Al Sharpton has an extremely profitable business model that he has relied upon to garner him much wealth for decades. The Sharpton model relies almost exclusively on inciting racial discord while masquerading as a civil rights leader. Sharpton’s latest exploit was the case involving my brother George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin. Days after the fatal encounter, attorneys retained by Trayvons parents with the help of a media strategist began making the case in the court of public opinion that a black child had been murdered in cold blood by a white man, and that the white man was simply excused without any investigation or consequence because he was white. Predictably, whenever Al Sharpton hears white and black used in the same sentence, he probably imagines that if he plays his cards just right, there is a fortune to be made. Sharpton wasted no time coming to town and making the case that Sanford was infested by pervasive racism. Sharpton began his campaign to convince the nation that Sanford police were racists, that the State Attorneys office was racist, and that the murder of a black person had been swept under the rug because the shooter was white. Sharpton organized rallies - cleverly dubbed advocacy - which conveniently created constant material for his MSNBC show, PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton, to cover, and consequentially boost the broadcasts ratings. Higher ratings means networks earn more advertising revenue from their sponsors. MSNBC apparently saw no problem with a pseudo-journalistic broadcast being so visibly intertwined with advocacy. Sharptons rallies were littered with signs bearing a slew of dated cherub-esque images of a much younger Trayvon, as well as signs that used a single picture of George-the-white-man in a dated mugshot to visibly reenforce the white therefore guilty theme. Thanks largely to the racial animosity encouraged by Sharptons rallies – rallies that were in actuality racism revivals - our entire family was displaced and forced to live in isolation. At times, we were all in different states and living in hotels, basements, on friends couches, with family members, or wherever we could find relatively safe shelter. Those around us would ask us how Sharpton could get away with spewing absolute fiction. Why were his assertions never contested? We didnt have good answers at the time. We do now. Sharpton is the architect-in-chief of the racism-for-profit scheme that is a cancer on any real progress we can ever hope to make toward living in a society based in true equality. Sharpton is almost singlehandedly responsible for the new racism standard we have in our country. Traditionally, when one levels an accusation, there must be some evidence or indication that the accusation might be true. Todays standard is to allow Al Sharpton to decide who is a racist and to then demand the newly anointed racist go about proving that he or she is in fact not a racist. Sharpton wields the titles Reverend and civil rights leader to simultaneously salvage whatever credibility he has left, and to immediately silence his critics. Sharpton might be a genius -- a very dangerous and toxic genius. The only actual work he does is picking psychological scabs of old wounds and in return our society rewards him for it. He is a friend and advisor to our President and Attorney General, MSNBC provides him a platform to continue to incite racial animosity, and he enjoys the support of sponsors eager to advertise their products on his MSNBC program. Until the public demands that his sponsors stop funding his constant racial demagoguery via MSNBC, he will in effect have our implied consent to continue his race-baiting agenda, and to make a fortune while hes at it. The public recently sent a message to Paula Deens sponsors, and they listened. If we want to defund Sharpton and force a Sharpton-shutdown, we will have to let our dollars do the talking and keep Sharptons sponsors on notice: We are not on board, you will not line your coffers with our hard-earned money. We have choices. - Robert Zimmerman is the brother of George Zimmerman, the man pilloried by Al Sharpton as a supposed racist murderer of Trayvon Martin.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 01:34:57 +0000
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