It is 1991 and Sharpton is in Bensonhurst, a white Italian-American area of Brooklyn where he staged 29 marches over 18 months to protest against the murder of Yusef Hawkins, a Black teenager shot by a crowd of white youths.
It was around the time of the Bensonhurst knife attack that Sharpton experienced a turning point. Up to then he had played it both ways: one day he would be the reformist seeking change from within in the mould of Martin Luther King, the next day he would be the firebrand agitator in the spirit of Malcom X. “As these racial killings started, I became more angry, I became Malcolm and Martin,” he said.
Sharpton dismisses the superficial contrast in appearances. “They call it growing up. I’m 68, am I still supposed to be wearing platform shoes and bell-bottom pants?” “I started preaching, and I’ve been preaching ever since,” he said. “While most kids were playing softball or jumping Double Dutch, I was preaching to the live congregation.”
“How he knew how to appeal to basic racism and homophobia, because he grew up in Queens, just a short distance from Howard Beach. In order to understand Donald Trump, you have to understand New York City – I understood it, because I grew up on the other side of the tracks.” “I might have had a different strategy and different language,” he replied. “But I still would have said that Brawley deserves her day in court, and she deserves to be investigated.”
LOL
Grifters gotta grift.