Open letter
to Senator Joe Lieberman from Rev. Al
Sharpton
Dear Senator
Lieberman:
Though I have resisted getting involved in
the political hysteria around your
re-election campaign, an October 5th New
York Times article prompted me to break my
silence. The article reports that you,
accompanied by former New York City Mayor Ed
Koch, raised questions before and audience
of supporters of Israel about my presence in
the support of Ned Lamont, who defeated you
with my assistance in the primary for the
Democratic nomination for United States
Senate in Connecticut. Though much has been
said by surrogates of yours since Mr.
Lamont’s victory, I have not seen anything
directly attributed to you until this
article. Frankly, I thought that you having
called me personally before my endorsement
of Lamont, and asking for my support, or at
least to not support your opponent, in the
name as you stated to me by phone, that “we
were old friends,” meant that you were above
petty politics. For you to then turn around
and try to demonize someone you yourself had
befriended and were comfortable enough to
talk to at anytime either of us reached out
to one another was unimaginable to me. You
see, I even said in endorsing Ned Lamont
that I disagreed with you on policy, but
considered you a decent man.
However, even my disappointment with your
character does not prompt this open letter.
It is your open and flagrant race baiting
and your risking Black-Jewish relations that
many of us have tried to repair, for your
own political gain, that is most troubling
to me. I remember in the early stages of the
2004 Presidential Primary Campaign you and I
talked and agreed that we would be careful
not to exacerbate or revive Black-Jewish
tensions. It led to our being very friendly
and leading to much communication. Even
after the campaign you agreed to sitting
down and doing an interview for the National
Action Network documentary of my campaign on
how impressed you were, and how well we
worked together (a tape we still have). I
recall how many took note in the 2000
election when you were the Vice Presidential
candidate you publicly stated you wanted to
meet with Minister Louis Farrakhan who many
had denounced as anti-Semitic. For you now
to totally flip the script to hopefully
incite some race based hysteria in a
desperate attempt to save your political
career is beneath the dignity of the man I
thought I got to know in 2004. You never
once attacked or questioned my commitment to
Israel or any racial group in private or
public. In fact, you commended my 2001 trip
to Israel as a guest of the Israeli Foreign
Minister, Shimon Peres, where I denounced
terrorism. To now rewrite history and play
on peoples’ fear for petty political gain in
abhorrent.
It is also interesting to me that you would
do so standing with Ed Koch, who over the
past several years has repeatedly appeared
with me as we have jointly worked with Dr.
Charles Ogletree of Harvard University in
promoting the Second Chance program for
non-violent drug offenders. Though Koch and
I strongly disagreed when he was Mayor, in
the past several years we have traveled
together on this program, done joint
appearances in the media, posed for front
cover stories, and he has spoken at my
National Action Network headquarters. In
fact, he even spoke at my birthday
celebration 3 years ago. If Ned Lamont
appeared with me every day from now until
the election, he would still not have made
as many appearances as Ed Koch has made with
me. I call on you, in the name of two
communities that still struggle to find
common ground, and in the name of decency in
political contests, to publicly apologize
for the inferences of your statements, and
the racial politics your campaign has
blatantly engaged in since the primary. One
of the reasons I stayed in Connecticut
beyond my initially scheduled endorsement of
Ned Lamont is: I resented literature that
your campaign distributed in black churches
suggesting that Ned Lamont was a racist due
to his membership in a country club that
serves mostly white patrons. I was
constantly asked, because of your views on
affirmative action and other issues, whether
I thought you were in fact the racist, and I
constantly said: “I disagree with Joe on the
war, on affirmative action, and other
issues, which is why I can’t support him,
but Joe Lieberman marched in the deep south
for civil rights in the 60’s, and Joe
Lieberman stood up in Mississippi for voter
right’s when I was a mere child. He is no
racist.” Little did I know that you would
adapt the political strategies of those
southern bigots you marched against. Is it
just to try and win an election, Joe? You
and I often talked about the bible. I remind
you then of the biblical verse, “What
profits a man to gain the world, and loose
his own soul?”
Yours in progress,
Rev. Al Sharpton
SPIKE LEE &
POLITICAL LEADERS FÉTE REV. AL SHARPTON’S
52ND BIRTHDAY IN NEW YORK CITY; SHARPTON TO
OPEN NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK NEW ORLEANS
OUTPOST, CHALLENGES THE HIP-HOP GENERATION
NEW YORK, NY (Sunday, Oct. 1,
2006)—Award-winning filmmaker Spike Lee
joined Wall Street powerhouse Tracey
Maitland in hosting the 52nd birthday
celebration for Rev. Al Sharpton, President
of National Action Network. The overflow
event was held at the trendy PM Lounge in
the Meatpacking District in Manhattan.
