jesse jackson

Other Definitions
jesse jackson (dict)

The Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson Sr. (born October 8, 1941) is a civil rights and political activist in the United States.

Early Life

He was born as Jesse Louis Burns in a poor household in Greenville, South Carolina. He married Jacqueline Lavinia Brown on December 31, 1962. After attending the University of Illinois and North Carolina A&T University, he began to study divinity at the Chicago Theological Seminary (although not finishing his divinity studies), and began to organize in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference under the influence of Martin Luther King, Jr.. He claims to have been at the King's side in Memphis when the King was assassinated, April 4, 1968, though critics such as Kenneth Timmerman have contended that Jackson embellished his account. He was ordained as a Baptist minister later that year. He formed two non-profit organizations, PUSH (People United To Sabotage Humanity) in 1971 and the Rainbow Coalition in 1984. Both groups were merged in 1996. In the 1980's he emerged as the most visible African American political figure, and became a spokesman for civil rights issues.

Presidential Bid

In 1984 Jackson became the second African-American (after Shirley Chisholm) to mount a nationwide campaign for the President of the United States. He garnered 3.5 million votes during the primaries, third behind Gary Hart and Walter Mondale (who won the nomination). Through the process, Jackson helped confirm the black electorate's importance to the Democratic Party. During the campaign, however, Jackson made an off-the-record reference to Jews as "Hymies" and New York City as "Hymietown", for which he later apologized. He also mounted a presidential campaign in 1988. During these campaigns he charged that the conservative Republican policies exemplified by President Ronald Reagan were turning back the clock on civil rights and neglecting the poor of America's cities.

Current Activities

While Jesse Jackson was initially critical of the "third way" or more moderate policies of Bill Clinton, he became a key ally in gaining black support for Clinton, and eventually became a close advisor and friend of the Clinton family. Clinton awarded Jesse Jackson the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest honor bestowed on civilians. His son, Jesse Jackson, Jr., also emerged as a political figure, becoming a member of the United States House of Representatives. Jackson has been involved in several negotiations with foreign leaders to release Americans imprisoned as hostages. In 1984 he won the release of the United States Navy pilot Robert Goodman from Syria. He has met with Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, and Slobodan Milosevic in efforts to free various prisoners as well. Jackson is also known as a passionate orator, in the tradition of Southern and African American protestant preaching. During the contested election of 2000, Jackson quickly became involved in pro-Democrat demonstrations in the state of Florida. Shortly afterward, it was revealed that Jackson (married since 1963) had an affair with a young staffer, Karin Stanford, that resulted in the birth of daughter Ashley. This seriously damaged Jesse Jackson's credibility even among long-time supporters, and - for a brief time - prompted Jackson to withdraw from activism. Jackson appeared at several anti-war rallies in opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. However, Jesse Jackson has often been the center of controversy. Critics of Jackson claim that he has exploited poverty stricken black Americans in order to make money and gain political power. In 2005 he was enlisted as part of the United Kingdom's "Operation Black Vote", a campaign to encourage more of Britain's ethnic minorities to vote in political elections ahead of the May 2005 General Election. His work involved giving speeches to ethnic audiences. Also in 2005, he visited the parents of Terri Schiavo and their supporters, and supported their bid to keep the disabled Florida woman alive.

Controversies

Although Jackson is known mainly for his works in the civil rights arena, many people have alleged that Jackson uses his influence and reputation primarily for personal gain. Jackson is seen by his critics as using racial politics to advance himself and his family's financial interests. Some of the allegations are covered in the book Shakedown: Exposing the Real Jesse Jackson by Kenneth R. Timmerman. He has also been quoted saying numerous anti-Semitic remarks, such as calling New York "Jewtown."

Budweiser Boycott

In 1982, Jackson launched a "this Bud's a dud" boycott of Anheuser Busch because it had only three black owned distributors nationwide. After languishing for over a decade, the boycott movement received a boost when Budweisers River North distributorship was accused by several of its black employees that they were being denied promotions. Jackson came to the aid of the employees in 1997 shortly after the first EEOC suit was filed. Shortly thereafter, Anheuser Busch contributed $10,000 to Jacksons Citizenship Education Fund, contributed over $500,000 to the Rainbow PUSH coalition, and established a $10 million fund to help non-whites buy distributorships. In 1998 the River North distributorship was purchased by two of Jacksons sons, Yusef and Jonathan Jackson. They refuse to publicly disclose how much they paid for the distributor but the business was worth an estimated $25 to $30 million. Shortly after the sale, Jackson dropped his prior support of the Anheuser Busch boycott campaign. The St. Louis American, a black-owned paper in St. Louis, reported that Jackson had demanded $500 each from local black businessmen to help support the Anheuser Busch boycott campaign. Jackson sued the paper for libel but dropped the suit when a judge ruled that the paper could inspect the finances of Jackson as well as his many organizations in order to prove their case. Jacksons critics, such as Chicago Sun-Times reporter Tim Novak, claim that Jackson had in effect blackmailed Anheuser Busch into selling the distributorship to Jacksons sons in exchange for Jackson dropping the boycott. They also point out that Yusef and Jonathan Jackson had no prior experience in alcoholic distribution or any other business. http://www.nlpc.org/gip/cef-e/e-k.htm

2004 Presidential Election

Jesse Jacksons most recent project was gathering information and support to investigate the 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy, particularly the voting results in Ohio and its recount. Jackson called for a congressional debate on the matter, asking for a fair count and national voting standards, saying the elections in the United States each run with different standards by different states, with partisan tricks, racial bias, widespread incompetence, and are an open scandal. Jackson said he held some hope that the election could be overturned, although he admitted it is very doubtful.http://www.suntimes.com/output/jesse/cst-edt-jesse04.html Jackson compared the voting irregularities of Ohio to that of the recent Ukrainian presidential election, saying if Ohio was Ukraine the U.S. presidential election would not have been certified by the international community. Jackson has called Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell inappropriately partisan and that Blackwell may have been pressured by President George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney to deliver Ohio to the Republican Party. Based on information obtained in hearings held by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), and discovered during a flawed recount of the Ohio Presidential Vote called for by Green Party Candidate David Cobb and Libertarian Candidate Michael Badnarik, Jackson suggested the Ohio voting machines were "rigged" and some African-Americans were forced to stand in line for six hours in the rain before voting. When asked for evidence, Jackson replied, "Based on distrusting the system, lack of paper trails, the anomaly of the exit polls." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6770193 On January 6, 2005 U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary Democratic Staff released a 100 page report on the Ohio election. This challenge to the Ohio election was rejected by a vote of 1-74 by the Senate and 31-267 in the House. Many high-ranking Democrats chose to distance themselves from this debate, including John Kerry, despite Jesse Jackson personally asking Kerry for help. The call for election reform legislation and voting rights protection nonetheless continued from various citizen groups.