Submitted by harryo, Mar 13, 2007 13:52

I've been a longtime supporter of Sharpton but this is where we part company. Every other Democrat endorsed Liberman, including both Clintons. It's clear that the older generation of Civil Rights activists are not thrilled with relinquishing power to upstarts like Obama. Sharpton and others in the old school Black leadership structure are clearly upset that Obama was not part of the traditional civil rights movement nor did he follow the traditional roads to Black power; i.e. the Black Church, the NAACP, Black fraternities or historically Black colleges. Every major African American leader have used one of these routes to reach the top levels of Black leadership. Because Obama rose to power without being involved with any of these organizations, he's been described as not being an authentic African Americans by media pundits like Stanley Crouch and Debra Dickerson, but these pundits don't realize that at least half of African Americans who are middle and upper class fits the exact profile of someone like Obama. Sharpton is treading on dangerous ground here. If the Obama wave continues and he is found to be a strong and viable candidate and Black leader, even if he doesn't win the nomination, Sharpton will be relegated to the obscurity bin. Conversely, if Sharpton is able to persuade enough Black voters to support someone other than Obama, will Sharpton be seen as a Black Ralph Nader by blocking Obama's success?

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