Luminaries included NYC Comptroller William
Thompson, State Senator David Paterson,
candidate for New York State Lt. Gov., State
Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, City
Council Speaker Christine Quinn,
Businesswoman Suzanne Shank, entertainment
legend Suzanne de Passe, football star
Michael Strahan, Broadway star Brenda
Braxton, Yvette Clarke, Democratic candidate
for Congress in Brooklyn’s 11th
Congressional District, and comedian Paul
Mooney, and more.
In a rousing speech, Rev. Sharpton announced
the opening of a National Action Network
outpost in New Orleans in mid-November to
help relocate and service people who still
suffer the effects of government neglect in
the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. “Young
people tell me all the time that civil
rights is a 60’s thing and they were too
young for Birmingham or Selma, well so was I
but nothing happened in the sixties worse
than the government neglect and civil rights
challenge” stated Sharpton. Rev. Dr. W.
Franklyn Richardson, Pastor of Grace Baptist
Church and Chairman of National Action
Network’s Board of Directors raised pledges
over $150,000 at the party to help subsidize
the outpost.
Midway through the party, Rev. Sharpton
brought hip-hop artist L’il Kim to the
stage. Kim, who recently was released from
jail, hugged the preacher as he stated: “You
have gone through a challenge and gotten
through it. It can make you stronger if you
use it wisely. I challenge you to join me in
getting the poison out of hip-hop. Hip-hop
is good but the glorifying of violence and
degradation of women must stop. You have a
unique position to help us do that Kim.” The
crowd applauded their embrace.
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Al
Sharpton on
Bush's NAACP
Speech
Friday , July
21, 2006
This is a
partial
transcript from
"The O'Reilly
Factor," July
20, 2006, that
has been edited
for clarity.
Watch "The
O'Reilly Factor"
weeknights at 8
p.m. and 11 p.m.
ET and listen to
the "Radio
Factor!"
BILL
O'REILLY, HOST:
"Personal story"
segment tonight,
for the first
time in his
tenure as
president, Mr.
Bush addressed
the NAACP.
(BEGIN VIDEO
CLIP)
BUSH: Now
we'll work
together. And as
we do so, you
must understand,
and I
understand, that
racism still
lingers in
America.
(APPLAUSE)
It's a lot
easier to change
a law than to
change a human
heart. And I
understand that
many
African-Americans
distrust my
political party.
(END VIDEO
CLIP)
O'REILLY:
Joining us now
from Atlanta is
Reverend Al
Sharpton. It was
a conciliatory
speech by the
president. It
was respectful,
I thought, to
the NAACP and
its audience. Am
I wrong?
AL SHARPTON,
REV., CIVIL
RIGHTS ACTIVIST:
I think it may
have been
conciliatory in
tone, but I
didn't hear him
really address
policies that
really would
have shown that
he wanted to
address civil
rights issues of
the day. He
never mentioned
affirmative
action. He said
racism lingers.
Not even a
mention of
affirmative
action or how
we're going to
catch up.
He talked about
education, but
he said that we
would push no
child left
behind, a
program he
didn't fund. And
dealing with
schools. So it
was strong on
rhetoric, short
on real policy
and substance.
O'REILLY:
All right. Maybe
you can explain
this to me.
Because you
know, I'm not as
smart as you
are.
SHARPTON:
Oh, right.
O'REILLY:
There's no
question about
that, Reverend.
You're much
smarter than I
am. Under the
Bush
administration,
more money is
being given to
inner city
public schools
in the history
of the country.
In fact more
money is being
given to public
education in the
USA than
anywhere else in
the world.
And now you come
on "The Factor,"
you a no-spin
guy, and say
Bush is not
funding
No Child Left
Behind. I'm
saying, here's
the money. It's
going out. So
where am I
wrong?
SHARPTON:
To give more
money is not to
give what you
committed in
terms of your
own funding
mandate. I'm
saying he didn't
fund what he
mandated.
O'REILLY:
More money, it's
historically
high.
SHARPTON:
It's
historically
high compared to
others. It's not
what he said and
he's even saying
that he wants to
deal with
charter schools
and public
education
charters.
But what happens
to the majority
of students that
cannot deal with
public education
charter schools?
