It’s good to see that the ongoing protests and riots are at least helping somebody. Saturday Night Live apparently reached the point where even they couldn’t take any more of Al Sharpton’s endless appearances at rallies around the nation this weekend and set their own version of him up for an interview.
This was interesting timing, since Sharpton has been coming under increasing scrutiny lately. His appearances in both Ferguson and Staten Island have had some conservative commenters wondering if he’s not actually adding to or inciting the violence we’re seeing. For at least some, this is reminiscent of another tragic story which took place in the early 90s during the Crown Heights riots. The fact that Sharpton played a role in that tragedy is not a matter of debate, and one which Sharpton admits without ever actually offering an apology, as described in this 2011 account.
On Sunday, Rev. Al Sharpton gave his version of what happened 20 years ago in Crown Heights. But although he purports to have reflected on and learned from the riots, the truth is his recollection is egregiously distorted and sanitized.
Sharpton’s motivation for expressing his opinion at this time is unimportant; the fact that he has chosen to do so bestows a responsibility on us all to ensure that the truth is not sacrificed in the telling of our history.
Sharpton says that with the virtue of hindsight, he would have done some things differently – stating that “we,” meaning protesters, “should have expressed more clearly” “the precious value of Yankel Rosenbaum, who was killed by a mob that night.” He says, “I would have also included in my utterances that there was no justification or excuse for violence or for the death of Yankel Rosenbaum.”
But he does not outright apologize for his conduct. And his conduct was reprehensible.
He makes only passing mention of the vile words that incited the anti-Semitic rioters, which made an already volatile violent situation much worse. It was Sharpton who repeatedly bellowed to the rioters, “No justice, no peace!”
It’s expected and fairly normal that community leaders show up at the scene of contentious events and address the public. (And yes, I will apply the term community leader to Sharpton.) But we should also expect that when responsible leaders take to the podium, they would urge calm, legal, peaceful action and, most of all, a condemnation of violence and lawlessness. While Sharpton may not be overtly calling for burnings and looting, his excuses for why these things happen do have the sound of giving it all a pass.
Sharpton may have learned something from the Crown Heights incident, but clearly not everything he should have. SNL doesn’t dig into those events, but they do highlight the aspects of his endless television appearances which are worthy of a bit of mockery.
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