Vel Phillips Papers (Teaching, Box 3)

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empowerment, and empowerment is the key to improvement. If the law is properly enforced, Blacks and Hispanics will be a new factor in national politics – not just for themselves but for progressives as well." Ironically, the Reagan Administration appears to have chosen civil rights as a major issue in attempting to appeal to minorities as part of the 1984 campaign. Last July, Assistant Attorney General William Bradford Reynolds decided to tour areas in Mississippi that allegedly have been failing to enforce the law which requires that Black citizens not be denied their constitutional right to vote. Jackson sees the Reagan Administration as one that has ignored minorities in every aspect, but is now using the Voting Rights Act as a means of manipulating the Black vote.

Concerning the issue of Affirmative Action, Jackson states, "It is critical for those who have been historical victims of negative action to have protection under the law – affirmative action to offset racial and sexual denials." Irony is again found in light of a meeting Jackson attended with Attorney General William French Smith and his aides. The result of that meeting was that President Reagan sent Vice President George Bush to the NAACP national convention to deliver the message that the Reagan Administration is open to Black leaders. Being a politician he is, Jesse Jackson has been able to turn those efforts around, thereby exposing the shortcomings of the Reagan Administration in the area of Affirmative Action. In the same U.S. News and World Report interview, Jackson is quoted as saying that American workers are in need of "international Affirmative Action" to deliver more fairness in work and employment practices.

Despite Jackson's opinion of the present Administration, an interview with Jeanne Thorton revealed that although Blacks tend to to be critical of the Reagan Administration, they may be able to change the pace by opening the doors to minorities. Maudine Cooper of the National Urban League stated, "Even at this late hour, if the Administration is in fact going to enforce the law, it may be able to turn things around."

On the issue of Corporate Behavior, Jackson feels the need to educate the workers so they may better understand corporate investment. He says the worker should understand just how his tax dollars are being spent. Jackson believes the dollar should go toward investment,

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reindustrialization and reeducation of the workers within the economy. Basically, we can say that Jackson's main issues are not dramatically unlike those of the other announced candidates. But to go a step further, one would think that if Jackson's campaign has valid issues, where will he seek his source of support? Well, Jackson seems to think that he can receive his support from what he calls the "Rainbow Coalition." He refers to that spectrum of society as those who are rejected. That includes Americans of Third World ancestry, women, poor people and jews. He is the "Man of the People." Jackson states, "At the last election, there were 75 million eligible voters who chose not to vote for Reagan, Carter or Anderson. They felt locked out." Jackson also believes that his Rainbow Coalition would fill a gap between the two major political parties. But everyone does not profess to be a part of the Rainbow Coalition he so proudly represents. Coretta Scott King states, "It would harm both Blacks and Democrats if Jesse Jackson ran for president, creating a backlash that could help re-elect President Reagan." She goes on to say, "I don't think this is the year for a Black to seriously run. No Black can win a Democratic nomination – Jesse Jackson or anyone else."

Jesse Jackson seems to believe that a Black Democratic Party presidential nominee would resolve problems that have exsisted[existed] between Blacks and Democrats. In his U.S. News and World Report interview, Jackson offers, "A Black candidate in the primaries will expand the Party, not divide it." Jackson tends to believe he can increase the Black voter registration from 10 to 15 million. He may very well do just that, but if America's white majority is not ready to accept a Black presidential candidate, Jackson's candidacy is almost guaranteed to have the effect of increasing the white registered voter rolls on the opposing side. This is the theory Coretta Scott King is no doubt taking seriously in making the above mentioned statements concerning the wisdom of a Black presidential contender in 1984.

Further, the CBS television news program "60 Minutes" broadcast on October 13, 1983 included an interview between Jesse Jackson and Mike Wallace. Wallace questioned Jackson about the lack of support Jackson has thus far received from recognized Black leaders (e.g. Detroit mayor Coleman Young, Julian Bond, Atlanta mayor Andrew Young

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and Ralph Abernathy.) Jackson responded by saying, "Not all white candidates are supported by their so-called leaders." Realistically, these powerful Blacks, however, could force Jackson to lose states which have a very high concentration of possible Black votes. Benjamin Hooks of the NAACP has indicated that that organization will encourage its members and other Blacks to cast their votes for a realistic presidential candidate that is capable of winning. Hooks, like Coretta Scott King, said they will band together with the necessary power to eliminate a Ronald Reagan victory in 1984.

