When the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s death was announced on February 17, people started forwarding a clip from Sesame Street in 1972. Jackson led black, white, Asian and Hispanic children sitting on the famous Sesame Street stoop in a call and response. Each sentence ended with “I am – somebody!”
It was an iconic moment, not least because the piece ended with: “But I am somebody./I am Black,/
Brown or white./ I speak a different language/But I must be respected,/Protected,/Never rejected./
I am God’s child!”
It is hard to imagine any US public service broadcaster, or indeed an Irish one, allowing such an unashamedly religious statement to be aired. Jesse Jackson is not dressed as a minister. He has an outlandishly large medallion with a profile of the Rev. Martin Luther King around his neck, but his style is unmistakably that of a preacher.
His role as a preacher was both his strength and his weakness. For over sixty years, Jackson was a Baptist minister, but also a civil rights icon, a two-time presidential candidate, and a sometimes self-appointed but nonetheless successful international negotiator.
He was also a flawed human being. While he was acting as counsellor for Bill Clinton in the wake of Clinton’s disgraceful treatment of Monica Lewinsky, Jackson himself was conducting an affair with Karin Stanford. She was twenty years younger and gave birth to his daughter outside marriage.
He already had five children with his wife of 38 years, Jacqueline. His wife obviously forgave him because they remained together.
Jackson was himself the child of a single parent in the Jim Crow era. He was born Jesse Louis Burns on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, to Helen Burns, a seventeen-year-old unmarried student, and Noah Robinson, a much older married neighbour. He took the name Jackson from Charles Jackson, who married his mother and adopted Jesse.
He became a protégé of Dr Martin Luther King Jr, around the time of the marches in Selma, Alabama”
Jackson was a talented athlete and won a football scholarship to the University of Illinois, but was not allowed to play quarterback as that role was reserved for white players. He later entered seminary and was influenced by the Black Social Gospel, the belief that faith had to be at the heart of opposing racism and supporting fair wages and human rights.
He was an activist even as a student. Among other things, he staged a sit-in at a racially segregated public library.
He became a protégé of Dr Martin Luther King Jr, around the time of the marches in Selma, Alabama. Dr Martin Luther King’s organisation, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), had an economic arm, Operation Breadbasket. King put Jackson in charge of the Chicago branch.
Jackson used consumer power to force major corporations, including grocery chains, to hire black workers and give contracts to black-owned suppliers.
He was present when Dr Martin Luther King was assassinated, but fell out with King’s successor, Dr Ralph Abernathy.
Views
At first, Jackson was fervently pro-life. In a 1973 interview with Jet Magazine, he referred to abortion as genocide and said the right to privacy could be used to justify slavery on a plantation.
But by the time he first sought nomination to the presidency by the Democratic Party in 1980, he declared himself not pro-abortion but in favour of the freedom to choose. However, he remained opposed to euthanasia and was a strong anti-death penalty campaigner.
He originally believed that marriage was between a man and a woman. His journey on this topic took longer. It was not until 2010 that he completely backed same-sex marriage.
Jackson had several successful dramatic forays into international diplomacy, often without the explicit blessing of the US government. In 1983, Jackson travelled to Damascus to negotiate the release of Navy Lt. Robert Goodman, whose plane had been shot down over Lebanon. By appealing to Syrian President Hafez al-Assad on humanitarian grounds, Jackson secured Goodman’s release.
In 1990, he negotiated with Saddam Hussein for the release of hundreds of foreign prisoners before the Gulf War.
Barack Obama credited him with paving his way to the White House.
Jackson had many great achievements, but ultimately, he demonstrated the wisdom in the Catholic Church’s ban on pastors being politicians. Politics remains the dominion of laypeople.
It is virtually impossible not to be influenced by the views of the party to which you belong”
It is not that priests cannot ignore political situations, particularly injustice. For example, Fr Alec Reid and Rev. Harold Good greatly helped the Northern Peace Process with their active presence. But they never became politicians.
Jackson illustrates that if you seek high office, it is virtually impossible not to be influenced by the views of the party to which you belong. We have seen many lay people follow the same path in Ireland when it comes to the famous ‘going on a journey’, which leads to changing fundamental values. We should value the politicians who in difficult circumstances hold on to their key values.