The job of
American
presidents is to
give quality
education to
everybody. Not
select few that
can choose their
way out of a bad
school.
O'REILLY:
You know as well
as I do that
money doesn't
mean you're
going to get a
quality
education. I
mean, I had 60
kids in my class
at Saint
Bridget's
School, 60, 6-0.
Look how I
turned out. I
did not have any
money. Nobody
had any money.
Come on.
SHARPTON:
Bill, you raised
the question of
money how he
increased the
budget. What I'm
saying is his
policy of public
education choice
and charters
does not address
all of the
students. It
addresses those
that can escape.
You don't need
an education
policy based on
who can get out
of bad schools.
O'REILLY:
If you allow
vouchers to all
the poor kids,
no matter what
color, would you
solve the
problem right
away. But you
don't want to do
that.
SHARPTON:
But all kids
can't get a
voucher.
O'REILLY:
Well, it would
if you would
allow it.
SHARPTON:
Vouchers at best
only for those
who can get
them. You cannot
finance a
voucher system
that's for
everybody. The
voucher for
everybody is
called public
education.
O'REILLY:
Florida does. If
Florida can do
it, anybody can
do it. And it
was struck down
by the left, who
didn't want
vouchers. What
else? What else?
Were you
insulted by
anything the
president said?
SHARPTON:
Well, first of
all, I think
that you've got
to say that many
of us are still
insulted it took
five years to
get there and
then you
discover that
there's still
racism there.
When you get
there you really
don't say
anything you're
going to do
about it.
He finally said
he wants to see
the Voter Rights
Act renewed who
no amendments.
He did not say
how he's going
to have the
Justice
Department
enforce that
enforcement.
Without
enforcement the
Voter Rights
Act...
O'REILLY:
I don't know
what you're
talking about
now. But OK.
SHARPTON:
Never mentioned
anything about
enforcement.
O'REILLY:
Is there
anything the
president — is
there anything
the president
said today that
impressed you,
one thing?
SHARPTON:
I think the fact
that he said
what many people
will not say
around the right
and even on this
station that
there's still
racism in
America. It's
going to make it
hard for a lot
of people that
said that's in
the past. Even
George Bush
admits that.
O'REILLY:
OK. You think
there's racism
on both sides?
SHARPTON:
There is racism
on both sides of
what?
O'REILLY:
Both sides.
There's racism
in the white
community and in
the black
community. Is
that fair?
SHARPTON:
I think that
what he was
addressing
today...
O'REILLY:
I know what he
was addressing.
I'm asking you.
SHARPTON:
I think that
there may be
bias on all
sides. But
racism takes
power. And he
addressed that
today. I wish
he'd given it a
remedy.
O'REILLY:
All right,
Reverend. Always
a pleasure to
have you on the
show. We
appreciate
SHARPTON
BLASTS BUSH'S
SPEECH BEFORE
NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION FOR
THE ADVANCEMENT
OF COLORED
PEOPLE
The following is
a statement from
the Rev. Al
Sharpton
pertaining to
President Bush's
speech today at
the NAACP.
Thursday, July
20,
2006---“President
Bush sounded
like a doctor
making a
credible
diagnosis of a
patient’s
condition, but
prescribing
medication that
won’t heal the
patient, and
might actually
exacerbate the
patient’s
illness.
First, Public
school choices
and educational
privatization do
not address the
overwhelming
majority of
African-American
young people’s
educational
needs.
Second, by
supporting
renewal of the
Voter Rights Act
-- which we in
the National
Action Network
certainly fought
for and
supported
--without
committing to
the protection
and enforcement
of the rights of
voters, the
president's
remedy could
lead to the
undermining of
the very act we
all supported.
Saying that he's
for renewing the
VRA is not
enough. The
President should
have also
addressed
potential
problems with
new voting
machines and the
GOP-sponsored
gerrymandering
of districts, an
issue that
continues to
undermine the
voting power of
African
Americans in
this country.
Third, for the
President to
totally ignore
the white-hot
issue of
Affirmative
Action -- with
two cases
sitting before
the Supreme
Court and a
ballot
proposition on
the ballot in
Michigan this
year that would
effective end
affirmative
action in that
state -- while
admitting that
the historic
pattern of
racism
continues, is to
agree that one
has a broken
leg, but to
refuse to give
it a cast or
wheelchair.
The President
had a great
opportunity
today.
Theatrically, he
did better than
I expected. But
in substance, he
did worse than I
had hoped for.”
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