Who would think that a politically incorrect statement like this could have come from the mouth of a civil rights leader. Yet, this statement was made, nearly 30 years ago, by the esteemed Rev. Jesee Jackson speaking on crime.
He said,
“There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery. Then [I] look around and see someone White and feel relieved.”
“This [Black on Black] killing is not based upon poverty; it is based upon greed and violence and guns.”
“. . . We’ve got the power right now to stop killing each other. . . . There is a code of silence, based upon fear. Our silence is a sanctuary for killers and drug dealers. There must be a market revolt. The victim has to rise up.”
“And about making heroes of gang killers who are in prison and trying to get them out so they can become “leaders.”
“When we are on the offensive arguing about getting killers out of jail, there is no moral authority in that.”
-Rev. Jesse Jackson speaking on crime to Operation PUSH November 27 1993.
Interestingly, no audio or video could be located of this speech. Luckily, the notable journalist Mike Royko analyzed this speech shortly after it was made and memorialized it in an article.
Royko’s assessment that Jackson’s truth (although politically incorrect) may have been Jackson’s finest moment is dead on accurate.
