Racism and Hypocrisy by Reverends

In the light of Don Imus' racist "jokes" and subsequent firing, racism is on the front pages again. Not coincidentally, America's racial reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are on the front pages again.

The blog post above (here or click on the title bar) brings up some history on Sharpton and Jackson that you might not know, including their documented antisemitism. That's right, both alleged purveyors of racial harmony have some special nicknames for Jewish people, and Sharpton in particular seems to have incited antisemitic riots that have led to the deaths of eight innocent people. Another quote from the entry has interesting echoes of the recent Duke lacrosse scandal (in which Sharpton also had plenty to say):

The good “reverend” Al Sharpton has a history of using racial attacks to further his cause. As noted in the 2003 column by Jeff Jacoby, in 1987 Sharpton spread a hoax that a 15-year-old black girl was “abducted, raped, and smeared with feces by a group of white men.” Sharpton singled out one particular white man, saying, “If we’re lying, sue us, so we can . . . prove you did it.” The man does sue and wins $345,000.

Hopefully you weren't taking either of these guys too seriously before--when you start fathering illegitimate children (as Jackson has) nobody should call you "Reverend"--but this puts their self-serving racial ambulance-chasing in a new light.

If you think I'm being too harsh, check out this dead-on column by Jason Whitlock. Whitlock is a black sports columnist whose take on racial issues I don't always appreciate, but he provides some much-needed perspective on the damage Imus did versus the ongoing work of gangsta rappers. He says this:

Rather than confront this heinous enemy [hip hop that has been perverted, corrupted and overtaken by prison culture] from within, we sit back and wait for someone like Imus to have a slip of the tongue and make the mistake of repeating the things we say about ourselves.

Let me say that I join everyone on the planet in condemning Imus' comments. I think misogyny and mocking of a person's natural physical traits (whether or not those traits are shared by an entire racial group) are asinine and symptomatic of a tiny mind. However, I completely agree with Whitlock that Imus' comments aren't even in the neighborhood of the worst commentary of that type today. As Whitlock says:

I don’t listen or watch Imus’ show regularly. Has he at any point glorified selling crack cocaine to black women? Has he celebrated black men shooting each other randomly? Has he suggested in any way that it’s cool to be a baby-daddy rather than a husband and a parent? Does he tell his listeners that they’re suckers for pursuing education and that they’re selling out their race if they do?

When Imus does any of that, call me and I’ll get upset.

Al Sharpton has been all over Imus, but if he really cares about the problems facing black people today he should mount a campaign against the poison infecting todays hop-hop culture.