In his usual fiery and emotional manner, the Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke Thursday to the SF State campus community for 40 minutes as part of a rally to show support for affirmative action
and Indigenous People's Day.
Although Jackson spoke on affirmative action, the civil rights activist also touched on numerous other topics during his speech -- occasionally throwing in one-liners to highlight the irony and humor behind attempts to dismantle affirmative action.
After thanking the participants for planning the day-long celebration, Jackson quickly got down to business, reminding the crowd of almost 1,500 that Christopher Columbus "found America, and not discovered it." He added that the accomplishments of Native Americans, as well as other minorities, have long been ignored by the nation's history books.
"We too helped to build this land. Our blood, our sweat, our tears have made this nation great," Jackson said.
Jackson began to attack the policies of Gov. Pete Wilson, who turned against affirmative action after initially supporting it while mayor of San Diego. Jackson said that we as people must fight to discourage racism, sexism, anti-Semitism and Native American and Latino bashing.
"There is a sense of agony, fear, hatred and scapegoating going around," Jackson said. "We as a human family must turn to each other, and not on one another.
Jackson continued to pound Wilson, calling him a "presidential candidate-reject," which drew loud cheers from the audience.
Jackson also spoke about the building of jails throughout the country, saying they were not the solution to urban problems.
"Nowadays, you go to cities and you see only two new things -- a stadium and a jail," Jackson said. "Let's lift children up, not lock them up; let's stop locking up our youth and start lifting them up," Jackson said as the clapping of the crowd drowned out his last few words.
Jackson encouraged the crowd to resolve problems by "talking it out rather than fighting it out" and he brought up the examples of South Africa and the Middle East.
"Look at Mandela, De Klerk, Arafat and Rabin," Jackson said, "People said that Mandela and De Klerk could never talk. They did, and now they (South Africa) are becoming a great country. When Arafat and Rabin sat around a common table and left the battlefield -- there's gonna be a new Middle East."
Jackson ended his SF State appearance by telling the audience to take pride in their heritage, but not to overdo it.
"In the final analysis we are all measured by character, not skin color," Jackson said.
Jackson's speech was well-received, according to many students at the rally.
SF State civil engineering student Aaron Taylor said he was there to hear Jackson address the issues.
"This is my second time seeing Jackson speak," Taylor said. "I liked what he said about character. That's true."
Assistant Speaker of the Associated Students Legislature Lee Sprague said he was impressed with the way in which Jackson got his message across.
"I like his fire," Sprague said. "He gets people motivated. He's a great speaker."
Alison Goodsill, a humanities major, saw Jackson in person for the first time.
"He's eloquent, uplifting -- on the right side," Goodsill said. "I liked what he said about how we should take pride in our heritage, but not worship it. He also reminded us of drugs, jails and other problems we need to keep in mind," she said.
Still, not everyone was moved by his words.
Terrence Wong, an international business and computer science major, was one of them.
"(Jackson) is just another individual making a pitch," he said.
[ Golden Gater Online October 17, 1995 ]
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