Al "Amos" Sharpton & Jesse "Andy" Jackson

With the emergence of Barack Obama, young progressive blacks thought we had all but ridded ourselves of Rev. Jesse Jacksonand Rev. Al Sharpton; relegating them to small marches, insignificant demonstrations and ineffective boycotts. What a difference a week makes. Thanks to Imus and the mainstream media they are back. Sure we weren't completely safe we still have the likes of Charlie Rangle and Shelie Jackson Lee in the congress; but to Rangle's and Lee's credit they are elected officials. To my young 38 year knowledge neither Jackson or Sharpton have ever been elected to anything. They are from time to time appointed by the mainstream, mostly white, media to hold political theater for 15 minutes (or a few months) . That does not make them black leaders, that just makes them the "leading blacks."

Let anything with the tinge of racial overtones emerge, say an idiotic incentive slur from an insignificant geriatric has-been morning radio shock jock; and here they come. The media feeds both their egos with cameras and microphones ready to find out what "blacks" think as can only be interpreted by two African-American political hustlers. I mean you didn't see these two on Tavis Smiley's show, or Gil Nobel's Like It Is, but everyone from television's ABC to radio's WXYZ radio had a mike in the face of these two blow-hards.

Jackson and Sharpton are from an area of black politics that is no longer relevant to my generation. They are relics of an old guard that may very well have marched with Dr. King but clearly didn't learn anything from the conversations along the journey. Can anyone imagine Dr. King having the malice and lack of forgiveness these two huckster showed Don Imus. My God, Dr. King preached non-violence and love towards people that were beating the hell out of blacks for trying to vote! Insensitive comments? Give me a break. I don't want to get into the hypocrisy of calling for someone's job. Dr. King was shot on the way to speaking for garbage men and their right to unionize and work. Do you think he would have supported getting someone, anyone fired? Are Sharpton and Jackson so ignorant as to think that Imus didn't also have a "staff" that may be out of work? Do they care? Probably not, since neither has "worked" a day in his life. What exactly is the National Action Network or The Rainbow Coalition for that matter?

This is by no means a 1^st amendment issue as some of my friends on the right have tried to portray it. It isn't about free speech. It isn't about thought policing or political correctness. It isn't even about rap music. It is about two opportunist using the American system of money, greed and fear to scare advertisers into scaring networks into serving their own agenda which wasn't even about ridding the airwaves of the unfunny Imus. The real agenda of these two is jockeying for position for a chance to speak at the democratic national convention. So in essence this can all be blamed on Barack Obama. Had he not given such a riveting speech in 2004 and propelled himself into democratic political prominence Jackson and Sharpton may have stayed quiet and irrelevant. Shame on you Obama.