Jesse Lee Peterson & Jessie Jackson- Pimpin Race for the Right and the Left

Can you guess who made the following Statement?

Everyone knows most of black America is screwed up – immoral, dependent, weak – but so few are able to say so.

A. David Duke
B. Senator Robert Byrd
C. “Bull” Conner
D. Jesse Lee Peterson

The answer is D. Jesse Lee Peterson!

Can someone please explain to me why Jesse Lee Peterson is any less a self promoting race pimp than Jessie Jackson? Hasn't he too made his career by pandering to the lowest emotions in the hearts of Americans? The only difference is that one panders to liberals and the other to conservatives.

Liberals trot out blacks like Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton or Charlie Rangel every time they need someone to play the race card against conservatives. And now conservative media outlets like Fox News and WorldNet Daily are giving place to folks like Jesse Lee Peterson; who use their black face to give voice to some very racist sentiments. Sentiments that many believe, but dare not voice out loud.

Take for example this statement offered in a recent Op-Ed published at World Net Daily:

Everyone knows most of black America is screwed up – immoral, dependent, weak – but so few are able to say so.

This opinion was not offered by Adolph Hitler, David Duke or any other well known racist. These words (which by the way have absolutely no factual basis) are those of none other than Jesse Lee Peterson.

I must admit that Peterson is correct in that too often black leadership has looked to the government to solve the deeply systemic problems in the black community. He is also right when he points out that many of the ills we face as blacks are the result of immorality, dependence and lack of accountability for our own decisions and actions. But this can be said of all Americans, not just blacks. So to declare that most of black America is “immoral, dependent and weak” is nothing more than irresponsible race-baiting designed to inflame negative, preconceived notions about black that are held by many in this country. They read Jesse Lee’s stuff and circulate it as gospel, proclaiming:

"I thought along the same lines as your sentiments, but as a white I would never voice such words for fear of being called a racist and worse." Another wrote: "Even as I sit here writing to you I'm breaking out in a sweat for fear of being called a racist." Another said: "That was an excellent article, and unfortunately it could only be said by another African-American."

Like Jackson, Peterson does not let the truth get in the way of perfectly good rhetoric. And like Jackson, he too used Hurricane Katrina as an opportunity to play the race card in his September 21st piece entitled Moral Poverty Costs Blacks in New Orleans where he wrote:

About five years ago, in a debate before the National Association of Black Journalists, I stated that if whites were to just leave the United States and let blacks run the country, they would turn America into a ghetto within 10 years. The audience, shall we say, disagreed with me strongly. Now I have to disagree with me. I gave blacks too much credit. It took a mere three days for blacks to turn the Superdome and the convention center into ghettos, rampant with theft, rape and murder.

Today, we know that most of the stories of “theft, rape and murder” were nothing more than urban legends and unsubstantiated rumors that the main stream media and politicians across the political spectrum simply accepted as fact. Even prominent conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt pointed out that race may have had less to do with what happened in New Orleans; and more to do with how it was reported by a MSM who was all too quick to believe the worst of low-income blacks. (See Hugh Hewitt Agrees...Racism Played Role in Katrina Reporting )

But did Jesse Lee change his rhetoric once his analogy was no longer applicable? Of course not!

His goal is not to tell the truth, but to stir up racial tensions by telling conservatives that liberals and blacks are what is wrong with this country. Sound familiar? This tactic is not too different from those of Jessie Jackson who has made a career of declaring to liberals that whites and conservatives are what is wrong with America.

In reality they are both right… But they are also both wrong!

At 36 years old, I am a part of the first generation to grow up after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. So unlike my father, or his father before him, I was born “Equal under the law.” But that did not mean that I was born in a system that promoted equality. 400 years of slavery, the subsequent 100 years of Jim Crow and the liberal led welfare/entitlement state did much to weaken the black man and destroy his family and community. These systems were designed to keep blacks down and that is exactly what they did. The reason many blacks have a victim mentality is that not too long ago, they were victims.

Take my father for example. He left the Air force after World War II as a fully trained and certified electrician. But he could only get a job washing cars. You see, the unions would not let him join their ranks because his father was not a union member. Never mind the fact that at the time my grandfather was working, they did not allow blacks to join the union. My mother experienced whites only drinking fountains and lunch counters. She remembers “Bull” Conner turning police dogs and fire hoses on innocent blacks like it was yesterday. These experiences are not easily dismissed by those who experience them. They play a major role in shaping one’s world view. For my parents, everything in society told them that it was government and whites who were in control…not them. And this is the world view that they have passed on to us, their children. It was their reality.

My reality is somewhat different. I can eat where I want. I can go where I want. The law states that I can not be denied any opportunity because of the color of my skin. And there are teams of lawyers, judges and politicians willing to fight to protect these rights. There are no laws preventing me from starting a business, getting a good education or supporting the political candidate of my choosing. This is part of my reality; the only part that many conservatives are willing to acknowledge.

I also realize that there are those whom I will encounter who will prejudge me based on the color of my skin, whether they admit it or not. Racism is not dead, just diminished. I also must acknowledge that the 1964 Civil Rights Act did not undo the 500 years of indoctrination and brain washing black Americans underwent. Nor did it create a level playing field in regards to asset wealth.

There were “The Haves” and “The Have Nots” and nothing happened to change the fact that blacks would be overwhelmingly in the category of “The Have Nots.” This meant that they would have much less capitol to start businesses, purchase homes or to pass on to future generations. As hard as my parents worked and as much they tried, they did not have a home or any other significant assets to pass on to their children. This is too often the norm in black America. But this is also part of my reality; the only part that many liberals are willing to acknowledge.

I don’t believe that we will ever truly address the issue of race in America until blacks and whites; liberals and conservatives are willing to accept the truth about where we have come from and where we are now. Whites cannot celebrate creating equality in the rules of the game after attempting to knee-cap the other team’s players and spotting themselves 20 points. Along the same lines, we cannot be so preoccupied with the unfairness of how things started that we spend all our time complaining to referees, thus letting the other team run up the score. This is exactly what has been taking place the last 40 years.

Not that Jessie Jackson and Jesse Lee Peterson haven't offered considerable subtance in dealing with the very serious issue of race and racism in America, but acting as race-baiting cheerleaders for their respective teams detracts from all the good w0rk in which they are involved. How can America have a frank and honest discussion about race as long as people are willing to feed into the hatred and resentment that is so deeply rooted in our society on both sides?

As for my perspective; I will say this. Being black is part of who I am. But it does not dictate who I am or who I will become. And while I cannot control the fairness of the circumstances around me, I can control how I react to those circumstances. I can choose to learn from them or whine about them. As I approach each challenge, I can choose see it as a stumbling block or a stepping stone; as an obstacle or a building block. I can choose to fight against ignorance and poverty or I can pawn it off on my children for them to fight it. These are my choices.

I have a message that I encourage every black parent…scratch that… every parent to tell their children. It is what my father told me many moons ago and it has served me well.

Life isn’t fair…GET OVER IT!

Your future will mostly be shaped by the decisions that you make, and no one else. Where you end up in life will be the result of all the choices you make, big and small. And when it is all said and done, your success or failure will be determined, not by the circumstances which you had to face, but by how you responded to those circumstances.

Craig DeLuz

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