Rev. Jesse Jackson, "Only Halfway There"

November 24, 2005

REV. JESSE JACKSON, "ONLY HALFWAY THERE"

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The Reverend Jesse Jackson, elated with Barack Obama's election, was quick to point out, "We, as a society, are only halfway there."

For a nation that struggled through school segregation, the MLK Jr. assassination, outrageously expensive Nike shoes, the rampant use of racial epithets in the pop-media, and the Terry Schiavo case, Rev. Jesse Jackson calls the delayed election of a black man to the presidency a "bittersweet victory."

The reverend readily reminds readers that the country could have done this over two decades ago.  Those would be the days when Jackson himself made two consecutive bids for the most powerful position in the nation.  In his 1984 campaign, he was considered a "fringe candidate," and lost the nomination due to the unfair delegate process.

"I had 21% of the popular vote, and won states like Virginia, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Mississippi; yet, I only had 8% of delegates.  I mean, I won the most important state of all--The District of Columbia.  That is where the President lives, what means more than that?  If it weren't for that Hymietown bias, I might have been President."

Jackson renewed his bid in 1988 with greater success.  He won 11 states, including the "state" of Washington, D.C. but the conspiracy against his candidacy endured.  

"America had a chance to complete the transformation from racist to tolerant in the 1980's," Jackson reminisces, "But at least we are 50% of the way there now, Obama is half-black."

Editor's Note:  Jackson referred to New York City as Hymietown because of all the conspiring jews that cost him the election.