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Posted on 10/04/2001 10:03:30 PM PDT by Freedom Wins
Our Born-Again Black Leaders
By Elizabeth Wright
FrontPageMagazine.com | October 5, 2001
WHAT A SIGHT it is to watch the notables, who are deemed the black leaders of the land, jostle to re-position themselves in the changed political circumstances brought on by the tragedy of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. For decades, the country has been subject to the wiles of these opportunists, who have kept vast numbers of my race diverted from taking responsibility for our own internal problems, while exploiting and exacerbating racial strife.
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Over the past couple of years, as their tired, old themes were failing to spark the interest of most Americans, people like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and a bevy of black politicians and other assorted "community activists," looked for ways to re-tool their messages, in order to keep themselves and their "causes" visible. For a while, their digression into attacking southern heritage, and especially the Confederate flag, and their emphasis on the evils of "racial profiling" of blacks filled the bill. Now suddenly, and most unexpectedly, the tragedy of September 11 is forcing these dignitaries to re-group and explore new avenues to keep hope alive for their careers as professional crusaders.
All the civil rights hangers-on suffered a severe blow to their credibility at the recent United Nations conference on racism in Durban, South Africa, where their demands for financial reparations for the world's black population met with a cold reception from the leading nations. After Durban, both Sharpton and Jackson declared that reparations would be their primary focus, with Jackson claiming that he would make it his "priority" campaign. But what a difference a few weeks make. As Americans turn their attention to the consequences of September's horror, the worn out grievances of these familiar hacks are being left in the dust. It's kind of hard these days to get one's head into caring about a lawsuit being brought against some company because an employee failed to serve a black customer in a timely manner, or to care about a black who claims his feelings were hurt upon sighting someone wearing a T-shirt with a Confederate emblem.
Just a few days after the events of September 11, it was clear to all these guardians of black civil rights that if they wished to maintain any degree of credibility, a shift in focus had to occur. The logical place to make such a shift would be at the annual conference of the Congressional Black Caucus, scheduled in Washington, DC for September 26-29. The initial information literature about this conference indicated it would be business as usual – that is, sessions would concentrate on demands for financial restitution to blacks through reparations, there would be calls for an end to "racial profiling," panels on election reform and voting rights, and the general assortment of demands for greater "sensitivity" on the part of white Americans to the special needs of blacks. The terrorist attacks made almost trivial these wearisome complaints, as the nation turned its attention to real and serious threats to its overall security.
Grasping the reality of the times, Sharpton, Jackson, John Conyers & Company, had to engage in some quick thinking. A night or two after the attacks, Sharpton appeared on a New York City radio program, along with a rabbi from a local Jewish congregation, who immediately dubbed Sharpton "the leader of the black community." Both men then proceeded to disclose details of their newly forged partnership, announcing that Sharpton would be taking a trip to Israel next month. The episode had a peculiar quality to it, and even callers to the program expressed bewilderment, not knowing what they were expected to make of it.
To stay in step with Sharpton and to make apparent his own altered concerns, Jesse Jackson began reciting the fears already expressed by scores of civil libertarians and others about the possible ramifications of anti-terrorist legislation on the civil rights of Americans – indicating that he meant all Americans.
Meanwhile, at conference sessions of the Congressional Black Caucus, one black politician after another began echoing the themes of Sharpton and Jackson, calling for the federal government to practice restraint before implementing measures that might interfere with civil liberties – "the freedoms that make America great." One after another expanded his or her initial opposition to racial profiling of blacks to include a rejection of the practice against Arabs living in the United States as well.
The thrust of all this activity by these crafty schemers is to make apparent their shift away from mere parochial black concerns (now looked upon as narrowly selfish) towards those befitting leaders whose interests are national and even international in scope. Last year, author Heather Mac Donald captured the first glimmerings of this transition in an excellent Wall Street Journal commentary on Sharpton, in which she outlined the years of civil tensions he had exacerbated in New York City, especially in regard to police and race relations, and described his cavalier attempts to change his image from that of "brazen racial provocateur" to that of "statesman."
It is hard to see statesmanlike qualities in any of these resourceful posturers, who have spent their lifetimes pressuring the public and private sectors in the interest of one group of Americans at the expense of all others. Besides a legion of unconstitutional, special privilege affirmative action laws, there is now a growing multitude of unconstitutional "hate crime" laws – all designed to limit the civil rights of vast numbers of Americans.
If these black leaders are truly transformed and harbor in their hearts the interests of all citizens, they might begin to prove it by taking up the cause of any one of a number of white Americans who sit in prisons across the land for misdemeanors that have been ratcheted up into "felonies." Such misapplication of law is now possible because of legislation that has been purposely conceived in order to punish thoughts, instead of criminal actions. These laws are the direct result of racial animus fueled primarily by an irresponsible black leadership, along with their powerful white liberal cohorts.
If these reborn defenders of justice are serious about protecting the constitutional rights of all Americans, they might begin by looking at the cases of several young men who, in separate instances, foolishly scrawled racial slurs on a building or a wall, or burned a piece of wood in the shape of a cross – harming neither people nor property – yet for which they have been condemned to spend 10 years of their lives in prison.
Or perhaps these champions of Americans' rights would prefer to help get justice for Lonny Rae of Adams County, Idaho, who is charged with blurting out the "N" word in an altercation with a black man who scuffled with Rae's wife. For this "crime," Rae has been arrested for "felony malicious harassment" and faces a trial and a possible five-year prison sentence. Such stories are multiplying around the country and are a direct legacy of racial agitators like Sharpton, Jackson, John Conyers & Company.
If these born again leaders possess a genuine desire to see Americans' constitutional rights upheld, as they now profess, they can prove it to us all by publicly denouncing laws that make some Americans more equal than others and ceasing to promote the divisive social policies on which they have thrived in the past.
Elizabeth Wright is editor of Issues and Views. She resides in New York City.
Agreed.
The "Rev." at the beginning of their names should stand for "revolting."
Roger that. We shall know them by their fruits.
In case our usual contigent of name-callers try to flame you or Ms. Wright, it should be pointed out that she is an African-American.
She's an independent thinker, so she takes a lot of abuse from groups who think she should espouse the view they expect from her.
I disagree. The writing should stand on its own. We should not cut slack, make allowances, or give extra credit for one's racial composition. If it were germane to the article she would have mentioned it. A white man or woman should be able to make the exact same observations and asserations as Ms. Wright without flame.
*I know what you meant I just think it's important to make my point also.
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