Pot Meet Kettle, Part Two

If Al Sharpton is good at one thing, besides for his being a shameless huckster in the race business, it's creating sympathy for someone who doesn't otherwise deserve it. When Don Imus' "nappy headed hos" flap first erupted, I didn't really give it much thought. After all, I was never a fan of his. While living in New York, I was partial to Howard Stern. Since returning to Detroit, my morning talk show favorite has been Drew & Mike. Imus just never interested me. He always struck me as angry and mocking. The controversy that he created therefore didn't really concern me too much.

That was before Sharpton once again assumed the position of father confessor for all Americans of color. As I have previously written on the Zlog here, Sharpton repeatedly gets a pass on his own virulent racism. In fact, Sharpton's racist past is much more injurious to others than Imus' recent comment. Sharpton's actions have led to deaths and the irreversible trashing of good people's reputations. On the other hand, I doubt that there were many people who now think any worse of black women in general and Rutgers basketball players in particular than they did before Imus opened his big mouth.

Pot Meet Kettle

Al Sharpton has found a new cause in the upcoming Alabama Democratic party's gubernatorial primary race. One candidate denies the Holocaust while another advocates killing illegal immigrants to prevent them from entering and settling in the state. Sharpton wants the party to bar the two candidates from running. Sharpton's demand, while sounding all nice and good on its face, is preposterous.

Unless the candidates violate a particular rule or are ineligible for office, it would violate their constitutional rights to free speech, no matter how repugnant they are. Like it or not, it's a fact that even avowed racists can run for elected office. The most a political party can do is distance itself from and renounce the candidate, much like the Republican and Democratic parties did with Klansmen David Duke and Tom Metzger respectively. The party cannot, however, decide who can and cannot run.

Sharpton's demands ring especially hollow given his own history. With incidents like the Tawana Brawley hoax and Freddie's Fashion Mart riot and public references to Jews as "bloodsuckers" and "white interlopers" in his past and nary an apology, he lacks the moral authority to have any say on who else gets to run for office.