There is no question that Jackson’s two Presidential runs had a major role in raising black citizens not only closer to equality in the U.S. but also to the perception of equality. Jackson was a gifted orator and acutely intelligent: it is not an exaggeration to give him substantial credit for Americans accepting the concept of a black President, which had not long beforee seemed inconceivable. The fact that Barack Obama was a disappointing and destructive force as POTUS cannot be blamed on Jackson. He opened a door that needed to be opened. What and who came through it was not Jesse’s fault.
Jackson is a major historical and cultural figure, and I wish I could justify elevating him to the status of Ethics Hero. I can’t. Jackson should have embraced the message that Bill Cosby, a far more flawed messenger, tried to sell to the black community. He sometimes made a pass at it, as when he said in 2015, “There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps… then turn around and see somebody white and feel relieved.” But that shocking admission came too late, after his influence had waned.
Jackson, like King, his mentor, also undermined his moral authority by engaging in some of the self-destructive cultural habits of the American black community.. He had a child out of wedlock with a staffer. He was sometimes openly anti-Semitic, as in his infamous characterization of New York City as “Hymietown.” Jackson had an obligation, as the U.S.’s most prominent black man, to take care that he be a positive role model, indeed an impeccable role model. He too often failed to meet that standard. Sadly, he is not alone in that failing among our leasders.
Nor should we hold Jackson responsible for his role in seeding unfortunate and even disastrous cultural and political developments. CNN says he “helped pave the way for a more progressive Democratic Party”—you know, today’s party of censorship, hate, violence, division, totalitarian aspirations, open borders, metastasizing Marxism anti-white/anti-male discrimination—and “the Black Lives Matter movement.” Not mention Kamala Harris, Al Sharpton and the George Floyd riots. Gee, thanks, Jesse! As I said. whether Jackson’s ultimate influence was positive or negative is a close call.
From the standpoint of judging a life by whether an individual left this world better than when he entered it, however, Jesse Jackson must be judged successful. He meets the qualifications of a great American, and, in the ultimate analysis, an ethical one.
Ethics Alarms 
What I consider the most memorable alleged Jesse Jackson quote, regarding Barack Obama, “I’d like to cut his nuts off,” or some version thereof.
I remember that!
Now wasn’t that polite of Mr. Trump to gloss over a desire for neutering Obama by merely referring to Mr. Jacksons hate?
I disagree, he did not ‘leave this world better.” He assited, actively and intentioanlly, in dividing the world and it s problems strictly along a racail divide. His view of the world was literally “black and white.” He could not and would nto recognize the faulted issues n hte black community. He contually t blaming the white community. even decades after the Jim Crow era ended. He, in fact, sided with the very party that institutied the Jim Crow era.
I do not see heroic virtues in his life that rise to the level of hagioography.
Remember what he said about abortion in 1984?
I remember how he and his son shook down Anheuser Busch to obtain a lucrative Chicago distributorship.
Yep. Jesse was enterprising in that respect, wasn’t he?
Jesse Jackson did good stuff for race relations? Hardly.
jvb
He shook down American Express when Mrs. OB was there. He had a consulting company that would go around to Fortune Five Hundred companies and say, “Nice little company you got here. Don’t you think you need some consultants to come in and get your racist employees to not act like honkies anymore?” Whereupon the companies would write a big check. I’m not sure the “consultants” ever even showed up.
But of course there was blatant racial discrimination at many of those Fortune 500 companies, Just as there is discrimination at most of the colleges and universities Trump has been “shaking down.” The whole civil right movement was fueled by “shakedowns”—palpable threats—from the beginning.
Baseed on that, then, the whole civil rights movement was a travesty and a canard.
Pardon my hard line, but Jackson’s honorable legacy is/was shredded by his philandering, race baiting, and shakedowns. To me. those are signatures of a cynical opportunist.
jvb
As you know, John, one can be an important agent for reform and a historical figure who made a major improvement in society as well as a cynical opportunist.
Indeed. But, if you are going to shroud yourself in religion and walk around as a “reverend,” then you damn well better act like. Jackson was a fraud. Sorry. Bias against this guy might make me stupid but history is going to prove me right.
jvb
He was doing his “consulting” in the late ’90s, around the time American Express’s CEO was Ken Chenault, a black guy. The Jim Crow style racism was already a thing of the past and AmEx was employing any competent black people they could find.
“Yep. Jesse was enterprising in that respect, wasn’t he?”
Masterfully understated…
After the November 2006 Michael Richards RACIST MELTDOWN, Jackson was…um…corresponding with Jerry Seinfeld regarding the latter’s newly released DVD set.
My recall is that negotiations broke down rather abruptly, after which Jackson (true to form) called for a BOYCOTT of the DVDs, which DIDN’T GO WELL
IMO, Jackson was angling for a percentage of the sales and, to his credit, Seinfeld told him to take a flyin’ phuque off a rollin’ donut.
PWS
All tangential, in my view, to Jesse’s keeping the pressure on regarding integration, when the pressure needed to be on. That he couldn’t resist playing the shakedown game is a black mark to be sure, but ultimately not primary in the big picture.
Jesse’s son is another story.
Green Eggs and Ham clip ….. priceless.
Isn’t it? It made me laugh out loud again. I can’t avoid thinking anyone who has the humility and sense of humor to mock himself like that is basically a good and mentally healthy human being, unlike so many public figures.
And isn’t the canned laughter horrible!
Funny he’d be making fun of the black preacher man cadences which were essential to Martin Luther King’s entire persona. The rising crescendo of “I have a dream….” detailed to Dr. Suess.