I continue to be amused and amazed by the vitriolic hatred that comes out of many conservapundits mouths whenever "The Revs" are asked to comment on issues like the recent Don Imus flap.
"The Revs" I'm speaking about are the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. It seems that many whites can't conceal their outright hatred for these gentlemen. I even heard Evan Cohen on Fox Sports Radio rant repeatedly for three hours during a third shift show early Monday morning about his 'disgust' as he put it for Rev. Jesse attending the Jackie Robinson memorial event in Los Angeles. (News flash, Evan. Rev. Jackson preached the 1972 funeral for Jackie Robinson and is a friend of the family, so explain to me why shouldn't he be there?)It seems as though these peeps have selective memories when it comes to The Revs. In Rev. Jackson's case they never fail to bring up the 1984 'Hymietown' comment but their memory banks suddenly get fuzzy when it's mentioned that in 1983 Rev. Jackson traveled to Damascus, Syria to rescue a downed US Navy pilot, ran for president in 1984 and 1988 and rescued hundreds of hostages Saddam was detaining in Iraq in 1990.
Rev. Sharpton constantly has the Tawana Brawley case thrown in his face, but he too has run for public office and has been a thoughtful and eloquent spokesperson along with Rev. Jackson on various issues. I guess y'all forgot about the thunderous speech he made at the 2004 Democratic Convention calling out the Bush misadministration.What, y'all gonna withdraw your support for Senator Barack Obama and take back everything you said about him if The Revs come out and openly support him in his presidential bid? Then again I wouldn't be suprised if that happened considering the level of the negativity spewed at Reverends Sharpton and Jackson.
The bottom line is that no matter how much Hateraid you drink and spit back at The Revs, they have much love and respect from many African-Americans. They have been on the frontlines for decades doing the African-American community's civil rights grunt work. That's more than we can say for the Negroes that are constantly trotted out by right-wingers as examples of peeps THEY think should be our leaders and THEY think we should listen to like Condoleezza Rice and others. You don't get to make that call, we do. As long as Condi and company are supporting positions, people and politicians that work against the interests of African-Americans, they'll continue to have zero credibility in our eyes.
If you're distressed that The Revs have that status, then your media outlets need to start calling the peeps that are the African-American community's ELECTED leaders in the Congressional Black Caucus to appear on the Sunday morning talk shows and other events. They need to talk to the next NAACP president. That person has juice as the head of one of the oldest civil rights organizations in our country and has a membership that crosses the spectrum of Black America. They need to talk to Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League which encompasses our business leaders. You need to have frequent chats with Cathy Hughes, the head of Radio One, the seventh largest radio corporation communications company in the US, the heads of the various Divine Nine fraternities and sororities, the editors of Jet, Ebony, Essence and Black Enterprise magazines, et cetera.
But since the media likes controversy, they'll continue to call on "The Revs" for their opinions on various issues. Bear in mind as you throw things at your TV that they DO speak for many African-American most of the time on many issues.
Sometimes they even speak for the TransGriot as well.