From Hazel Trice Edny at The Wilmington Journal:
The Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, viewed as perhaps the highest profiled civil rights leaders in the nation, both say their roles will not change as America beholds its first Black president.
”The issues haven’t gone away,” says Sharpton. ”Barack Obama said this is the beginning of change. This is not change itself. It’s almost insulting to act like Blacks should now shut up just because we have a Black president.”
In an interview, Sharpton was responding to widely held perceptions and debates by pundits and TV personalities that President-Elect Barack Obama will now become America’s new Black Leader.
Both Jackson and Sharpton, having been presidential candidates themselves, said in interviews that while they are celebrating the historic election, it is ridiculous to think that a sitting president could single-handedly eliminate the voluminous problems in the Black community.
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