Rev. Jesse Jackson and Black America’s Ghetto Pass Conundrum
Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., emphasis on the Sr., is obviously displaying the early signs of senility.
How else do you explain his blatant use of the N-word during that now infamous whispered conversation during a taping of “Fox & Friends” on July 6?
“Barack…he’s talking down to black people…telling n–s how to behave.”
The fact that Jackson, a self-described civil rights advocate used the N-word is not that surprising in the scheme of things. I mean after all, we are talking about Rev. Jesse Jackson. This is the same Rev. Jackson who had an affair with a staffer that resulted in the birth of a daughter. And the same Rev. Jackson who has made a career out of using his birthday as a personal corporate fundraiser to the tune of millions. Simply put, he is not without flaws.
Rev. Jackson, like others, have been pimping the Black civil rights movement for decades with the help of the mainstream media, there’s nothing new there. The reality of the situation is, if the media would stop looking to Jackson to represent all things Black, and open the door for new voices, voices under 50, and yes—female voices, we might not be having this discussion today.
However, what I am trying to understand is what makes one Black man’s use of the word any worse than another’s? I mean, in the grand scheme of things, Jackson’s use of the N-word on Fox, a network that by and large isn’t being watched by the majority of Black people, isn’t nearly as bad as the use of the word by today’s rappers whose exposure far exceeds Jackson’s, yet I don’t see us all up in arms over that.
While Jackson did verbally castrate Obama with the “I want to cut (Obama’s) nuts off” comment, where’s the outrage over Black men who are acquitted of having sex with underage girls, even though it was videotaped?
I also remember a certain boxer convicted of rape who upon his release from prison was given a parade in his honor.
If you ask me, we’ve got our priorities all screwed up.
Sticks and stones may hurt my bones, but words can never hurt me.
As a Black female, I find it hard to take seriously the national outrage over Jackson’s comments when we don’t exhibit the same outrage over brothas in our own community who have done far worse simply because we like their music or they are a sports athlete.
Obama is a big boy who knew what he was stepping into when he announced his candidacy. He can defend himself, and if for some reason he can’t, he’s got Michelle and a staff of hundreds. Instead of being so quick to jump to the defense of Obama, we need to jump to the defense of ourselves and stop with the “selective” outrage and ghetto passes.
Calling someone the N-word and threatening to “cut nuts off” under your breathe doesn’t compare to the damage done by and to masses of Black folks everyday who call each other niggas and worse and listen to music made by other Black people calling them niggas and worse. And it certainly doesn’t compare to the physical, emotional, and subliminal damage that’s been done to Blacks by internationally known recording artists and sports athletes who prey on young women, and get a pass from us.
The real harm being done to Black people isn’t coming from Jackson or Obama, it’s coming from us and our ghetto pass policies that prevent us from getting our priorities straight and keep us distracted.
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JC, there people who specializes in different kinds of stupid. There is Rap stupidity, child abuse stupidity…ect. Yes, Jesse Jack is bad in his form of stupid and regardless of the stupidity of others or the effectiveness of the Obama staff, we don’t need a new stupidity and J.J. is not new stupid. Jesse Jack is guilty of continuous stupidity that followed him into old age. Is he senile? If I were him I would claim it.
Salima Masud
Of course, Jesse and nem shouldn’t represent black people at all. And they do. I think this could be a teachable moment. That things are not as they seem. That black people are not monolithic. And that, yes, as you said, those who “represent” may not be the right people.
I think the outrage around the use of the word comes mostly from white liberals. I truly believe this. It seems to me that much of the “outrage” around race has more to do with proving they are “down” and “not racist” than any kind of real, thoughtful conversation about the complexities of race in America.
I don’t think black people get as enraged about stuff like this or even the New Yorker cover because this is business as usual. This is the life we lead and white folks seem to discover race every few months when someone does something stupid.
There are bigger issues. You ain’t neva lie. There wasn’t organized, effective outrage after Sean Bell. There wasn’t organized, effective outrage after the R. Kelly verdict.
I don’t think there’s a double standard. I think the outrage for this kind of madness and not for the examples I’ve mentioned all comes from the same place. If you don’t take the plight of black men (and black women most especially) seriously then of course you pay loads of attention to a gaffe on Fox and not to miscarriages of justice.
The difference is that Mr. Kelly and Mr. Tyson could not seriously be considered role models – our expectations are much less.
Rev. Jackson is a man of God, and a Civil Rights leader that has championed the issues of Black male resposibility and family. To be caught muttering in vulgar anger about Senator Obama speaking on the same issues is hypocritical and sad.
I think the good Rev. may have used up his 9th life…
Its the difference of fields. Jackson is a man of politics whether you think so, or whether he thinks so. This story made news in the political world before it even hit the “evening news”. CNN, FOX, and MSNBC used this in their political segments because it was very relevent to the Obama campaign being that Jackson was speaking about Obama and is an active supporter. R. Kelly and Tyson are far from the political landscape.
Thanks for this post.
“The real harm being done to Black people isn’t coming from Jackson or Obama, it’s coming from us and our ghetto pass policies that prevent us from getting our priorities straight and keep us distracted.”
For some it’s hard to swallow, but it’s truth.
Jesse Jackson – a man of God? What God? A man who repeatedly cheats on his wife and sells out Black people for his own personal gain? An active member of the Civil Right’s Industrial Complex? Harrumph. He deserves no defending and no serious consideration either. It’s only because we’ve collectively allowed him and Slick Al to be touted as “the” voice of all Black people that I can justify the outrage directed at him. He needs to go back in the box for good. And now Nas is working with Color of Change and Move On to take Fake Noise on over racism. If you act a fool 9 times you don’t get kudos for the 1 time you act like you have sense.
“The real harm being done to Black people isn’t coming from Jackson or Obama, it’s coming from us and our ghetto pass policies that prevent us from getting our priorities straight and keep us distracted.”
I have to say that I agreed with this entire post and that it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time now! There are many issues we have in our community that we don’t focus on that we need to and we spend too much time focusing on the little things. It’s a hard truth and definitely not something many in our community do not and will not want to hear, but this definitely needs to be said!