Wise words from Jesse Jackson

Here is a Jesse Jackson quote from Counterpunch:

America is at a turning point. We continue to pursue a war that is producing needless deaths, draining us of our financial resources and robbing us of our moral authority. Our national infrastructure crumbles - levees in New Orleans, a bridge in Minnesota - and we fail to make the investment necessary to fix it. We are failing our youth and jeopardizing our future greatness by letting our educational system deteriorate and responding by expanding our prison system: second-class schools, first-class jails.

We need the leadership Barack will bring. However, the burden of fulfilling the Dream, mending the broken promise, falls on all of us. I recall the story of a meeting that labor leader A. Philip Randolph had with President Franklin Roosevelt regarding a long list of discriminatory practices blacks were facing in society and the workplace. He clearly presented the case to the president, who listened carefully and responded. Roosevelt said: "I can't just give you the rights you seek. I wish I could. I agree with everything you've said to me. Now go out and make me do it." Barack will set the tone. He will provide the vision and inspiration to move forward. But it is up to us to do the work, to demand the change that must come if the Dream is to be fulfilled. We must make it happen.

Make it happen folks. Reread the first paragraph. Jesse is not talking about anything racial in that paragraph, he is talking about fundamental moral issues and quality of life for everyone. In 1988, Jesse ran a very strong, issue oriented campaign, but America was not ready for a black president, particularly not one who hadn't been run through the filter of white institutions like Harvard, Columbia, and Occidental colleges. America has changed, to a certain extent because the older, more racist generation has died.