Jesse Jackson & Foolishness

Angela Winters takes the liberal Democratic reverend to task for accusing Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) of "acting like he's white" because of Sen. Obama's supposedly tepid response to the Jena 6 case. The black moderate blogger writes: "He's like Bill O'Reilly who decides that anyone who doesn't agree with him is somehow of questionable character. Likewise Reverend Baby Daddy, as he has done in the past, is assuming that any black public figure who doesn't act in the way he thinks they should isn't 'authentically black' because somehow he is the barometer of whatever 'authentically black' is."

She continues: "Just from my viewpoint, at my law school, some of the angriest people about this issue are white students, so he is insulting white people by equating their skin color with their values. Also, 'acting like he's white' is a bunch of high school BS. I was accused of 'acting like I think I'm white' by other black students in high school for trying to excel academically. Grow up. Personally, I do wish that Obama would speak out more about this issue because it is important and has really been upsetting to me, but I wish all the candidates would and I don't think their lack of action here has anything to do with their skin color; maybe more about the strength of their spine. This method is a low, but not unexpected, blow from Jackson."

My response: The comment about Sen. Obama is bad enough. But his "Jena is a defining moment, just like Selma was a defining moment” is over the top. Yes, the Jena 6 case is foul, but hardly equivalent to black masses not having voting rights. Come now.