Jesse Jackson: I Don't Recall Saying Obama Is "Acting Like He's White"

Chicago Sun Times :

The Rev. Jesse Jackson told the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday night he doubted a flare-up over a remark attributed to him about White House hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) "acting like he's white" would harm the campaign. He called discussions about the blackness or whiteness of the biracial Obama "absurd."

Jackson, who has endorsed Obama, on Tuesday was conducting a voter registration drive in South Carolina, a crucial early primary state with a substantial African-American vote. A big black voter turnout would help Obama.

Read the whole story: Chicago Sun Times

Comments

[TWOSHORT]

This is a Black thing!Slavery and the Fear of White folk in HOODS 12-20 million invited guess workers hear in America to displace the Black Man when he only wanted into the White owned and controled work place.Looking for that Brother who can make Whites understand that standing on anothers neck only creates an emeny.Looking for a Brother that can make White American see that voting for him would send a strong message that America of long ago has died and the promise of FREEDOM will now ring TRUE when spoken by any AMERICAN.A Black Thing.George Allen,Mark Furman,Stromp Thurman,Trent Lott,Don Imus,Rush Limbugh,This is today's AMERICA

[Jazz42]

This is a Black thing! Slavery and the Fear of White folk in HOODS. (TWOSHORT) Rein ignorance is showing

[SupremeIdiot]

Jesse Jackson is part of the old guard Black Demagogues who haven't kept up with the times. They still fight the equality fight of the 60's never realizing that that fight was won and there are new fights for black and brown people to wage. Education is one of them. Not lettng our youth act and behave as hoodlums by being present as parents is another.

Blacks and Latinos HAVE the right to vote, they HAVE the right to jobs, they HAVE equal protection under the law. Anytime those things are violated we can adn DO address the issue through LEGAL channels.

I'm NOT saying that everything is A-OK. But the laws have been changed and now it's time for us to change our thinking and behavior to match.

[mrcontinental]

Well said.

Once they are through attacking my post I guess they will attack yours. Apparently there are many who are ALLERGIC to the truth.

[nihilon x]

If your truth is that things are now fair and balanced between the races, then you aren't speaking the truth and that should be pointed out.

[RusStyles]

N_x is right. Jena 6 is only the tip of the judicial discrimination that takes places routinely. I see it firsthand. I live in an affluent 99.9% hood, and I've had conversations with parents bragging how their kid beat a DUI, coke/meth possession, etc. One young man was caught dealing drugs in one of the top private schools in the south--you think he did one NY minute in jail? That people is a major manifestation of racism. a black/brown caught dealing will not only get kicked out of school, he'll go to jail, and have a permanent record, which will follow him around the rest of his life. Some of you folks are living in Alice in Wonderland...

[nihilon x]

So things like the Jena Six incident and the Sean Bell shooting don't actually exist -- black people are just making these things up.

There was no "equal protection under the law" in the Jena Six trial and there was no "right to vote" in the Florida 2000 election scandal and there was no "equal right to jobs" in the discrimination situation at Abercrombie and Fitch and Macy's -- at least until someone SUED for it and held them accountable.

You say its time to change our behavior and thinking, yet you don't acknowledge that many people of color are facing the same racism that the previous generations faces, even if only in lesser amounts.

[nihilon x]

"There was no "equal protection under the law" in the Jena Six trial and there was no "right to vote" in the Florida 2000 election scandal..."

EQUAL right to vote that is.

[mrcontinental]

You're scary man, I don't see any of that in my post. Talk about going off topic.

Do you hear voices in your head?

[Independent voter]

What else would you expect from one of America's biggest racists.

[mrcontinental]

Any comparisons between MLK and JJ are absolutely ridiculous.

MLK rallied many races and peoples to his cause because his message was sound, rational, and correct. Look at some of the footage from the rallies. You had blacks, white, latinos, etc marching together. It was a message of unity and togetherness.

Uncle JJ however has preached nothing but everyone is out to get you and I'm here to help. He has been riding on the ghost of MLK for far to long and needs to go away.

People were drawn to MLK because of his courage, character, integrity, dignity and messages of love and understanding.

JJ repels people with his message blaming the white man for all that afflicts blacks in america. He offends both blacks and whites with garbage like this. MLK opened many doors that were closed and many blacks who had the courage walked through them.

Race relations in this country will NEVER be perfect but there have been MAJOR improvements 0ver the last 37 years. There are now blacks in all facets of american life and the only thing that they all have in common is that they had the courage to walk through the doors once they were open. And likewise many chose the path of least resistance and never broke the cycle of depending on others to provide for them and this is the segment that Uncle JJ appeals to.

Uncle JJ is just an opportunist who has only is best interest at heart. His message is targeted to an every decreasing audience, the black victimhood.

