Posted on 03/26/2002 2:45:41 AM PST by kattracks
Washington, D.C. (CNSNews.com) - Al Sharpton Monday night said corporate reparations for slavery would be good for America and he warned the Democratic Party that President George Bush may attract "dramatically" more black voters in 2004.
Sharpton, speaking to a crowd of over 300 students at Georgetown University, covered a wide range of topics from the state of African-American patriotism to his nascent presidential campaign.
When asked whether he supported lawsuits against corporations that are accused of having profited from slavery 150 years ago, Sharpton told CNSNews.com, "Absolutely. I think that corporations and insurance companies, just like those corporations that were engaged in things with the Nazis in Germany ... should pay when they unfairly benefited from the sufferings of people."
He predicted that the biggest opponents of corporate slave reparations will be "those that have to pay."
During his speech, which was sponsored by the Georgetown University NAACP chapter, Sharpton told the audience that America has not "solved the problem of race." He chastised those who argue that race relations are "not as bad as they used to be."
"That's like someone stabbing me with [an] eight-inch knife and expecting me to thank them for pulling it out two inches and leaving just six in, like they have the right to stab me in the first place. Discrimination is wrong whether it is a lot, a little or more or less than it was. It is still wrong," he explained.
Sharpton reserved much of his criticism for the Republican and Democratic parties.
"There is a strange laryngitis on race from both major parties ... you can't tell one from the other," he said. He cautioned that Democrats may be in for a shock in the 2004 election.
Noting that Bush received five percent of the black vote in 2000, Sharpton predicted that because blacks "see [Secretary of State] Colin Powell and [National Security Advisor] Condoleezza Rice on the news every night," the black vote for Bush could go up "dramatically" in 2004.
According to Sharpton's analysis, "When you are starting at five percent you almost inevitably have to go up ...Who and what force do [the Democrats] have to counter balance that?"
Sharpton offered himself as the solution. "If the Democratic Party were looking at this in the balance, the only thing that is even talking about galvanizing the black vote is Al Sharpton."
Sharpton also took a swipe at political analysts who say he "can't win," insisting that his chances are just as good as any other Democrats because "according to the polls, no Democrat can win, so the question is not who can win, but who can best lose."
He also criticized what he called the "phoniness" of both major parties. "They are not based on substance, but cosmetics ... playing. You show your blacks and I'll show our blacks and we will see which blacks look the best," he said to rousing laughter and applause.
Sharpton praised African-Americans as the most patriotic group, because "we were the only community that consistently fought for this country when this country would not fight for us."
He rebuffed any notion that civil rights leaders have been replaced by African-Americans in the corporate world. "To act as if the blacks who have reached corporate power have now become the new black leaders is like saying Donald Trump is the new white leader. That is absurd," Sharpton said.
"They don't conflict with the [civil rights] movement, they are a result of the movement. We marched so they could become the chairman. They are not adversaries, they are our results. Had there not been a movement, they would never have been able to achieve what they achieved," according to Sharpton.
The political landscape is about to change because of the "new political force in 2004" his candidacy will create, Sharpton said. He is expected to formerly announce his candidacy for president this summer.
E-mail a news tip to Marc Morano.
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But I believe Keyes, Sowell and Williams would oppose calls for reparations.
The modern descendants of slaves brought here in chains in admittedly miserable, soul-gutting conditions who are now calling for reparations need to remember a few things:
They should not only be glad to be in America, they should be glad to be ANYWHERE !
Had that NOT happened, the blood of their ancestors would have run into the earth over there several centuries ago and these modern day would-be "plaintiffs" would not even exist.
And should the great-great-great grandchildren of the approximately 3,000 SLAVE OWNING BLACK plantation owners in this country also be subject to PAYING these reparations?
If so, how do we find THEM?
Robert Hitt Neill tells of attending a Tennessee Mountain Writer’s Conference years ago with several other authors. Among them was Alex Hailey, celebrated author of “Roots.” Watching a TV news show, a group of them watched a demonstration in a Southern state against the “Rebel” flag incorporated into that state’s flag. The very next report covered a famine in Africa. Graphic images showed dead bodies, starving children with distended tummies and runny noses and dying people covered with flies, too weak to brush them away.
Mr. Hailey intoned in a low, serious voice:
“Every time an American black sees a story like that, they should find a Confederate flag and kiss it.” He then pointed to the TV screen and continued, “Because these would be me and my descendants, except for American slavery. I thank God that my family and I are here instead of there.”
Next problem!
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