OH Good Gawd; Sharpton says that Jacko Respsonsible For Obama's election

[Perky]

Speaking at Michael Jackson’s memorial service Tuesday, the Rev. Al Sharpton gave the entertainer credit for creating an environment in which Barack Obama could be elected president.


“It was Michael Jackson that brought blacks and whites and Asians and Latinos together. It was Michael Jackson that made us sing ‘we are the world,’” said Sharpton.


“It was that comfort level that kids from Japan and Ghana and France and Iowa and Pennsylvania got comfortable enough with each other so later it wasn't strange to us to watch Oprah on television,” the reverend continued. “Those young kids grew up from being teenage comfortable fans of Michael to being 40 years old and being comfortable to vote for a person of color to be the president of the United States of America.”


“Michael did that,” Sharpton said. “Michael made us love each other.”



Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24646.html#ixzz0KcG1JUb5&C

[Diamonique]

1. Yeah, I've heard him say that before.

As usual, I agree with some of the things Sharpton has said lately, and I also disagree with some. This is one that I disagree with.

[onenote]

2. I thought it was Bill Cosby.

Darn, I wish people would send me the correct memos.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. I thought Bill Cosby was responsible . . . . .

[Captain Hilts]

4. When will folks realize that Sharpton is just a charleton? nt

[jberryhill]

7. He's funny, though, you gotta give him that

[Captain Hilts]

8. True. I ran into him at the Brooks Brothers on Conn. Ave. a few years back.

He was lookin' fine. His hair is pretty amazing in real life.

[Name removed]

47. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jberryhill]

5. Give the man some poetic license...

It's a funeral address. Of course, Al Sharpton is going to say something over the top.

But, really, if you had to listen to Al Sharpton or Sarah Palin...

[DrToast]

9. There's some truth to it

Although he's severely overstating things. As Obama said, Michael Jackson was just one guy in a long line of black entertainers that helped change racial attitudes.

[avaistheone1]

39. Oh course it's true. What's next Michael Jackson invented the internet?

:crazy:

[DrToast]

42. That was Gore. nt

[Turbineguy]

6. In a country where entertainment

is almost the only thing taken seriously, he's probably right.

[Laelth]

10. Sharpton is not the first to make that argument.

I saw it here about a week ago. While I wouldn't give MJ all the credit, it's clear he did a great deal to bring races together in the United States.

:dem:

-Laelth

[Pool Hall Ace]

11. You know, not that long before Jackson died, I was going to ask,

in the Lounge of course, if I was the only person who thought that song "We are the World" was nonsensical and overrated.

Apparently, I am.

[snake in the grass]

17. No, you are not.

That song makes my skin crawl.

[Zavulon]

25. You are NOT.

That song sucked the peanuts and corn out of shit.

[DRoseDARs]

36. Oh, I still have nightmares about being forced to sing it when I was 4.

And again a few years later in elementary school.

[Touchdown]

43. It was also a "Me too!" act after Band-Aid, in a co-opted cause.

Band-Aid, led by Bob Geldof of the Boomtown Rats got numerous big name british acts together to raise money for the starving in Ethiopia. The result was the song "Do They Know It's Christmas" which was released in the winter of 1984.

"We Are The World" was released months later as an American answer to Band Aid, still for the cause of feeding Ethiopians. Not only is the song unoriginal, but the idea for it's purpose was also co-opted. Strange how history is re-written to make the Americans the originators of this cause. Just like we took Karl Benz's crown away for inventing the automobile and gave it to Henry Ford.

[beachmom]

51. You're right. Sharpton was definitely wrong to say "BEFORE LIVE AID".

Yeah, how about Band Aid did a wonderful song for a good cause, and American musicians looked over the pond: HEY, those Brits are showing us up. Quick, Michael -- DO SOMETHING!!!! I think Do They Know It's Christmas was a better song. However, I think MJ wrote a lot of great songs; We Are the World was not my favorite.

[Fire1]

12. I don't totally disagree with that. To some extent I think he's

right! Michael was known and loved globally, not just nationally.

[HopeOverFear]

21. Me neither

[rucky]

13. How many times has Sharpton run for president?

Why couldn't Michael help him?

[zalinda]

14. I'd say he's more right than wrong

Think about it. Yes, Cosby has been around, but he was your father's generation. Jackson bridged the gap between ALL races. Everyone was singing his songs. He was all over MTV, and had in fact changed music videos forever. Young people saw this guy who spoke to them, in their language. And suddenly, it was okay to like the same music, the same clothes, the same things.