Insanity is performing the same action over and over and expecting a different result. Until a person stands up and ACCEPTS the fact that they are responsible for themselves any excuse will do to justify failure. If YOU don't break the cycle of dependence who will? Uncle JJ? Keep dreaming.

Try getting up, finding your door and walking through it. Until you have done THAT and been denied no one wants to here it.

[nihilon x]

I have walked through the door, but only a FOOL thinks that racism is a thing of the past.

And the Jena Six case proves this.

So when Jackson takes up causes like this and people like yourself start criticizing him for it, your hypocrisy is made all more clear.

[mrcontinental]

Don't need Uncle JJ for this. There are countless ways to get this news to the masses. I'm sure the ACLU would have jumped at the chance to investigate this travesty.

Oh I forgot these poor black folks are helpless and need a messiah to come to there aid.

[andyboy]

People all over America have taken up the cause of the Jena Six without any help from Jesse Jackson.

Also he isn't being critisized for that anyway. It's the remark he made about Obama. The racist remark.

Your so dishonest. Can't you ever go with the truth? I mean if you have to lie all the time what good is it? You must be used to taking advantage of people by twisting them up with your lies. You don't seem to be able to stop yourself.

[speakingtruth2power]

I just came by on this thread to tell the racists that I know will be by as sure as shootin'

FUCK YOU, YOUR GRAMP-UNCLE AND THE TURNIP CART YOU ROAD IN ON!!!!!!!

[Warmglobe]

I demand that the reverend apologize to every white person in the country for deeply offending all of us..I also think he should made to go to re-hab to re-do his mind.

[fourex]

Jesse, he's not acting, his mother is white.

[Mister Ruben]

Jesse, my brotha get a grip! You black people aspire to be us- Caucasians. Sadly it is not an easy task. First and foremost, we were born this way and we act right…i.e. white. The following are a few things you and your darkie brothas and sistas should consider.
1. No looting during a blackout or jury verdict that does not go our way.
2. Don’t have one than one child if you can’t support them. Welfare is not the answer.
3. Speak and write good English. Ebonics is not a language. Never spell anything with with a “z” as a plural. Such as brothaz and niggaz. It is nigger!!!
4. Stop smoking menthol cigarettes.
5. Learn to confine your travels to your ‘hoods but if you must come to our clean, quiet communities, NO LOUD MUSIC FROM YOUR CARS. Do not dress in a threatening manner with your hoodies, pants falling off your butts and Timberland boots! It scares us white folks. We are a civilized cultured breed of people. As a matter of fact, why don’t you people stay away?
6. Stop this insatiable desire of your men to want our women. You don’t see us trying to want to score with your sistazzz. The unspoken joke amongst us civilized white people is that only the few rich one’s amongst you can score a model type white woman. You can only have our white-trash trailer park rejects.
7. We like light skin blacks such as Bryant Gumbel, Tyra Bank, Halle Berry. If you are very dark you better have a lot of money such as The Oprah.
8. Spike Lee is a troublemaker…we don’t like him.
9. I can go on and on but start with the above and we may consider you people.
10. Yeah, you people.

[RusStyles]

You must be desperate for attention...Ok, you're a boorish buffoon. Whites--I agree-- have made significant contributions to mankind, but let's add some balanced perspective: Nagasaki...Auschwitz...Crusades...Wounded Knee...Middle Passage...Vikings...Caligula... Caucasians have been the progenitors of more violence, genocide, wars, cultural rape, country stealing than any other group on earth. And I'm happily married to one so please don't call me racists for telling the truth.

[Mister Ruben]

Stop bragging. You married a white-trailer park trash. She must be fat.

[mrcontinental]

Flag as Nazi drivel.

[Rand]

Don't you have a Klan rally to get to, Mister?

[RusStyles]

It's easy to cry "racist", but where's the beef (proof)? Look, one might recall that JJ grew up in a defacto aparthied south. Emmitt Till, water hoses and dogs, MLK assasination and lynching...That's a part of his internal psyche that will follow him ad infinitum. JJ Haters are probably clueless of how it feels to grow up under that type of inequality, violence and fear...Everyone deals with these painful experiences differently. But, no matter who you are--except Mother Theresa/Gandhi/MLK/Mandela--these scars will likely cause a hypersensitivity, which can sometimes manifest itself in ugly ways. I didn't grow up in the post emancipation Jim Crow era, but I can understand and relate to how JJ views race relations in America. Wlak in another man's moccasins before casting dispersions...And if one of the captured Americans JJ brought home was your father or brother, I doubt if you'd label him a racist; mush-mouthed race-pimp, ad nauseam...

[Doug]

He's a racist... regardless of what happened to him in the past.

My father was a racist. He was hit in the head with the brick and mugged by a group of black guys. Does that justify his bias towards black people? No. Neither does it for Jesse Jackson.

