Al Sharpton endorses Senator Obama privately-blasts Clinton

[Tropics_Dude83]

Time Magazine's website reports:

Sharpton Keeping Obama Support Quiet

Says he backs the Illinois Senator, but believes it wiser not to formally endorse him.

“I said, ‘I’m gonna do whatever I gotta do to help you. Hillary Clinton has never done nothing for us.”

[robbedvoter]

1. That's a surprise! Thanks again Al for the GOP Mayor who arrested RNC protesters

without cause as well as spying on anti-war activists! Al told his (sockpuppet's) voters to stay home election day - god forbid we had a progressive mayor like Mark Green!

[mrreowwr_kittty]

3. I heard that was because Mark Green's supporters were a bunch of assholes

Racebaiting has consequences, it turns out.

[robbedvoter]

6. Ever hear of Sharptonizing? he invented using race to destroy his opponents.

I am sure he inspired many things in this campaign - in the pre-SC "Psst! Don't remind anyone I am black - and especially don't throw me in that briar patch"

[Frances]

2. Al Sharpton should keep totally quiet if he really wants to help

Obama.

African Americans are already supporting Obama by huge margins.

A lot of whites will vote the opposite of what Sharpton says.

[TheDebbieDee]

4. And Rev. Sharpton has kept quiet throughout these primaries.

So has Rev. Jesse Jackson and other prominent African-American notables.

They have been supporting Sen. Obama by being able to understand that their open and visible support of Sen. Obama MIGHT scare away a lot of independent voters and fence-sitters.

[robbedvoter]

7. And a lot of blacks as well. he campaigned in SC in 2004 on GOP money...

Richard Stone financed him - remember him?

[SeaLyons]

5. What a freak!!

[indimuse]

8. who's us?

..

[susankh4]

9. I'll take Ms. Johnson-Bailey's endorsement over his.... any day!

This proud black woman, and professor tells us "I have been called a Mammy so much over these last few weeks as I've voiced my support for Senator Clinton that I have started sending out this response to my Black girlfriends who call me a race traitor." Here's an excerpt from the letter:


Mammy or Conscious Black Woman?

I do question Black women who think of me as a race traitor for being a Clinton supporter, especially those who can’t discuss either candidate’s platform. I wonder how they can blindly choose race loyalty over their racial and gender interests. Here are my thoughts.

I don't feel like a Mammy to Senator Clinton, as Melissa Harris-Lacewell of Princeton claimed in her op ed piece, Mammy Goes to Washington, of Black women who support Clinton. What I am is the invisible unheard Black woman voter who is trampled in the media dash to simplify racial politics. I can't give my loyalty to any person who takes my vote for granted and won’t bring me and my issues out in the light of day. Here are my thoughts.

<snip>

5. Senator Clinton has spoken out on race, while Senator Obama said has tried to ingratiate himself to those who believe in the power of a colorblind society. Obama has said that class was more in play than race in the Jena 6 incidents; he has said that Blacks are 90% on the way to equality; and Obama has said that the federal government’s incompetence during Katrina was colorblind.

A Black man who believes such things may share the dailiness of being Black in America with me, but he and I have certainly interpreted these experiences differently. A Black man who believes such things can not take my support for granted. I can not give him a pass on these issues because of the color of his skin.

<snip>

8. I ask the question that Tavis Smiley asked Senator Kennedy, "Why is it that all these powerful White men have lined up behind Obama and most of the Black Caucus is lined up behind Senator Clinton?"

9. I ask further, "Do powerful White men come bearing gifts wanting nothing in return?" The Kennedy that I most respect because he has been in the trenches is Robert Kennedy's son, who is supporting Senator Clinton and worked for her in CA. But that didn't make the news either.

<snip>

In closing, I feel like a woman who has been where Clinton has been, abandoned by women who in their heart of hearts, can't quite live their self-love because they were so socialized into loving and caring for everyone else before themselves, especially men. And I’ve been someplace that Senator Clinton has not been. I’ve been called names, especially by my Sistahs, who feel like I’m choosing a White woman over a Black man. I love Black men. I have loved the same one for 37 years. And I'm not afraid of Black men with power. I also live with this same Black man who has power, a CEO. If this were not a time of crisis and 10 years down the road, I might consider the Obama band wagon, but not today.

<snip>

I don't feel like a Mammy to Senator Clinton. If you want to talk female stereotypes, I don’t want be a mistress to Obama -- never mentioned, but taken for granted. I feel that I am making an informed choice. I choose the mentor over the protégé. I choose to be an empowered, conscious, and informed modern Black woman, not one who is having her pain played on by people who have not demonstrated that they hear me or value me – just people who want my vote and expect it or else.

Juanita Johnson-Bailey
Black Woman,
Professor & Clinton Supporter

(The full letter may be viewed in my journal, as I await permission to crosspost it to the GD:P.)