Why do people hate Al Sharpton so much?

Question

He's a minority advocate. So? I thank him for his work. I'm a black professional NYC resident and feel allot safer because of his activism. I know that rouge racist cops will think twice about "slammin and jammin" blacks for no reason because they know he's out there and there's going to be hell to pay if they get out of line.

I have been the victim of rouge cops in the past. Stopped and harassed for NO reason coming back from a client meeting.

He keeps things from getting swept under the rug. Un-like in the "good old" days when the bad cops could do whatever they wanted. And no one was there to make a fuss and bring attention to the matter.

And people call Al. he doesn't call them.

I work as an architect and have clients in "very" affluent neighborhoods. I'm also black. Before Al was around, I would get stopped by racist cops all the time while visiting clients. That has stopped. Because they know that if they pull that BS, Al and his cameras, and press, are just a phone call away. He's a guardian angel to many like me.

Who else do we turn to to get our problems made public?

FACTUAL UPDATE:

Al Sharpton came to prominence during the Bernard Goetz trial ( the crazy white guy who shot 4 black kids on the subway), and not the Brawley case.

Answer 1

I think because people like him are kind of no longer needed.

There are so many now, that can do something about racial issues. You said so yourself that you were a black proffesional in NYC. I am sure that you have done something at least once to promote equality.

But where I come from in the midwest, people use his name as well as others who have done the work he has achieved as weapons. I used to work in a movie theater when I was younger. And one of the primary rules was that no child under 17 watches an R rated movie without a parent.

You know how many times myself or a fellow employee got called racist or threatened with his name or Jesse Jackson just because we asked for an ID card? Oh how many times a manager had to call the cops on a parent simply because they threatened us for not letting their child in. All because they were thinking we were racist, when all the reason was, that it was that by policy they were simply to young to watch?

I know you do not know me, nor do you have the basis to know me. But ask anyone who does, and they will tell you I don't care if a person is black, white, red, or yellow. To me everyone is the same....

Despite all the good work Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and others have done in the past. So many that it happened to when it was needed have not let go. And now it is influencing another generation who instead of encouraging equality. Are dividing it even further by using their names and the power they can wield as weapons and people are reacting to it with hatred.

Not as allies

Answer 2

I think Americans get sick of the race card. I'm saying this not because it is my point of view, because I think Sharpton is very important in standing up for justice. I say this because this is what I hear all the time. I have to say that the Duke case of the LaCrosse players being wrongly accused and Jesse Jackson coming out to defend the woman who was allegedly victimized didn't help. It didn't help because there was nothing in the media showing him apologizing to the wrongly accused athletes when it was found that the case was fraudulent. This was frustrating even to me that he didn't do this.
I honestly think people are constantly fed that they are racist and are tired of being told this. It's called media battle fatigue.
Also, the fact that Sharpton and Jesse Jackson both approached Obama to support 2 democratic candidates in Chicago who were black and expected him to roll over and do what they said to do. Obama said he wasn't sure and he looked into the backgrounds of both candidates and finally said he wouldn't be supporting them. He supported the white candidates instead. He didn't support the black candidates because there were questionable dealings and criminal charges pending. And, alot of people see Obama's move as trying to cater to the white vote. I don't see it that why. I see Obama having alot more integrity than that.
However, because of recent events in NYC, I'd say that police dept has along way to go yet in race relations. I live in L.A and I find that the LAPD has a ways to go too but they are getting better.

Answer 3

A lot of people don't like him because his first big media exposure was him coming out about the Tawana Brawley case. Tawana was a young black girl who was somehow sexually assaulted. This took place in the mid '80s. Sharpton publicly accused a group of white men and insisted that they engaged in horrendously rasict behavior during the assault. As it turns out, a lot of the story was exaggerated by Sharpton. Tawana later recanted much of the story and said that Sharpton encouraged her to go along with it.

I think Sharpton learned his lesson and has since then cleaned up his act a lot.

Answer 4

Because Sharpton is an instigator...he likes to stir the pot. Like with this reparations nonsense. Never mind that blacks were sold out by their own people in Africa back then, right? Never mind that I had at least two ancestors in the Union Army.

You don't see Native Americans whining and they have it worse!

Answer 5

Al may have "come to prominence" when Bernard Getz committed a multiple murder, but the fact is that Al perpetrated the Tawana Brawley fraud, and for that, he is a collasal joke.

I can't help but wonder if Al is still outside of O'Bama's head quarters talking about Barak's mama. (Rushies will get that one...)

Answer 6

Tawana Brawley

Answer 7

Al Sharpton made his reputation on a lie fabricated and sensationlized to put him on the news,now everything that comes out of him people will be leary on believing unless it is for their benefit,

Answer 8

Al Sharpton does not care about justice for minorities. He only cares about himself. He jumps in wherever he can to show his face and make a buck. He rarely knows the facts before opening his mouth. He is a self-promoter using "righteousness" as a disguise.

I recently saw him at a rally he set up himself, ranting about a lawsuit filed by Chris Rock's mother. She claims that a Cracker Barrel was racist because she didnt get served quickly enough. And there was Al at the forefront, playing his race card as usual for some frivolous lawsuit. It just makes averyone sick at this point. He is a joke.

Answer 9

It is not hate but disgust. Al lives in the past. To him the US is still straining under the racist past of the 50's. No one can stop anyone from committing crimes even those criminal who wear a badge. Al is all about Al. If he is as you say so good for the black community, please explain the stubborn rate s of poverty and crime since he's been on the scene

Answer 10

AL SHARTON IS THE MOST RACIST PERSO I SEE,. WHEN A WHITE PERSON IS HURT, RAPED, OR KILL BY BLACK HE IS NOWHERE TO FIND