Though often ridiculed, black leaders continue anti-war stance

We are now three years into the new millennium and as the country nears war with Iraq, black leadership is taking a sharp blow. Figures in particular who are coming under fire from others, blacks included, are: the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, and Louis Farrakhan. All three men condemn the war against Iraq and are being called the new “Axis of Evil” by people such as Timothy Rollins, editor-in-chief and publisher of The American Partisan.Another outspoken opponent of the trio is the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, the black founder and president of B.O.N.D., the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny. He says, “For them to attack America, President Bush, and black conservatives in such a mean spirited manner is wicked.” He feels this way about Farrakhan because of a quote he made while visiting Iraq about praying that the country came out victorious against the United States. In regards to Jackson, Peterson was offended when the leader called Bush “unliterate” and said that he and Attorney General John Ashcroft were “the most threatening combination in our lifetime.” Although equally opposed to the war as Jackson and Farrahan, Sharpton is also ridiculed because of his position on race relations in America. He once said, “When the issue of racism comes up in this country, white folks will tell blacks to get over it. Slavery is over … Slavery isn’t the only thing America had to repair. One hundred years of black people being treated less than a person is part of that whole paradigm, is something America must repair.” Sharpton also says America will not be a place that stands united until the issue of race is solved. As far as the war is concerned, at a rally late last year, he accused Bush of taking the country to war “over the interests of those business tycoons who put you in the White House.” Although often criticized, the leaders refuse to disappear from the eyes of America. Farrakhan recently spoke at the University of Illinois at Chicago Pavilion in what may have been his last public speech before America goes to war with Iraq. At one point in his speech he asked black rappers and entertainers to encourage black youth through positive and inspiring lyrics in their songs, which would inspire “proper thinking” and “proper actions.”Jackson is presently denouncing President Bush for appointing Miguel Estrada to the District of Columbia Circuit Courts of Appeals. “What Clarence Thomas symbolized to African-Americans in 1991, Miguel Estrada means to the Latino community in 2003. Both are culturally confused, beneficiaries of affirmative action, opposed to affirmative action, have been placed on a political fast track for judgeship, and have transparently shallow records as jurists,” said Jackson. Lastly, Sharpton is making plans to bid for presidency in the election of 2004. “I am running for president to finally put the issues concerning most Americans on to the front burner,” he said. “I’m qualified, probably more qualified than any other person who is expected to be on the Democratic ticket for 2004, because I actually have a following, and I speak for the people.” Let’s just hope that he and every other black leader aiming to uplift the community will do just that.