A separate, but certainly important issue is that of Jesse Jackson and the Jews. As a political group, the Jews in America exercise what some observers consider to be an extraordinary influence in terms terms of the national media. They also exert a large influence upon the American economy. Consequently, they may be able to weild[wield] enough political influence to actually defeat Jesse Jackson. A November 7, 1983 article in the New York Times ("Jackson and Jews") indicated that Jackson magnified past difficulties with Jewish Americans by talking with an Arab group. Ronald Smothers, author of the article, labeled Jackson's tactics as distasteful: implying they were ineffective if Jackson truly intended to include Jews as part of his Rainbow Coalition. The article expresses the ill feelings Jews held four years ago when Jackson took the position which favors a Palestinian homeland in the Middle East. He also visited with Arab leaders including the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Yassir Arafat. Just days after announcing his candidacy for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, Jackson appeared before an Arab American group to speak on November 5, 1983. Smothers wrote, "A wise political strategy, they said, would have been to appear before a Jewish group first." Ernest Green, a Jackson campaign adviser, does not feel the issue is a serious one, however, Smothers quotes Green as saying, "It wasn't the most politically wise thing to do. "However, there are other factors besides Jackson's attitude on the Middle East." According to the Smothers article, Nathan Perlmutter, executive director of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rithmaintains, "Many of us remember that he is the man who is sick and tired of hearing Holocaust and that he blamed 'Jewish domination of the media' for some of the news coverage he has gotten.

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"Considering these things, coupled with his embrace of Yassir Arafat, I have no question that Jews, like most groups who have a commonality of interest, will be listening closely to what he says."

Other Jewish groups have attacked Jackson as being "antiIsrael and anti-semetic[semitic]." They also question Jackson's credibility among the "great wide swathe of centriot[centroid] Jews." What Jews have apparently forgotten is that Jackson went to Israel before going to the Arab countries. Israeli leaders refused to meet with him and accused Jackson of being anti-Israel.

Interestingly, Jackson does not address the attitudes that are against him. He simply states, "My concern is that Blacks, Arabs and Jews should begin to talk to one another."

It is clear that Jackson has a dream that his Rainbow Coalition would or could be the answer. However, the problem is that some major colors in his rainbow (i.e. "elite" Blacks and Jews) are in question. Without support from these two groups, I am not convinced the Jackson rainbow will shine. We surely know the Black vote alone is clearly not enough for a Jackson victory.

TACTICS

What tactics could Jesse Jackson employ that would allow him to even get past the nation's presidential primaries successfully? The main issues he focuses on are the enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, Affirmative Action and Corporate Behavior. We have examined his Rainbow Coalition and found major pieces simply do not stand up in support of Jackson's presidential bid. That alone could prove to be a crucial weak link in his campaign. But we have not yet examined strategy. How will it affect the strength of the Democratic Party's success or failure in the 1984 presidential race? Will it cause a visual split within the party itself? Who will Jackson help or hurt among his political collegues[colleagues]? How will it affect the strength? George Curry of the Chicago Tribune writes, "Jesse Jackson would have significant impact on Walter Mondale's

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campaign in the South, where Mondale and Glenn are running neck-toneck among whites . . ." Former Vice President Mondale has carried up to 39 percent of the Democratic Black vote until the announcement of Jackson entering the presidential contest. It is obvious since the majority of Blacks live in the South and Blacks are predominantly supporters of the Democratic Party candidates, Jackson's candidacy will affect Mondale more than the other candidates within the party. In addition, Jackson and Mondale share many of the same views regarding human rights. Visible Blacks, such as Coretta Scott King and Benjamin Hooks of the NAACP, have gone so far as to state Blacks should not throw their votes away, but use them wisely in the effort to defeat Mr. Reagan. Coretta Scott King states what many fear, "Jesse has the right to run, same as anyone else. No Black can win the Democratic nomination – Jesse Jackson or anybody else. I believe it's going to create some serious problems. It might cause the kind of backlash that would tend to help Mr. Reagan and the conservative trend in this country. That might mean another four years (of Reagan) – or worse."

They are not speaking directly against Jackson, are concerned instead that the possible divisiveness of his candidacy could prove detremental[detrimental] to the very issues and coalition Jackson claims he can best represent. Another view holds that if Black voters see Andrew Young, Coretta Scott King, Coleman Young, Tom Bradley, NAACP leaders and other influential Blacks campaign for a candidate other than Jackson, the very real danger exsists[exists] that the Black vote will be split and thereby rendered totally ineffective. While it appears that Jackson is banking on numbers, he may well discover that the numbers he can realistically pull are hardly sufficient.

THE VISUAL SPLIT

Prior to the entry of Jesse Jackson into the presidential race, the polls showed John Glenn and Walter Mondale running neck and neck but Mondale carried 39 percent of the Black registered voters. Glenn carried only 4 percent and George McGovern had 3 percent.

Chuck Stone raises an interesting point in the chapter entitled Ceteris Paribus of his book "Black political Power in America." He