Jesse Jackson: Hypocrite?

Posted by Brian Tubbs Apr 15, 2007

The Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr., founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, has been among the more strident voices calling for the firing of controversial talk show host Imus from "Imus in the Morning." CBS has since done just that.

“Choose dignity or choose Imus,” Rev. Jackson said at a recent rally. “There is an unlimited flow of bigotry on many of these radio shows. People across lines of color should not tolerate this...This is not a slip of the lip, this is a pattern,” he said. “This was a conversation.”

Jackson's comments regarding Imus may be correct. Speaking for myself, I'm inclined to agree that Imus' comments reflect more than a "slip of the lip." I also agree with Jackson that bigotry should be neither tolerated nor funded. However....

Several years ago, I attended a Rainbow PUSH conference, which featured an appearance by Slick Rick, a gangsta rap artist and...er...convicted felon. Slick Rick is known for his vulgar and offensive lyrics. One of his songs is entitled "Treat Her Like a Prostitute." Apparently, this is dating advice from the rap artist. Other song titles are too graphic to mention here.

Jackson is no stranger to such controversy. In the early 1990s, he drew criticism from Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton for inviting the extremely controversial Sister Souljah to one of his conferences. Souljah is known for hate-filled rants against white people.

Is Jesse Jackson a hypocrite? Well....if he, in fact, is saying that we should not condone bigotry and hatred when it comes to talk show jocks like Imus, then the same standard should be applied to his own Rainbow PUSH conferences when it comes to rap artists like Sister Souljah and Slick Rick. At least, that's what I think. What say you?