[RusStyles]

Still no factual back-up--just vacuous claims and name-calling. Intellectual lazy cheap shot artist strikes again. Perhaps it would be helpful to define the term. In the most general sense, a racist is one who believes their race is superior to others, and actively advocates this mindset via words and deeds. The more power these racist have, the more they can establish institions to favor their superior brethren. The examples are countless. Under this definition, please--anybody!--explain how JJ is a racist.

[ipitombi]

Obama is white (white mother), and black (black father), and immigrant (immigrant father), and from Hawaii (grew up in Hawaii), and from Chicago (elected to office from Chicago), and from Boston (went to Harvard), and from New York (went to Columbia)... Look it up Jesse.

Now what???

How does any of these matter as long as he's American born & bred and he can legally run for president?

Give up Jesse. You've ran out of your racist steam long time ago.

[nihilon x]

Its amazing how many people here feel the need to make attacks on Jackson for something he most likely did not say.

In truth, I'm disgusting by the ignorance I see posted daily on these boards anytime a black person is involved in the story.

Oprah was attacked based on a LIE regarding her leaving $30 million to her dogs.

Whoopi was attacked based on a LIE claiming that she supported Vick's actions.

And now Jackson is being attacked based on a probable LIE regarding him claiming that Obama is "acting white".

I don't even have to comment on the OJ setup -- and moreover, I see no reason to defend him. Regardless, the venom displayed towards OJ is far more vitrolic than any shown towards people such Phil Spector or Robert Blake.

It becomes clear to me that as much as many of you say race is no longer an issue in this country, your comments on these pages tell a completely different story.

[Doug]

He did say it. That's the problem. He may not recall saying it... but he said it.

[nihilon x]

Prove it.

[andyboy]

The sad fact is Jesse said this about a fellow black man. He has truly fallen to the bottom of the barrell. Jesse was once a true black leader.

He's terribly jealous now of Obama. Obama will accomplish things as a black leader that Jesse never could because he didn't have any integrity. He sold out to become another Al Sharpton.

Just a huckster and rabble rouser who goes around playing on the issue of race like a black faced minstrel. He could have been so much more.

Like OJ Simpson. They were blessed with the chance to make a difference for blacks everywhere but lacked the strength and moral conviction. So they lost their way.

This poster nihilon has the same fatal flaw. He can't face the truth. He has to twist it and turn it. Even a direct quote is a lie to him. He knows when one of these guys says he can't remember something from 2-3 days ago it's a lie. But he doesn't care.

Just because Jesse is black he'll scream racism over and over. It doesn't even matter what the issue is. You'll find bigots like nihilon there just waiting to pounce and scream racism.

Instead of staying in politics where he could have made a big difference Jesse sold out in his lust for money gotten through threatening major corporations with massive lawsuits for racism.

He and Al are always sniffing around for a quick buck. It's not their color that bothers me it's their lack of morals and any semblance of class.

[nihilon x]

Still no facts -- just rhetoric and slander, not only against Jackson, but against me as well.

You call it a "direct quote" yet you can't show post a link to the anything that proves that he said this.

[Jazz42]

What you said is so true
I have never seen so much ignorance displayed

[mirza]

hmm-sounds a bit like former Atty General Gonzales

[WillPower]

Is Jesse shaking down Obama? How much of Rezko and Hsu's contributions will be funneled to the Rainbow Coalition to buy Jesse's support?

[jdcccc]

The people making excuses for the stupid stuff that flows from Jackson's mouth have a very difficult and time consuming part time job.

Throw in Brother Sharpton and you have a career.

[americanwhocares]

The Rev. Jesse Jackson,along with the Rev. Al Sharpton are more concerned about their power in the African American (AA) community then helping African Americans. If AA's want to get treated properly, especially by the federal government they need to VOTE. AA's are a segment of society that will not vote when they have a chance to vote. The problem is that until AA’s start voting all the time, every time, they will be ignored, especially, by the republican party. Republicans see no down side of treating blacks badly, because, by not voting, they have no affect on the electoral process. AA please get your act together and vote every time you can and you will see huge benefits. Stop winning about being oppressed in the past , and stating that your vote does not make a difference (that is what the repuglican partywants)and pull yourselves up by your “bootstraps” and make a difference. Until then, you will be ignored.

[MacDad]

i not sure about AA voting patterns possibly they are lower then the rest of the population - but AA's are ignored primarly because the people they do vote for (largely the Dems) know they have the AA vote in the bag, therefore they have no reason to look oout for them in the end

[RusStyles]

Voting is overrated. If the waiter brings you pork chops or barb-b-q pork ribs as a choice, and you don't eat pork, you essentially have Hobson's Choice. The burden--to me--is on the politicians to back-up their campaign rhetoric with action. Failure to do so leads to The Boy Who Cried Wolf Syndrome. Voting is only impactful when you have someone to vote for that will support/address your issues. America is really an oligarchy, masquerading as a democracy.