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June 18, 2008

Exclusive: Sharpton: More a Shakedown Artist than a Civil Rights Activist?

Gabriel Garnica, Esq.

If I hear one more journalist call Al Sharpton a "civil rights leader" I am going to become ill.

Sharpton is no more a civil rights leader than I am a skydiver, and I have vertigo!

What Real Civil Rights Leaders Do

Respectable and genuine civil rights leaders, like Martin Luther King, for example, use the force of their character, leadership skills, personality, integrity, and resolve to focus society's attention on the particular form of prejudice or injustice involved. They strategically use protests, marches, prayer services, media attention and political action to encourage their agenda of highlighting a given form of bias or injustice.

Many such leaders use religious, spiritual and/or moral arguments of equality, social justice and fairness to get their point across. Thus, it is often convenient for such leaders to come from the clergy, thereby enhancing their moral qualifications.

Genuine civil rights leaders are savvy to political and public relations realities, and use this knowledge to their advantage. They often use the system's own devices against said system's own inherent biases by using the system to expose the system.

Underlying all of these varied efforts and talents is the civil rights leader's absolute commitment to the cause he or she embodies, sacrificing most if not all of the financial and personal benefits that may accrue, directly or indirectly, from civil rights activities and clout. Money earned is used to fund and support the original mission, thereby enhancing that mission's power and resources to expand and benefit more Americans.

Also underlying the civil rights leader's efforts should be a healthy dose of ethical honesty, personal integrity and systemic sincerity so as to fight injustice, corruption and incompetence with rational and untouchable responses.

All benefits, financial and otherwise, should be traceable to a stated or implied civil rights cause, with no questionable avenues for funding.

Where Sharpton Fails

Al Sharpton can evade scrutiny on most of the above parameters, but it is his clear pattern of using protests, boycotts and media attacks to blackmail his targets into sudden racial sensitivity or generosity that is most bothersome.

Companies like PepsiCo, GM, Forest City Ratner, MGM Mirage, American Honda, Chrysler, Colgate Palmolive and Macy's made sudden contributions to Sharpton's National Action Network either as a response to a direct Sharpton threat or in response to such protests. Some of these companies even employed Sharpton briefly for a while as some sort of a diversity advisor.

At the very least, such conduct smells like street shakedowns where a tough guy promises to "protect" various businesses or even homes against things that "could happen." People donate to such shady causes because they understand the donation to be protection money and nothing else.

At the very least, Al Sharpton's National Action Network uses hardball tactics and Gestapo-like bullying to force companies to contribute to their coffers under the guise of charitable contributions in the name of civil rights.

At its worst, Sharpton could be using civil rights advocacy as a self-enriching program on financial and personal levels.

Appearance of Impropriety

Most rational organizations and charities run from controversial or sensational accusations of corruption, impropriety, favoritism or other forms of vice. They rightly recognize that such things can only be distractions from the everyday, vital mission and agenda of the group.

Judging from Sharpton' s reaction to such accusations, we can safely conclude that he either denies them or pretends that they are just another form of prejudice and intolerance hurled at him and his organization from racist bigots. Rather than flee from perceptions of impropriety or corruption, Sharpton seems to embrace such controversy, or at least defiantly turn it on its head with accusations against his accusers.

Two Vile Sins

Using the images and thinking of the civil rights movement to justify and maintain one's own selfish agenda is one thing. Using one's clerical status as some distorted way of justifying or covering up one's personal theft and manipulations of one's parent group is shameful enough. Using that status to extract corporate contributions in the name of some higher cause is despicable.

Many true African-American leaders have argued that Sharpton gives civil rights a bad name because he forces his supposed wisdom and dedication down society's throats with the willing help of a fawning, pathetic and cowardly media.

If using the civil rights movement and history as a pretext for personal gain is a despicable sin, then manipulating spiritual beliefs and pretenses of morality for the same purpose is uniquely vile.

Never one to be caught a day late or a dollar short, Al Sharpton has managed to do both with impunity for too long.

In the interest of brevity, this discussion need not go into Sharpton's utter hypocrisy in demanding corporate and celebrity accountability, apologies and remorse that he never exhibited in the North Carolina lacrosse trial, Tawana Brawley fraud, Crown Heights rioting and countless other scandals. It is bad enough for anyone to use the pretext of racial discord for personal gain, but for someone with Sharpton's shady background to point fingers at anyone else is the height of absurdity and hypocrisy.

Conclusion

The only African-American charity that Al Sharpton has ever worked for is the Al Sharpton personal wealth and absurd power network. This man has created a science of the practice of using race to make big bucks.

Jesus Christ was the first civil rights activist, and His mission was designed to benefit everyone but Himself. Given Al Sharpton's absurd and superficial wink at faith and morality on his way to bank, it would be nice if, just once, a bunch of companies refused to donate to this national bully who uses whatever means necessary to get what he wants.

By using the movement for racial injustice as his key to personal financial gain, enhanced power and bullied funding for his organization and himself, Al Sharpton disrespects and disgraces that movement. In the long run, this society would greatly benefit by boycotting Al Sharpton's mouth and ignoring his divisive and manipulative threats. It is amazing how loosely and freely the word "reverend" is applied these days.

Gabriel Garnica, Esq., is a college professor who holds a law degree from New York University. Write him at gbgmyarticles@yahoo.com.

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