Rev. Dr. J.H. Jackson - A patriot of African-American history

By Charles A. Morse
web posted February 4, 2002

Unless I'm taking the concept too literally, Black History Month
seems to me to be an appropriate time to examine African-
American history. In my cursory analysis, I am immediately
struck by how modern African-American history seems to
feature only leftists. Patriots, those African-Americans who have
looked to the American system to solve problems of injustice,
are virtually ignored. Our "liberal" culture has glorified only those
African-Americans who have genuflected to the left, those who
have supported totalitarian state programs or have agitated for
violence. The left leaning "liberal" establishment, which is
predominantly white, has promoted these African-American
leftist leaders, I would contend, as a subtle means of preserving a
"white mans burden" form of racism.

A case in point regarding an African-American patriot who
remains curiously unknown is that of the Rev. Dr. J.H. Jackson.
The Rev. Dr. Jackson presided over the 87th Annual National
Baptist Convention held in Denver, Sept. 1967. With 6.3 million
members, the Baptist convention was the largest African-
American organization in its day, yet, this conservative
organization, and this convention, attended by 30 thousand
people, attracted barely a mention in the media. At the time, the
media was too fixated on the ramblings of violent Marxist
lunatics Stokeley Carmichael and H. Rap Brown, who were
being marketed and presented to the American people as
leaders of Black America.

At the convention, the Rev. Dr. Jackson proclaimed, "those who
cry 'to Hell with America' should leave and go to the country that
they love." He said, " For those who do not have the money, we
will pay their fare." His speech was interrupted 15 times by
standing ovations. In attendance were respected and
accomplished African-American leaders from across the
country. Dr. Jackson stated, to waves of applause, that if there
wasn't enough jail space for the violent revolutionaries, the penal
system should be expanded.

Regarding the radical Black Power movement, the darling of the
elite press, the Rev. Dr. Jackson thundered, "No hen has the
right to cackle who hasn't laid an egg. Black Power folk, many
with no soap and no bathtubs, are cackling about their power.
They need to do something first." Jackson went on to say,
"Black Power is organized hate, and it does not describe
constructive and productive action on the part of American
Negroes...American Power is color blind." Here was an African-
American leader who had the courage to stand up and speak the
truth.

While African-American "leaders," such as Carmichael, Rap
Brown, the Black Panthers and others of their ilk were agitating
for the burning of American cities and violence, genuine leaders
such as Rev. Jackson and other patriots, preached achievement,
capitalism, and Christianity. While the leftist establishment
rewarded the radicals with generous grants through government
agencies set up to fight the "War on Poverty" and well as through
endowed private foundations, African-American patriots such as
the Rev. Dr. J.H. Jackson and other heroes of his ilk toiled in
virtual anonymity. While the radicals were rewarded with puff
pieces and glamorous cover pictures in Time and Look,
continuous News coverage on TV and airbrushed
documentaries, op-ed's, and movies, the African-American
patriots struggled to promote their message on a shoestring. You
see, the African-American patriots, unlike the grant fattened and
media pampered radicals, had to work for a living while they
championed the cause of their people.

Given the fact that virtually the entire story of African-American
history is viewed through the lens of the left, and that leftist
leaders were promoted and financed by the establishment left in
avalanche proportions, its actually amazing to me that Black
America has even survived let alone prospered. If the left, with
their big money, big-media, and big power structure had
succeeded in what appears to have been a conspiracy to create
a race war, there's no telling where our country would be today.
The amazing success of African-Americans, and for that matter
all of us today is clearly in spite of the left and their African-
American apparatchiks. African-American success, actually, is
attributable to the irresistible superiority of our American system
of capitalism, morality, and freedom.

Chuck Morse (www.chuckmorse.com) is the author of the
upcoming book "The Difference between Us And Them"

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