Is Al Sharpton Still Relevant?

[Thuso]

In a Washington Post article by Keith B. Richburg titled, "Not Relevant? Sharpton Scoffs at the Idea", Al Sharpton shares a perspective on his contribution to the political landscape that may escape the unsophisticated observer.

The reporter offers the following contrast with Barack Obama.

Obama, a Democratic senator from Illinois, has emerged as the first black politician with a serious chance of capturing his party's presidential nomination and the White House. And there have been other notable, if quiet, political successes, such as Deval Patrick becoming the first African American governor of Massachusetts, and David Paterson being elected New York's first black lieutenant governor.

Those successes have led some to suggest that the country is ready to embrace, in the post-civil rights era, a new kind of black leader, one who transcends race and appeals to as many white voters as black.

This has led some to conclude that Sharton's style of politics is no longer relevant.

Sharpton has "been eclipsed, because Obama puts guys like Sharpton in the shadow," said Fred Siegel, a historian of New York City at the Cooper Union college in Manhattan. "Suppose Obama is elected president. He's terrible for Sharpton, because that takes away Sharpton's job. He's a kind of racial ambulance chaser. It's hard to engage in that game if there's another powerful African American politician."

This is how Charles Ogletree, noted Black Harvard University professor, describes Sharpton.

Sharpton derives his role in large part because of a continued sense of dispossession and racial injustice that persists among many in black America. "Reverend Sharpton is the catalyst that continues to bring people together on issues of empowerment and injustice," said Charles Ogletree, the Harvard University law professor and scholar on race and equality matters. "Whenever there is any event involving racial injustice, he is always the first responder."

Even with the rise of successful mainstream black politicians who are able to transcend racial issues, Ogletree said, "Since the black community's concerns and issues are not monolithic, the Reverend Sharpton will always be relevant."

Al Sharton offers this reaction to the sugestion that he is not relevant.

"It borders on insulting to say that because some blacks are doing well in politics, we don't need organizations to protect civil rights," he said. "The role I play in American life, and the role that Deval Patrick and Barack play, are two different roles."

He also calls that view of his diminishing importance a misreading of modern black history. "We've always had blacks on the inside and blacks on the outside," he said. "You always had blacks so-called in the system and blacks outside."

I believe that this "inside/outside" tandem can be leveraged as a powerful set of tactics if we don't allow the "misreading" of the subtle realities of the Black community to divide us. We need both Barack Obama and Al shrpton, in my opinion. What is important is that we recognize that these tactics are in pursuit of the same goals for Black people.

[Bro Haki]

Al Sharpton is limited. He has a limited vision for Black Empowerment. He continues to engage in Token electoral politics as if this alone will move the Black Race forward. I listen to Sharpton and he has some good points though he is restrained and held in check to a certain degree. He is disconnected from the True Black Doers and Professional Servants. Ideologically he would enventually sell out. He is too liberal and too scared. He was on his program saying everyone else is scared. Well Bro Sharpton I personally happen to think you are kind of scared. I do have Sharpton's book "Al on America". If someone is even more mainstream than Sharpton than they are quite useless to black people.

[samres]

Greetings.

For reasons already quoted in the Washington Post Article, Sharpton is relevant. Whether or not Sharpton's tactics are creating maximum effectiveness is something that I know many people will debate.

Of course the rhetoric about "transcending race" is another matter. You can not "transcend" what God made you! The closet racists (there is valid reason to use this term) who promote this are really saying "when you ignore ethnic/racial oppression, you are transcending race".

Back to Sharpton, like him or not, he made some valid points concerning "inside/outside". We (Africans in America) must understand that the "founding fathers" of America...and tens of thousands of past and present non-Black Americans, never intended for us to do more than serve their self-ish interest or be worked to death in the process of doing so. As long as this mentality persist in America (and anywhere else anti-Black/anti-African racism resides) there will always be a need for an "inside/outside" aproach to socio-political issues.

Should Sharpton change some things he's doing? In my opinion...absolutely! However, he is relevent.

Sam