by: Jenni Vinson
March 9, 2001
The scandal storm cloud that has hovered over Washington DC is raining on the Reverend Jesse Jackson and it doesn’t appear that it will let up any time soon.
First, there was the disclosure that he fathered a child with a subordinate from the Rainbow Coalition. That was, in and of itself, quite startling. Jesse Jackson has set himself up as a moral leader not just for the black Community, but for America.
He has preached to us the immorality of a variety of issues as they pertain to white America’s interaction with black America, always keeping a distinct separation between the two.
That first scandal should have undermined his moral authority, but it did not, not even coupled by the fact that it was found that he gave the mother of his child thousands of dollars from his tax-exempt foundation for the purpose of moving her away and purchasing her a house in Los Angeles.
Jesse Jackson was quick on his feet. He manuevered through that first scandal masterfully. He opted to lose his Reverend status to save himself. He has decided instead that he wanted to measured by a lower standard, that of a POLITICIAN.
His people argued that Jesse Jackson’s behavior is none of America’s business. Jesse Jackson is a BLACK leader and subject only to scrutiny by the black community.
I have news for them. There is only ONE America. There is no black America and there is no White America anywhere except in Jesse Jackson’s mind. His people also argued that Americans let Bill Clinton get away with a sexual indiscretion and therefore, Americans would be racist hypocrits if they now did not allow Jesse Jackson the same pass.
I guess if you say anything in an angry tone, you can command respect for it. But, this argument is horrible on so many levels:
1. Jesse Jackson is a Reverend, a man who professes to be a representative and servant of God an don this he is not representing his boss very well.
2. The black community needs strong, moral leadership as does all America. There are too many children in this country growing up without fathers, much to their detriment. There are too many men and women who are willing to undermine thier marriages in infidelity, much to their own detriment and that of thier children.
Jesse Jackson refused to explain himself as a Reverend, chosing to ignore the Biblical standards he IS held under. He could have used this moment to teach of God’s mercy and of our need for repentance and forgivenss. He missed a valuable opportunity.
3. Jesse Jackson was asked to be the spiritual advisor for the President of The United States. Bill Clinton is the first President since before Kennedy that did not call in Reverend Billy Graham as his spiritual advisor. Reverend Graham is quite old, but his son is carrying on for him and that ministry is quite strong.
Bill Clinton opted for Jesse Jackson. He was seen going in and out of the White House a lot during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, supposedly to counsel and pray with the Clintons. He was counseling Clinton on the issue of infidelity, while he coming to the White House with his mistress. She has been photographed along side him at the White House.
If we do the math, factoring in the child’s age, that child was conceived in August of 1998- the SAME month that Clinton went before the country to confess that he did have some kind of relationship with “that woman” and that he was sure he getting picked on by the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. It lead to his Impeachment.
Jesse Jackson committed a disservice to Bill Clinton and to this country in not having been a REAL spiritual advisor, having taken this man to a true point of repentance and contrition. Bill Clinton never really said he was sorry he did it- he was just very sorry he got caught.
Now we find that Jesse Jackson’s tax-exempt organization has had several bouts with misappropriation of funds and several incidences of inpropriety. Jesse Jackson used to speak against Budwieser, until he was given millions and his children ended up with Budwieser distributorships.
He used to speak out against the tobacco industry for willfully opting to intice black children to smoke, through skillful as campigns. He was against that until the tobacco industry ponied up cash to him as well.
In an interview yesterday, he was aksed whether there were more problems in his foundations bookkeeping. He answered that the American public did not need to know about any more. I’m sure he didn’t mean to say that. He is slipping under all the weight being bought to bear.
The worst scandal in all this is that the Mainstream media has been trumped. The people who have worked hard to expose these real problems in the Jesse Jackson camp have not been from the Washington Post or the New York Times or any other such organization. These stories have been landed by the National Enquirer, much to the shame of all the rest.