The Reverend Al Sharpton assailed the Democratic and Republican parties for failing to address the issue of race in Americans politics. In an address to an enthusiastic crowd in Gaston Hall on March 25, Sharpton called for increased dialogue regarding the economic, social and political inequalities that continue to plague African-American communities today.
“We are the only community that consistently fought for this country when this country didn’t fight for us,” said Sharpton. “Tonight we still have disparity.”
Sharpton criticized Democrats and Republicans for maintaining a noticeable silence on the issue of race. He challenged students in the “hallowed halls of Georgetown” to confront the lack of diversity in government and the inequities present in society.
“We have gone through a decade harmonizing in perfect silence on the issue of race,” said Sharpton. “People who discuss race are called divisive.”
“There is a difference between peace and quiet,” Sharpton said. He described Democrats and Republicans as “advocates of quiet rather than peace,” as politicians that focus on re-election rather than confronting the real racial dilemmas which divide American society.
Sharpton advocated a strategy of nonviolent civil disobedience as a vehicle to promote awareness of the racial problems often ignored by politicians.
“Today there is no commitment toward racial diversity in either party,” he said. “Black Americans had to fight and die to vote. We did not inherit the right to vote.”
Sharpton identified disparities between black and white Americans with respect to income, health care and criminal justice. “We still have not closed the gap in race,” said Sharpton. “Progress is the full realization of equal rights under law. Discrimination is wrong, whether it is a lot or a little,” said Sharpton.
Sharpton also criticized the lack of African-American elected officials, particularly in the Senate and the nation’s governorships. Referring to the recent Academy Awards, in which Halle Berry became the first African-American woman to win Best Actress, Sharpton boomed, “The Academy Awards are more open than government.”
“Anytime Hollywood can be more open than defenders of the Constitution, there is something wrong with race in America,” he said.
