Maybe dose of Sharpton is good tonic
N.Y. activist's expansion here could shake things up, end complacency
I say it can't hurt anything.
Sharpton, the New York civil rights activist who ran for president in 2004, said Monday he plans to open a chapter here of his National Action Network, complete with an office, by September.
With nearly 40 chapters already in place around the country, you might wonder why he hasn't started one here before this, and the obvious answer is that he didn't want to get crossways with the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
But now that Sharpton has a nationally syndicated radio talk show heard locally on WVON every weekday afternoon, I guess he's willing to risk it to take advantage of the marketing synergy.
Either that, or he thinks he's a bigger deal these days than Jackson, which just might be true.
For sure, he thinks he can take a more aggressive lead here on social justice issues than Jackson and his Rainbow/PUSH organization, now perceived as complacent in Chicago because of the Jackson family's political and business interests.
Sharpton never came right out and said any of that when I spoke to him Monday, but I can read between the lines.
And second, he wants to get involved in police accountability matters in Chicago because ""there's been a consistent pattern of police misconduct and a lot of people feel [Mayor] Daley has been getting a pass.""
While those are his starting points, Sharpton made clear that he plans to be heard in the days ahead on a range of local issues from education to housing.
""I will be in Chicago at least once a month,"" he said, which should be enough to stir things up a little if he's really of a mind.
Most of you probably don't want Sharpton stirring things up, but his calculation is that there is a need for somebody who is willing to stick their neck out on social issues.
He's right.
Since Mayor Harold Washington's death, Chicago's African-American leadership in particular has been fragmented and complacent. The complacency is Daley's doing, and you can either chalk that up to him being inclusive, which he is, or him co-opting the minority elite with contracts and such, which he also does.
But it's more than an African-American thing. There aren't many independent voices left in town period. Maybe an outsider can say what has to be said on some of these issues better than the rest of us, if he takes the time to become informed and not just look for grandstanding opportunities.
I would never say that Chicago needs Al Sharpton, but he might be good for the city just the same, if taken in small doses, which sounds like what we're going to get.
If nothing else, the haters will have somebody new to hate.
The last time I wrote about Sharpton was when he made his run for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination and gave a speech at St. Sabina's for Father Michael Pfleger.
I predicted Sharpton would do pretty well in the primaries, which shows what I know, although when I pointed this out to him Monday, he noted that he did a lot better than former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun.
Sharpton didn't want to get drawn into the Jackson discussion.
""I'm not coming there to compete with any of the existing groups,"" he said.
But he says one has to ask the question: With all the social justice issues facing Chicago, why isn't there a more vibrant movement in place to address them?
If he keeps asking questions like that, somebody might get the idea he really is here to compete.