Civil Rights Leader Says Publication Distorted His King Day Message
January 19, 2016 (NEW YORK, NY) – The following is a statement from Rev. Al Sharpton, President and Founder of the National Action Network:
“Today’s silly New York Daily News front page
distortion of my mockery of stereotypes is clearly a distraction to what
we are dealing with in America today. To say that I should not mock
stereotypes of the eating habits of some of my members
and supporters (after initiating an anti-obesity program in NAN and
losing 178 pounds myself) is completely wrong. This statement was part
of the obligation I feel to ensure that people do not miscast the
holiday honoring Dr. King because since I was a teenager
I have followed in his tradition of civil rights.
"Let me first remind people that other leaders,
including Dr. King and Malcolm X (listen to Malcom X’s famous Message to
the Grassroots speech in 1963), all the way to hip-hop artists today,
regularly use stereotypes to mock themselves to
drive home a point.
"When a member of a group admonishes some of his own
people in order to reinforce important principles of that same group
(in this case what Dr. King was all about) it is completely different
from an outsider using a stereotype.
"We fight those outsiders that lump us all together
in a negative stereotype by not distinguishing different behaviors
inside of the group. To distinguish between Dr. King’s actions and our
behavior with some that engage in what I consider
misbehavior is the opposite of raising a stereotype.
"To some, if President Obama challenges Black
fathers at a Father’s Day sermon at a Chicago church, or others
challenge family structure, or now if I mock stereotypes to deal with
obesity in our community, we are promoting stereotypes rather
than addressing issues that we are often accused of ignoring.
"Who decides when leaders in our community can
address bad habits or behavior in our own community and how we use
language to address them? It is time to stop allowing others to define
us by creating a false narrative around what we are
saying.
"We will not allow others to create distractions
that divert our attention from the true purpose of Dr. King’s day;
fighting for justice, a fair wage, and public policy solutions that
increase equality in our country is how we spent the
holiday and what we will continue to focus on."
Source: The National Action Network
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