Editorial in the Bates Student, March 20 2007:
On Wednesday, March 14 the Bates College Republicans invited Mr. Reginald Jones to give a lecture on the modern civil rights movement through a conservative African-American’s eyes. While the subject of the lecture could have proved interesting, much of Jones’ time was spend bellowing at the audience and making unsubstantiated and irrelevant comments.
Even worse, though, Jones’ speech contained a lot of misinformation, a small portion of which we would like to correct.
First, Jones insinuated that the Reverend Al Sharpton is not deserving of the title “Reverend” because he has never been a clergyman. That, however, is not true as Sharpton is an ordained minister and was once a pastor of the Washington Temple Congregation.
Second, his statement that Planned Parenthood was founded by Margaret Sanger as a way to keep the African race from populating this country is ridiculous. Simple research shows that Sanger was nothing close to a racist, and was involved in Planned Parenthood as a way to promote better sexual health for women, regardless of race.
Jones also made the absurd claim that current civil rights leaders “[rent] mobs from asylums and homeless shelters, giving them ten dollars each and a meal” to participate in public protests.
Jones used misleading statistics and odious attacks to bolster his unfounded claim that African-American leaders are corrupt, bad for the community, and too allied with the Democratic Party.
Jones’ ridiculing of American heroes such as John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, and subsequent attempt to coddle the audience with praises of Bates’ Edmund Muskie was insulting to the intelligence of the audience members.
The speaker’s patronizing remarks toward African-Americans and Hispanics, as well as racist statements such as “Massa Clinton says vote for Hillary so that’s what they’re [the African American community] going to do,” were downright offensive. When Jones’ comments branched away from grotesque remarks and irrelevant claims, he merely complained about society while offering no solutions.
Overall, the lecture was very circular and full of empty rhetoric that did not further the academic dialogue concerning civil rights, the African-American community, or the American political process. This opportunity to have a real conversation concerning relevant policies and issues was unfortunately sacrificed for the sake of a few partisan low-blows and unsupported claims.
Paul Suitter '09 and Erica Perlman-Hensen '09
