Jesse Jackson’s 36th annual PUSH coalition conference in Chicago
When The Reverend Jesse talks, people listen, and this time is no exception. The invitations he extended to everybody who’s anybody on the American Left were accepted by a number of luminaries, among them Former President Bill Clinton, presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, activist/huckster Al Sharpton, and even Shell Oil Company President John Hofmeister.
According to a recent press release, Jackson’s shindig will take place on June 2nd and 3rd at his headquarters on the South Side, and on June 4th and 5th at the posh Hyatt Regency O’Hare, and will serve several purposes.
Of course, it’s an opportunity for presidential candidates and others to be interrogated regarding, and to declare, their fealty to the “ideals” Jackson represents. As he himself put it, “We need to know the candidates’ urban policies, their positions on racial equality, gender equality, workers’ rights and ending conflict without war… We need the issues that affect our lives to be front and center.”
Black notables such as Bill Cosby and Lovie Smith will be honored, too.
Finally, the conference will address issues of particular interest to the black community. At a clergy breakfast, the “HIV/AIDS crisis in the African American community” will be discussed. (Will they talk about blacks’ greater tendency toward promiscuity, and unprotected casual sex?) U.S. Reps. Jesse Jr., Danny Davis, Luis Gutierrez and Democrats of Illinois will “discuss the lucrative prison industrial complex, which holds unconscionable numbers of young black males.” (Will they talk about what so many young black males are doing that’s landing them in the slammer?) The “continuing Katrina crisis” and the many New Orleans residents still in “exile” will also be a hot topic. (Maybe they’ll delve into the subject of how these residents behaved during the crisis.) Finally, they’ll deal with the issue of “how to release and best use federal reconstruction funds.” (Surely they’ll emphasize that over 95% of these funds come from white taxpayers, and will express their sincere gratitude.)
It’s easy to poke fun at such a gathering, and we can’t resist. But in all seriousness: Jackson is doing for his community—blacks, and their friends and allies—exactly what a black leader should be doing: getting those in positions of power to promise to do everything they can to advance blacks’ interests.
If only whites had the determination and the courage to do the same! Can you imagine a star-studded lineup of presidential candidates, other politicians, celebrities, and industry leaders lining up at the American Renaissance conference to pay homage to Jared Taylor, and to promise to work harder to promote whites’ interests? They would if white voters were as aggressive in promoting their own interests as blacks are in promoting theirs! That day, unfortunately, is still far away. But let’s work toward it!