Jesse Jackson suggests cure for what ails Selma, other urban areas, in 2015.
Rev. Jesse Jackson slipped a somewhat shocking statement into his running commentary to a national newspaper on Selma and the state of racism in America, suggesting that the way to change the power structures to the point of actually putting a dent in minority poverty statistics is to regulate white businesses.
Jackson was in Selma for the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday’s famously violent civil rights march. Chatting with a Los Angeles Times reporter at the headquarters’ building of the commemorative march’s organizers, Jackson commented that those coming into town for the event “should be in a protest mood,” rather than celebratory mood.
Rose Sanders, one of the leading forces of the Sunday anniversary rally, agreed and said: “Sixty percent of Selma’s children live in poverty,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
Jackson then nodded and referred to the all-black make-up of Selma’s political leadership as a major change from 1965 – but one that didn’t go far enough.
“People assume there is a correlation between political power and economic power. But a black power structure – mayor, city, council, police force – is not enough. You change the political power, and the white business owners just move outside the city. So you have power over a doughnut hole. We need help to climb out of the doughnut hole.”
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