Al Sharpton

[[File:Al_Sharpton_by_David_Shankbone.jpg|thumb|right|165px|''Not'' pleased to see you]]{{pundits}}{{cquote|I’m projected as an ambulance chaser, but I’m more the ambulance. People call me because they know I will come.|||Al Sharpton<ref>[https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Al_Sharpton_speaks_out_on_race,_rights_and_what_bothers_him_about_his_critics Al Sharpton speaks out on race, rights and what bothers him about his critics] Al Sharpton interviewed by David Shankbone (December 3, 2007) ''WikiNews''.</ref>}}
Reverend '''Alfred Charles "Al" Sharpton, Jr.''' {{lived|1954}} is an [[African-American]] activist, political commentator, and [[Baptist]] preacher from [[New York City]]. He first became famous in the 1980s with his protests against [[racial]] injustice, his involvement in fanning the flames of the {{wpl|Tawana Brawley rape allegations|Tawana Brawley case|,}} and the {{wpl|Crown Heights riot||.}} He is also an entrepreneur, founder of the National Youth Movement, National Action Network, and was manager for soul singer James Brown. 

Sharpton is a fiery orator and is often criticized by [[right-wingers]] for trying to grab the spotlight in prominent racial issues; basically, he calls them out on their [[Southern Strategy|racist crap]] and they hate him for it.

Some claim he expressed anger at "the [Jewish] [[diamond]] merchants right here in Crown Heights" vis-a-vis dealing with [[Apartheid|apartheid]] [[South Africa]], and that this constituted [[Antisemitism|antisemitism]].<ref>[http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/ballot_box/2003/10/the_gaffes_of_al_sharpton.html The Gaffes of Al Sharpton] by William Saletan & Avi Zenilman (Oct. 7 2003 10:49 AM) ''Slate''.</ref> As a result, he's sometimes been compared to various ideologues like [[Pat Buchanan]].<ref>Derrick Z. Jackson, "[http://web.archive.org/web/20030621220433/http://www.boston.com/news/politics/campaign2000/news/Uneasy_about_Sharpton+.shtml Uneasy About Sharpton]." ''Boston Globe'': February 25, 2000.</ref> However, Sharpton denied having made some of the remarks attributed to him, and many Jewish leaders do not think Sharpton is anti-semitic.<ref>[http://www.villagevoice.com/news/al-sharptons-jewish-problem-6396448 Al Sharpton’s Jewish Problem] by Richard Goldstein (Tuesday, November 13, 2001 at 4 a.m.) 'The Village Voice''.</ref>

==Mistakes==
Al Sharpton and his CORE coalition more or less managed to crush the premiere of the movie {{wpl|Coonskin||,}} and a theatre that was planning to show it had smokebombs thrown in.<ref>[https://dangerousminds.net/comments/ralph_bakshis_animated_assault_on_racism_in_america_is_still_an_uncomp RALPH BAKSHI’S ANIMATED ASSAULT ON RACISM IN AMERICA IS STILL AN UNCOMPROMISING GUT PUNCH]</ref> All this in spite of no one in CORE having even seen the film. ''Coonskin'' was a mixture of ''[[Song of the South]]'', ''The Godfather'', and ''The Boondocks'' directed by {{wpl|Ralph Bakshi||,}} and used some of the most crass imagery possible, so anyone seeing just a clip or still frame might think it was the worst of Blaxploitation.<ref>[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/coonskin-1975 Coonskin, Roger Ebert review]</ref> However, the movie was about being Black in 1970s Harlem and was a vicious takedown of racism, much like ''[[Blazing Saddles]]'' which came out a year prior. Anyone thinking Bahkshi was a racist had obviously never even heard a thing about the guy. But that didn't matter, Sharpton wanted to make a name for himself, so he went after the director of ''{{wpl|Fritz the Cat||''.}}

In the 1980s, Sharpton worked as an informant for the [[FBI]] and the DEA and has long been associated with [[organized crime]], including the New York [[mafia]] families.<ref>[http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/investigation/al-sharpton-764312 Al Sharpton's Secret Work As FBI Informant: Untold story of how activist once aided Mafia probes] by William Bastone et al. (April 7, 2014) ''The Smoking Gun''.</ref> 

After not having learned his lesson from the Brawley case, in 2006, he was among those screaming bloody murder about racism in the {{wpl|Duke lacrosse case||,}} which turned out to be the fabrication of a deeply disturbed individual and gross prosecutorial misconduct that ultimately resulted in the disbarment of North Carolina District Attorney {{wpl|Michael Nifong||.}} After Whoopi Goldberg demanded that he apologize for contributing to the toxicity surrounding the case, he refused and instead claimed that he "wasn't involved" in any way.<ref>[http://www.npr.org/blogs/newsandviews/2007/10/whoopi_to_sharpton_apologize_t_1.html Whoopi to Sharpton: Apologize to Duke Players] by Geoffrey Bennett (Oct. 10, 2007) ''NPR''.</ref>

Sharpton ran unsuccessfully for the [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] nomination for president in [[2004 US Presidential Election|2004]]. 

Sharpton has a show at [[MSNBC]] called ''PoliticsNation'', and has also made frequent guest appearances on [[Fox News]].

Since losing a large amount of weight, Sharpton has reportedly engaged in fat-[[shaming]] of his own supporters.<ref>[http://thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/al-sharpton-and-obese-people-897531 Al Sharpton Is A Bigot… Against Fat People: The trim activist loves to mock the overweight] August 26, 2014. ''The Smoking Gun''.</ref>

==Scapegoat==
Despite his decline in relevance (at least compared to the 1980s and 1990s), conservatives love using him and [[Jesse Jackson]] as scapegoats in discussions about race relations in the [[United States]], especially with the rise of [[Black Lives Matter|#BlackLivesMatter]] in 2015. Just like "[[social justice warrior]]", Al Sharpton's name has become a [[Thought-terminating cliché|handy means of ending conversations]]. If someone expresses the belief that African Americans aren't getting a fair shake from society, Al Sharpton will be invoked by those who disagree, with the implication that Sharpton's existence somehow proves that [[reverse racism]] is a bigger problem. However, an increasing amount of critics of BLM use Jackson and Sharpton the same way conservatives have been using [[Martin Luther King]] for decades, as examples of "real" [[civil rights]] leaders who believe in equality, fighting against "real" (read: egregious) racism, in order to appeal to a more moderate audience.{{fact}}

==References==
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