...I've Got a Lot to Say About the "Reverend" Al Sharpton

[Originally posted on Oct. 6, 2005]


You can't blame a man for wanting to defend the poor and downtrodden. Nor can you condemn a man for speaking out against injustice. You can, however, blame and condemn a man for the fabrication of lies, and the instigation of violence resulting in death. The "Reverend" Al Sharpton is guilty of all these, and a hate-monger of the worst kind.

I have always felt distaste for Al Sharpton; not for the color of his skin, but rather the ignorance that seems to flow so freely from his mouth. I may live in the South. I may have spent much of my life in the South. But thank Heaven my formative years were spent overseas, as a child of the military, where racism-- at least in my family --was simply not tolerated. My earliest recollection of hearing the term "nigger" was when I was at least thirteen, in a middle-school that was predominately black [the Military has a penchant for integrating its children into the most "culturally rich" schools in the community]. And I was the target of racist behavior. Not because I stuttered, which I did with unthinking and embarrassing ease, but because of the color of my skin.

Last year I discovered "The Neal Boortz Radio Show" and his weblog Boortz.com/Nuze. Not being one to take the word of any one individual, I chose instead to find out for myself just who and what the real Al Sharpton is.

For context, here is the passage from Boortz/Nuze, the impetus for my own research: The 3rd item down entitled "Slime on the Podium", Dated April 30, 2004.

Maybe Sharpton can use this speech to apologize to Steve Pagones. Sharpton accused Pagones, a prosecutor, of raping Tawana Brawley. Pagones later sued Sharpton and was awarded $345,000. Sharpton has yet to apologize for his role in the Brawley affair, and his unfounded and slanderous accusations against Pagones and others.

While Sharpton's on a roll, maybe he can apologize to the family of Yankel Rosenbaum. Rosenbaum was surrounded and stabbed to death by a Brooklyn mob shouting "kill the Jews." The crowd had been whipped into a frenzy by Al Sharpton railing against "diamond merchants" with "the blood of innocent babies" on their hands. What was this all about? A young black child was killed in a traffic accident. A Jew was driving the car that killed him.

Sharpton can finish by apologizing to the families of the seven employees of Freddy's Fashion Mart in Harlem. Freddy's, you see, was owned by a white Jew. The owner of Freddy's rents his space from a black landlord. He then rents a small portion of his space to a music store owned by a black man. The black landlord raises the rent on Freddy's Fashion Mart. This means that the owner of Freddy's, the white Jew, must raise the rent on the black man who owns the record store. Enter Al Sharpton. Sharpton starts leading demonstrations. He screams to the crowd that "We will not stand by and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business." Sharpton's mob starts yelling "Burn down the Jew store!" and "We're going to see that this cracker suffers." A protester enters the store. He warns all black customers to get out and then shoots four employees point-blank, then sets a fire. Seven employees dead. Sharpton owes them an apology.

When I first read this I was more than a little shocked. I mean, I never heard any of this on any MSM outlet. I remembered the news items themselves, but not any of the underlying idiocy on Mr. Sharpton's part; Only that he was a "civil rights leader". Instead, the MSM praised him incessantly, and they continue to do so.

Here are a few corroborating articles that support Mr. Boortz claims.

The Worst of Al Sharpton
A troubling tale from his past. Is it true?
By William Saletan, Ben Jacobs, and Avi Zenilman
Monday, Sept. 8, 2003

Sharpton’s Lost Opportunity
By Tamar Jacoby
Spring 1998

The New York Pogrom Case
Civil Rights for Everybody Else - But Not for Rosenbaum
By Dr. Gerhard Falk

Let Sharpton be Sharpton!
Republicans should embrace his candidacy.
By Rod Dreher, NRO Contributor
January 23, 2003

School's Out for Sharpton
By Charles Ganske
February 12, 2003

Reconsidering Black Anti-Semitism
By Larry Elder
April 26, 2002


Granted: The "Reverend" Al Sharpton has as many supporters as detractors on the internet. But when trying to determine the truth for one's self it becomes necessary to set aside praise and demogoguery, both, and look instead at the facts surrounding the cases in point. And the truth remains that in each case, had Mr. Sharpton not been the point man, spouting what many today consider hate-speech, Yankel Rosenbaum, and the seven employees of Freddy's Fashion Mart would not be dead. It is not against the law to speak one's mind in public, and loudly. It is, however, against the law to shout "Fire!" in a crowded theater. It is also reprehensible in light of the death and mayhem such actions inevitably cause.

Mr. Sharpton [ for I cannot in good conscious call him "reverend" ] may indeed be well-intentioned in his quest to obtain equality for Blacks in America; a ridiculous quest in that Blacks have as much-- and more --opportunity than Whites in America. But Mr. Sharpton won't be happy until America pays every single Black in America compensatory wages for suffering the indignity of Slavery in America, nevermind the fact that not a single black in America today has ever suffered under the oppressive yolk of slavery, unless you wish to include the American Welfare System.

But Eric, What about the murder of James Byrd, Jr. in Jasper Texas?

It was indeed a brutal, and particularly heinous murder. But it was perpetuated by individuals, not the institution of American Government.

Eric, what about those cops who killed Amadou Diallo?

Yes, 4 New York policemen shot and killed Amadou Diallo. But that was the ignorance and stupidity of 4 individuals, not the policy of the New York City Police Department.

The "Reverend" Sharpton, however, sees devils in every doorknob, a racist in every whiteman, a thief and degenerate in every Jew. He is, along with a few other choice individuals, a liar, and a hate-monger, with blood on his hands. Plain and Simple.

Why anyone would take this man seriously on issues of Race, and Equality is beyond my ability to comprehend. And I'm pretty damn sharp.