This is the first in a two-part series of Michael Bendetson's interview with Reverend Jesse Jackson. Today's installment focuses on Jackson's work in the civil rights movement, his presidential campaigns and the election of President Barack Obama. The second installation, which will appear in tomorrow's issue, will focus on Jackson's views on key political issues such as abortion and relations between the United States and Israel.
Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr. has been involved in the civil rights movement for over 40 years. He has dedicated his life to the pursuit of social equality for all Americans regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. Rev. Jackson is perhaps best remembered for his presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988, becoming just the second African-American to run for president. Although he did not manage to win the presidency, he achieved a good deal of success and helped to lay the foundation for African-Americans to run for national office. Currently, Rev. Jackson is the founder and president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, an organization dedicated to progressive politics and social change.
Michael Bendetson: Rev. Jackson, your work in the civil rights movement began in the year 1965. What propelled you as a young man to participate in the Selma to Montgomery marches and join the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)?
Jesse Jackson: Well, there were a couple of major factors. First, when my father came back from World War II, Nazi POWs on military bases had more rights than my father and the other black soldiers. Their [black soldiers] theme was "double V" — victory against Nazism abroad and victory against racism at home. That generation returned home from fighting for freedom in Europe without basic civil rights. This was a major disappointment to me. Second, on July 17, 1960, when I came home from college, my friend and I were arrested for trying to use a public library. Part of what propelled me [to enter politics] was my own thirst for dignity and equal protection under the law. I lived in and under legal segregation, and so my desire grew out of the request to end that system of law.
MB: In 1984 and in 1988, you became the second African-American to seek the office of the presidency of the United States. Despite facing extreme adversity, you managed to win a number of states and finished in third place [in the 1984 campaign]. Knowing that your odds of victory were fairly slim, why did you run for president?
JJ: I came to the conclusion that in order to end racial barriers, I needed to run for the office of the president and put forth an agenda of social justice and world peace. In addition, I concluded that someone needed to run and challenge the liberal orthodoxy. [The party leadership] had become oppressive and not sensitive to what we [African-Americans] had done with and for the party. We ran and built the Rainbow Coalition, a multi-racial and diverse group of people who maintained the same progressive ideas of social justice and social change.
MB: Many have claimed that your presidential campaigns over two decades ago helped to lay the foundation for Barack Obama to be elected president. How do you react to that comment?
JJ: [I was] a factor, but the above statement is not totally true. In order to understand the election of President Obama, we need to examine a timeline. The 1948 executive order issued by Harry Truman was a huge step for [African-Americans]. The 1954 Supreme Court decision to make [segregation] illegal was a great gain. That decision was followed by the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, both of which were also major improvements. By the time I ran, I was still removing barriers and tearing down walls to build bridges for racial equality. All of these movements were built, one upon another. I remember talking with President Obama on one occasion. While watching me debate [Walter] Mondale and [Gary] Hart, he said, "This is possible." So it is really a 60-year journey, and President Obama has run the last lap.
MB: From the beginning of the Democratic primary season, you were a major supporter of Mr. Obama. However, your admiration did not prevent you from making criticisms of the Obama campaign. In an interview with Fox News, you were caught stating that Senator Obama was "talking down to black people." What was the cause of your frustration with Mr. Obama at that point in time?
JJ: You know, I have really come to regret that comment. I never stopped supporting him, whether it was his run for the [Illinois] Senate, the U.S. Senate or the presidency. My concern was that the substance of our struggle be acknowledged. I think he has done just that. We all made adjustments as we grew through the campaign process. I am definitely on board with this presidency. I think it has shown this past week a sensitivity that is rare, with its focus on ending torture, closing Guantanamo Bay and focusing on presidential transparency. All of those decisions, in my opinion, were steps in the right direction.
MB: As a man who has been combating racial injustice for the past four decades, what does the election of Barack Obama as president personally mean to you? Further, how does having a black commander-in-chief change race relations in the United States?
JJ: That night as I stood in Grant Park, many images came to mind. I thought of this exact spot 40 years earlier, where people were protesting the war in spite of the tear gas being used. That night, in my mind, I could see people in poor villages of Kenya, Jamaica, Zimbabwe and Brazil who identified [Obama's] way with their own emancipation struggles. I know they all wish they could have seen it, but some of these people are even too poor to have Internet and television. However, I felt their presence. That night was also about the journey. I am talking about the marches and the martyrs. I thought of the people who were injured and killed in this struggle, many of whom I knew. I wish at some point that Dr. King and Medgar Evers just could have been there for 30 seconds, just to witness it. The night overwhelmed me. There was a certain feeling of achievement from a civil rights and human rights perspective.
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Michael Bendetson is a freshman who has not yet declared a major.
