Bill O’Reilly Slams MSNBC’s Al Sharpton: ‘They Don’t Come Lower’ BILL O’REILLY: Now, as a young man, Nelson Mandela had Marxist leanings and dealt closely with communists. Check out a recent article in The Economist magazine if you want...

Civil rights leaders such as the Rev. Al Sharpton and retail executives have hammered out a list of rules that will be tacked up inside stores to ensure that black shoppers will not be racially profiled and targeted just for buying a pricey item. Six weeks after the Daily News reported on a series of racial-profiling allegations from black shoppers, a coalition of high-end retailers and civil rights leaders came up with a “bill of rights” to protect customers from “shop-and-frisk” practices. The list was released to the media after getting final approval Monday morning at a meeting that included...

On Thursday's PoliticsNation, MSNBC political an analyst Jonathan Alter played the liberal caricature by actually suggesting that, in light of former South African President Nelson Mandela's passing, Americans should practice "forgiveness" toward "hundreds of thousands of people" who are serving life prison sentences. Speaking to host Al Sharpton, Alter suggested: So my question tonight, Rev, is can we import that spirit of forgiveness and apply it to the hundreds of thousands of people incarcerated who, for the rest of their lives, you know, will be stigmatized by this. Could we figure out a way to forgive them, maybe expunge some...

NEW YORK – Reverend Al Sharpton’s new book, “The Rejected Stone: Al Sharpton and the Path to American Leadership” appears to be on an unshakable trajectory to success, according to its author. Since its release less than 30 days ago the revered civil rights leader’s long awaited memoir has already sold 18 copies. A spokesperson at Sharpton’s publisher, Simon and Schuster, said the company wasn’t the least bit surprised at the book’s sales numbers. Political activist and singer, Barbra Streisand, held a book release party for Sharpton at her Malibu estate over the weekend. Streisand gushed that Sharpton is “a...

On Wednesday's PoliticsNation on MSNBC, during a discussion of Republican Mike Murphy's suggestion that the next GOP convention should be in Detroit, host Al Sharpton and Karen Finney blamed Republicans for Detroit's problems, with Sharpton referring to the solidly Democratic city as "the same Detroit that was destroyed by the Bush recession." A bit later, guest and Oprah Winfrey Network talk show host Wes Moore suggested that Barack Obama is doing the country a favor by being President, asserting that it was "unfortunate" that conservatives criticize Obama because he "does not have to be doing this," and that there is...

One of the oldest rules in psychology and economics is that if you reward a behavior, you can expect to see it more often. In America, we reward victimhood. That makes us feel good about ourselves and in some cases, it helps improve the lives of the people who've been victimized, but there's a dark side to it as well. It creates perverse incentives for people, it helps legitimize a victimhood mentality, and it also encourages people to fake hate crimes. Under normal circumstances, that would seldom happen. However, in a society where we celebrate victimhood and savagely attack people...