I grew up in the 60's and in Detroit, the home of Motown. We hardly EVER heard a black group on the radio, unless it was a black radio station. Stevie Wonder was the first to break down the barrier a bit when he did "Fingertips". Yes, there was an act here or there that became popular, but absolutely nothing like Michael Jackson. If Elvis brought rock n' roll to the world, Jackson brought black culture. Which is entirely funny since so many people are convinced he hated that he was black. It was Jackson's success that had promoters seeking out more black entertainers, hoping that the Jackson magic would strike again and make them rich.

This man touched the world in a way that no one has ever done before. The closest person you could compare him to was Princess Diana. The entire world stopped when they heard about his death. That day, I heard people playing his music, in their homes, remembering. Just remembering.

Yes, he was a flawed human being. No one is perfect. But, what happened in the late 80's and early 90's with the kids of this nation crossing the racial barriers in large numbers, was due in large part with Jackson. The music brought them together. If they could love the same music, maybe they could like other things together.

zalinda

[TTUBatfan2008]

19. Hardly ever heard black groups on the radio?

What about the Temptations, Supremes, etc.? Motown was hugely successful and it wasn't just Stevie Wonder. Hell, "My Girl" is arguably the most popular song to ever come out of the 1960's from any artist regardless of ethnicity.

[amandabeech]

20. I listened to Milwaukee and Chicago radio stations all the time growing up.

Motown and soul were all over the place. It was great to here the Supremes followed by something more funky like Wilson Pickett, then hear the Beatles and the Stones. It's too bad radio formats tend to be so focused these days--the variety was the spice of radio life back then.

[zalinda]

54. But, you would never go to a concert

with all black entertainers. That's how it was in the 60's and 70's. Black people went to concerts for black entertainers and white people went to concerts for white entertainers, and rarely did the twain meet. Even Janis Joplin didn't bring them together. Check out the people at Woodstock, and you will see very few black people, even though Hendrix was there.

Michael Jackson's audiences were racially quite mixed. That is quite different than being able to listen to their music on the radio.

zalinda

[amandabeech]

55. I was too young and too far away from any venue to go to concerts

in the 60s and early 70s, except the time that an older cousin took me to see Santana when I was visiting his family in Chicago. I don't remember much about anything except the band and the music, really, which was great.

In the mid to late '70s, I was in college and grad school and didn't have much money. I did see some older African American rock n roll types at outdoor festival-style venues in Milwaukee and Chicago during that time, and the crowds were mixed. The Spinners were at one in Chicago and the crowd was mixed. I saw the Temps in the '80s in a mixed crowd.

I guess that I can't really respond to your post because I didn't go to enough concerts in the '60s and '70s to have an opinion.

[tranche]

15. Is this how Jesus started?

Wish I was around in those days. Fascinating.

[jobycom]

16. I wouldn't read history books in the future if I were you.

Because I think that's going to be a common concensus. His role in breaking down race barriers has been talked about since the 80s, so it's not going to stop anytime soon.

[zulchzulu]

18. Al, it was Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan...

OK, we'll give you Michael too...

... or maybe Obama became President because of... Obama.

:eyes:

[Jennicut]

22. Michael was a big influence on many children growing up in the 80's

He did break down many barriers. Unfortunately, he also had a severe problem with his self image and could not embrace himself the way others embraced him.

[Perky]

23. Avtually It was Jackie Robinson and Rosa Parks

[Zavulon]

24. What a fucking pantload.

I realize a lot of people, for reasons that completely escape me, loved and still love Michael Jackson, but to give him credit for this? "Michael made us love each other?" If so, why is Sharpton continuously running around crying "racism" any time he gets the chance for a photo op and an interview? Didn't Michael eliminate all of that by making us love each other?

The idea that Obama couldn't have beaten Dickstain McCain without the help of Michael Jackson is yet another example of how much of a clueless tool Sharpton is.

[cowcommander]

26. The article title is misleading...

Saying someone helped create an environment where a black man was able to become president is a little different than saying he "made Obama president".

[LiberalFighter]

27. Gee... I thought it was Truman when he desegregated the army...

the Kennedys, Martin Luther King, LBJ when he signed the Civil Rights Act.

I thought it was Founding Fathers that gave up their slaves. Even though after death.

I thought it was Lincoln with the Emancipation Proclamation even though it only applied to slaves in the Confederate States.

