[Op-Ed By Yossi Gestetner] Responses were many on my writing, “Why Don’t Jews Have an Al Sharpton.” People pointed out that the Jews have their own share of Sharpton’s, between others Dove Hikind, Abe Foxman, and a host of Jewish groups that represent and defend Jews.
I have no problem with groups representing or defending the rights of Blacks, Hispanics or Jews. However the fact that the responses to my initial writing listed a few Jewish names and groups proves my very point: people think of a half a dozen Jewish names that might fit Sharpton’s shoes, instead of everyone thinking of the same one name, like it is with Sharpton in context of the Black community.
Number two: Hikind and the others do not have the clout that Sharpton has to make political and media figures jump, which proves that none of them are a Sharpton.
Number three: Take a poll of the general US population. You will likely find that for every person that knows the name Hikind or Foxman, ten times more people know Sharpton. So at the end of the day, for whatever positive or negative reasons, Jews do not have an Al Sharpton.
To contact the writer send an email to yossi@yossigestetner.com
(Yossi Gestetner – YWN)
“Jews do not have an Al Sharpton”-Baruch HaSh-m!!
As I said previously, Sharpton and Jesse etc do NOTHING to promote good will. They are rabble rousers who run to a mic at any occasion. There are some shchoyim who are ‘getting it’ and know full well that Sharpton & Jackson DO NOT have their best interest at heart. The interest Sharpton & Jackson is soley their own.
I agree with # 1, it is a good thing that we don’t have our own Sharpton. Hikind and Foxman and their ilk are embarrasing enough as it is. Also, there are many more blacks in this country than Jews. So of course black “leaders” have much more clout than Jewish “leaders”.
I really fail to understand why you are so hung up on us Yidden not having a rabble rouser like Sharpton. While it is certainly true that “The Shady One” is much more known then a Dov Hikind that is because he is first and foremost a low life criminal. Do not forget for one moment Shapton is interested in only one person. That is himself. If he loves Blacks so much, why does he and that other Anti Semite, Leonard Jefferies live on an all white block. Don’t be fooled, there are a lot of Frum Yidden that yield much more power then the Rev. But it is done with tact and class. One name that comes to mind is Malcolm Hoenlein. Sharpton can only dream of weilding that type of legit influence.
why does any one care!!??
Hold on! The whole premise of such a statement is very dangerous and flawed. At best, such a rhetorical question should have been reworked or scraped before going to print.
First off, Sharpton is a criminal. He staged an incident and filed false police reports to frame a public official. Why even dare mention the names of ANY prominent, Jewish public figure in the same thought or make any comparison at all??? Secondly, he is an opportunist who has no regard for doing anything for the betterment of his people. Again, why even think of any Jewish person in the public eye as doing things solely for selfish reasons?
#1, I concur wholly.