Priests’ involvement in politics and resulting moral compromises
When the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s death was announced on February 17, people started forwarding a clip from Sesame Street in 1972. Jackson led black, white, Asian and Hispanic children sitting on the famous Sesame Street stoop in a call and response. Each sentence ended with “I am – somebody!”
It was an iconic moment, not least because the piece ended with: “But I am somebody./I am Black,/
Brown or white./ I speak a different language/But I must be respected,/Protected,/Never rejected./
I am God’s child!”
It is hard to imagine any US public service broadcaster, or indeed an Irish one, allowing such an unashamedly religious statement to be aired. Jesse Jackson is not dressed as a minister. He has an outlandishly large medallion with a profile of the Rev. Martin Luther King around his neck, but his style is unmistakably that of a preacher.
His role as a preacher was both his strength and his weakness. For over sixty years, Jackson was a Baptist minister, but also a civil rights icon, a two-time presidential candidate, and a sometimes self-appointed but nonetheless successful international negotiator.
He was also a flawed human being. While he was acting as counsellor for Bill Clinton in the wake of Clinton’s disgraceful treatment of Monica Lewinsky, Jackson himself was conducting an affair with Karin Stanford. She was twenty years younger and gave birth to his daughter outside marriage.
He already had five children with his wife of 38 years, Jacqueline. His wife obviously forgave him because they remained together.
Jackson was himself the child of a single parent in the Jim Crow era. He was born Jesse Louis Burns on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, to Helen Burns, a seventeen-year-old unmarried student, and Noah Robinson, a much older married neighbour. He took the name Jackson from Charles Jackson, who married his mother and adopted Jesse.
Jackson was a talented athlete and won a football scholarship to the University of Illinois, but was not allowed to play quarterback as that role was reserved for white players. He later entered seminary and was influenced by the Black Social Gospel, the belief that faith had to be at the heart of opposing racism and supporting fair wages and human rights.
He was an activist even as a student. Among other things, he staged a sit-in at a racially segregated public library.
He became a protégé of Dr Martin Luther King Jr, around the time of the marches in Selma, Alabama. Dr Martin Luther King’s organisation, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), had an economic arm, Operation Breadbasket. King put Jackson in charge of the Chicago branch.
Jackson used consumer power to force major corporations, including grocery chains, to hire black workers and give contracts to black-owned suppliers.
He was present when Dr Martin Luther King was assassinated, but fell out with King’s successor, Dr Ralph Abernathy.
Views
At first, Jackson was fervently pro-life. In a 1973 interview with Jet Magazine, he referred to abortion as genocide and said the right to privacy could be used to justify slavery on a plantation.
But by the time he first sought nomination to the presidency by the Democratic Party in 1980, he declared himself not pro-abortion but in favour of the freedom to choose. However, he remained opposed to euthanasia and was a strong anti-death penalty campaigner.
He originally believed that marriage was between a man and a woman. His journey on this topic took longer. It was not until 2010 that he completely backed same-sex marriage.
Jackson had several successful dramatic forays into international diplomacy, often without the explicit blessing of the US government. In 1983, Jackson travelled to Damascus to negotiate the release of Navy Lt. Robert Goodman, whose plane had been shot down over Lebanon. By appealing to Syrian President Hafez al-Assad on humanitarian grounds, Jackson secured Goodman’s release.
In 1990, he negotiated with Saddam Hussein for the release of hundreds of foreign prisoners before the Gulf War.
Barack Obama credited him with paving his way to the White House.
Jackson had many great achievements, but ultimately, he demonstrated the wisdom in the Catholic Church’s ban on pastors being politicians. Politics remains the dominion of laypeople.
It is not that priests cannot ignore political situations, particularly injustice. For example, Fr Alec Reid and Rev. Harold Good greatly helped the Northern Peace Process with their active presence. But they never became politicians.
Jackson illustrates that if you seek high office, it is virtually impossible not to be influenced by the views of the party to which you belong. We have seen many lay people follow the same path in Ireland when it comes to the famous ‘going on a journey’, which leads to changing fundamental values. We should value the politicians who in difficult circumstances hold on to their key values.
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