I thought it was A Phillip Randolph when he organized sleeping car porters.

I thought it was electing blacks to different levels of government.

I thought it was blacks having position of power at major companies.

I thought it was Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat.

[HopeOverFear]

29. Nope.

Nope.

Nope.

Nope.

Nope.

Nope.

Nope.

Nope.

[bigwillq]

28. I thought Oprah.

:shrug:

[KingFlorez]

30. I get what he's saying

Pop culture can help break barriers, I think it has helped do a lot of that in America.

[kestrel91316]

31. Oh, please. WHO in their right mind listens to a word that old fool says?

[Clio the Leo]

32. Yeah, but where would MJ have been had it not been for the kid on the left....

.... and I'm only half kidding.

We climb onto the shoulders of the ones who came before.

[donheld]

33. He was another step on the path

Like it or not.

[EffieBlack]

34. That's not what he said

He did not say that Michael "was responsible" for Obama's election. He said he knocked down barriers and helped to create an atmosphere that later enabled Obama to be elected.

Which is dead on true.

[SeattleGirl]

38. Yep.

Obama said something similar when he was talking about MJ.

[OhioBlue]

40. I agree. Sharpton is right - somewhat

we all know it. All those who came before and helped break down barriers help the next generation. It is a given. And to exclude MJ is ignoring history. I don't think Sharpton is giving him all the credit, but in a completely human way might be overstating it b/c it is MJ's memorial service. Which is to be completely expected.

[KharmaTrain]

35. Jacko = Elvis II

By the time the Jacksons came on the scene, Motown was on top of the pop music world. I grew up with the Jackson 5 Jacko...the cute kid that sang to a rat and thought Thriller was OK...a fine entertainer, but more of a generational figure than some major historical one.

I can give you plenty of blacks that were bigger "trailblazers" that MJJ...

Louis Armstrong
Paul Robeson
Robert Johnson
Little Richard
Chuck Berry
Berry Gordy
Smokey Robinson
Sam Cooke
James Brown

All came before Jacko...and without them he would have never left his slums of Gary.

[Empowerer]

37. Michael always acknowledged his debt to those who helped pave the way for him

He never claimed to have gotten where he was on his own. But he did help to create an environment that helped to pave the way who came after him. And he and his brothers had a tremendous impact on pop culture, an impact that helped to change the way young Americans saw themselves and the world - and that eventually led to Barack Obama's election.

No one is claiming that Michael did this singlehandedly. But he was an important link in the chain and his contribution was enormous.

It may be difficult to see that in hindsight. But those who experienced the "before and after" understand his transformational effect.

[Colobo]

41. Michael did help by helping break racial barriers in entertainment.

[MilesColtrane]

44. Don't know about that, but...

...Michael's passing has diverted people's attention away from Susan Boyle.


For that, I will always love him.

[Touchdown]

45. I'd say the GOP had much more to do with Obama winning than Jackson.

He was there at the right time, with the right message, and the right demeanor to take over just as the GOP's policies were imploding all around them. America was ready to change, no matter who. We just got a great man to do that change and took it over the top.

[rasputin1952]

46. One of the reasons for eulogies is to boost the memory of the

deceased. Sharpton is pretty good at such things, after all, training as a Baptist Minister is designed to motivate. But I can easily take his statements to task, as he is such a ridiculous opportunist, it is hard to take him seriously.

[The Wizard]

48. The effect of popular culture

has influenced the Zeitgeist for some time.
When American GIs in occupied Europe brought Rock & Roll and blue jeans the eastern Europeans adopted western pop culture. They saw American pop culture (Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry and Little Richard as an escape from "The Song of the Volga Boatmen."

[ellacott]

50. So very true

Also, many Blacks found more acceptance in Europe than they did in the U.S. Some stayed after the war and some moved back to Europe(France in particular) after coming home and finding that the freedom that they fought for overseas didn't extend to them in their own country.

Michael Jackson has always acknowledged those who came before him especially James Brown and Sammy Davis Jr.

To say that Michael Jackson helped prepare the way for Barack Obama is taking nothing away from the accomplishments of those other icons.

There will probably be someone who Barack Obama is preparing the way for.

[Beacool]

49. Sharpton...........what can one say?

This man would show up at the opening of an envelope if he could be assured that a microphone and camera would be at hand.

As for his speech, it's utter bull crap.

:eyes:

[CatWoman]

52. and I agree with him

am I to be ridiculed as well?

[ellacott]

53. I agree with him also