Even though Cornel West is pretty far left, he seems very genuine, and I have always liked the guy, and he is spot on with this issue. Obama and his administration havent even made an attempt to do anything to help black people, yet Al Sharpton and Melissa Harris-Perry, and the black community never hold his feet to the fire over it, and they will vote 95% in favour of him next election..... Cornel West kind of reminds me of Ron Paul as he has no sense of being politically correct, he always just says exactly what he is thinking, regardless of who he pisses off, and i respect him for it..... Its an interesting debate.... <object width="420" height="245" id="msnbc95b82d" classid="clsid27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" /><param name="FlashVars" value="launch=42520533&width=420&height=245" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed name="msnbc95b82d" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="420" height="245" FlashVars="launch=42520533&width=420&height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object><p style="font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 420px;">Visit msnbc.com for <a style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com">breaking news</a>, <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;">world news</a>, and <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;">news about the economy</a></p> Al Sharpton and Prof. Cornel West are trading jabs over their contrasting viewpoints on President Obama â and over West's harsh attack on Sharpton's fellow MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry. In a recent interview with Diverse magazine, West alleged that Sharpton has been soft on the Obama administration in exchange for access to the White House. "You watch his show on MSNBC and you want to say, 'Brother Al... tell the truth about the White House,' but he won't say a mumbling word," he said. West also brought up what he felt was his negative experience with Harris-Perry from their days teaching at Princeton. He called her a "liar" among many other things. "She's become the momentary darling of liberals, but I pray for her because she's in over her head," West said. "She's a fake and a fraud. I was so surprised how treacherous the sister was." Sharpton and Harris-Perry have tangled over President Obama before. Sharpton and West got into a shouting match in April. West alleged that Obama has been a "mascot" for the wealthy who has done little for black Americans, while Sharpton claimed that West was demanding too much of the president. Sharpton slapped back West's criticism of himself and Harris Perry in an interview published on Wednesday. He sharply rebuffed the notion that he and Harris-Perry, whose new MSNBC show debuts in February, received their posts as rewards for supporting Obama, as some have alleged. "All of these conspiracy theorists need to check facts more clearly," he said. Sharpton referenced Tavis Smiley, who frequently makes media appearances with West, to make his case. "Who rewarded Tavis Smiley with his show?" Sharpton asked. "Tavis can have a show [and] that's fine. But if Dr. [Harris] Perry [and] I have a show all of a sudden it's some kind of a conspiracy theory?...black people are not that stupid." The MSNBC host also defended Harris-Perry as "an extremely gifted and important part of the social-political dialogue going on in this country." His advice to his colleague: "Don't look back. Keep going forward...and let the haters be haters." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/08/al-sharpton-melissa-harris-perry-cornel-west_n_1263522.html
Nice to see some strong feelings, and I have to say that Mr. Sharpton lost this one. His 'in the street activist' position, although valuable in the past, has perhaps lost it's luster in this day and age. c
Not a fair matchup, Cornel West is a brilliant scholar, Al Sharpton is a street thug race baiting hater.
Personally I don't think it is governments job, particularly central or federal government. I think the founding fathers wanted the government to protect and allow for equal opportunity and certain freedoms, a level playing field if you will. (slaves at the time not withstanding obviously) What the individual does or does not do with that freedom and opportunity is entirely the individuals responsibility. If they don't rise to the challenge then that is tough fucking shit.
I like the level playing field portion especially. However, we all know there never has been a totally level playing field, not even in Communism, because they obviously had their super-rich controlling the peasants for decades. I think the government, perhaps in the form of education, can certainly help level the playing field. But, even in the best cities and towns, some schools are much better than others. c
If you mean federal "government", I don't think those two words even belong in the same sentence. Look how it's working out so far.
I understand that the 50's and 60's showed the best results in public education since. K-12 anyway. Each State has the responsibility to teach kids, local entities charge property taxes to fund this education, and the Fed's now try to enforce such things as 'no child left behind' and bury teachers with paperwork, taking time away from the kids. I have to say, other than charter or private schools, it's not looking too good. c
This debate is decades old. It started way back with two others fellas, Booker T. Washington and W E B DuBois, then in the next generation, this moved into Martin Luther King and Malcolm X carrying each respective torch. Now, it is here with Dr. West and Rev. Sharpton.