Sharpton delivers civil rights address Reverend extols activist spirit

Author: Jaime Fuller

Prominent civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton spoke on Feb. 11 as part of the Middlebury College Activities Board's (MCAB) Speaker Series. The event was held at Mead Chapel, with a live feed being broadcast at auxiliary locations in Dana Auditorium and the newly renovated McCullough Student Center Social Space.

Seats remained unfilled at the main venue even when Sharpton began at 7:30 p.m. although MCAB made many preparations providing for an overflowing audience. The refreshments provided at the auxiliary locations, coupled with the anticipation that Sharpton's remarks would be inflammatory, may have led students to choose Dana and the Social Space over Mead, or perhaps to refrain from attending the event in its entirety.

Reverend Sharpton is a civil rights and social justice activist and former Democratic presidential candidate who remains a fixed public figure because of his often-incendiary remarks concerning civil rights and national politics. He has a radio show, "Keepin' It Real," and often makes guest appearances on national news networks such as CNN, MSNBC and Fox News. National opinion on Sharpton is deeply divided, with supporters praising his relentless activism, and critics lashing out against his forceful rhetoric and omnipresence in media coverage of civil rights issues.

Sharpton began his address by acknowledging that his remarks might elicit polarizing reactions, and that the audience shouldn't fear that he would wax eloquent without leaving room for others to share opposite viewpoints.

"I will not overwhelm you because I understand you have a controversial speaker here tonight, and I want to leave enough time for questions," he said.

He was quick to explain that he does not seek approval in his role as an advocate, and that he did not fear a critical reception from Middlebury students.

"If there are those who disagree with me, or don't like me, I would hope at the end of the night they get a good night's sleep because I assure you, I will," Sharpton said. "I am not here to win popularity. I am here to clarify the issues. It's not about liking each other; it's about having a frank and open discussion."

The sense of achievement stemming from President Barack Obama's victory in the 2008 election, while acknowledged as appropriate by Sharpton, was found to be an invalid reason for a return to complacency.

"Many feel that because we have had a huge historical momentous occasion with the election of Barack Obama, that all of a sudden we no longer need advocacy, and this could not be further from the truth," said Sharpton. "We needed it with Lincoln, we needed it with [Franklin Delano] Roosevelt and we will need it with Obama."

Later in his remarks, Sharpton delved further into Obama's role in ensuring civil rights for all American citizens.

"We do [Obama] a disservice to act as if now all the problems are solved and we can sit back and let him deliver us," he said [We must] close the gaps that exist racially, and with gender and with sexual lives."

Sharpton also shared his belief that the idea of a post-racial world is a fallacy, and those who propagate that idea never allowed racism into the political lexicon to begin with.

"Fox News … now announces we are beyond race, when they said we never had a racial problem in the first place," he said. "How does my good friend Sean Hannity preach the funeral of a body that he said there never was?"

Sharpton's aversion to the policies of the Bush administration was also raised, especially the former president's treatment of the Iraq War.

"I never believed George Bush that there were weapons of mass destruction," Sharpton said. "It has nothing to do with any great intellectual discovery of mine, it's that I just could not believe that there were weapons of mass destruction when Bush could not show them to us."

He also expressed distaste for Colin Powell, whom he characterized as being "of my color, not of my kind," and for what he believed was the reason for the Iraq War: George H.W. Bush's unfinished business in the Middle East with the Persian Gulf War.

"I grew up in the 'hood," he said. "Sometimes there was a lot of crime in the 'hood, but I never saw where someone broke into our apartment and took things unjustly from us, that we then go after somebody who insulted my daddy 20 years ago."

In his concluding remarks, Sharpton attempted to inspire the students in the audience to aspire to the same activist goals he preaches, and to ensure that the victories achieved for civil rights and social justice today are not only symbolic, but substantive.

"The challenge of this generation is that you must step into the uncharted water of change and give the world hope," he said. "The question is whether this generation will follow up with its own step and finish the journey they began."

His last words offered both a prescription on how the future should approach activism, and his opinion on a life well-lived.

"I would encourage you not to duplicate or imitate those of us who have been out here -do it your own way, do it better," Sharpton said. "Later in life, those who come behind you will be more curious about what you did with the challenges of your time than what you achieved in your own self-aggrandizement."

In a private interview with The Campus, Sharpton expanded on some of the issues he glossed over in his address, especially those ideas pertaining to the current state of race relations in the era of America's first African-American president, and what college students should do to continue the momentum started with President Obama's victory in the 2008 election.

"Now that we've won, [students] have to say that we can not only be part of a great campaign, we've got to help govern," Sharpton said. "We've got to solve problems … These problems didn't disappear the night the election was won. The election gave us the right to change. That is what I will challenge those young people to do tonight."

He reiterated his role as an advocate who is in the "confrontation business," not as a politician who must build a consensus to influence.

"[As an advocate, you] confront injustice as you perceive it, which means you come into the public square knowing that anywhere from 20 to 70 percent of people are going to be against your position," he said. "Unlike a politician whose job it is to get most people supporting him personally, [an advocate's job] is to get the issue out front even at the expense of his own popularity."

After Sharpton's remarks came to a close, a period of Q & A was announced, and a line of eager questioners soon extended to the back of the chapel.

Steven Tatum '12 inquired as to the best way for an activist to bring issues to the forefront, using Gandhi as an example of one successful advocate.

"The art of exposing issues should be based on who the person is," Sharpton responded. "Gandhi was probably the best in the world but he also did it based on who he was […] For example, I studied Gandhi in my early civil rights days, but I couldn't walk around Brooklyn in a loincloth."

Annie Onishi '09 recalled Sharpton's distinction between the role of politicians and advocates, and challenged Sharpton to defend his run for president despite these two diverging roles.

"Just between you and I, and everyone in this room, I never thought I would be president," he said. "I thought I could use the presidential run to bring into the debates issues that were not being raised: the war, voter rights violations and several civil rights violations. I entered the race because of platform, not because I thought I was going to win."

Other questions dealt with the difficulty of getting politically involved in a secluded college town like Middlebury, the role of advocacy and intervention on an
international scale, whether activists and politicians can work in tandem and Sharpton's opinion of new Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steel.

Alexander Twilight Artist-in-Residence François Clemmons responded enthusiastically to the lecture, saying that he has been a supporter of Sharpton's activism for a long time.

"I'm very glad he came, especially since I feel there is a lot of complacency here," Clemmons said immediately after the Q & A session concluded. "I've seen him evolve since the beginning of his career. I voted for him … because he wakes people up. He's right on the money."

Vincent Jones '12 also had a positive reaction to the address, noting that Sharpton was much more subdued and less controversial than most of the student body expected he would be.

"It was definitely less politically charged than I expected," Jones said. "There was this overwhelming fear that the speech would be rousing and controversial, and I must say I left the presentation uplifted and inspired."

A panel will be held in the Juice Bar on Feb. 12 assessing student responses to Sharpton's remarks and facilitating discussion on the topics raised in the address.