Rev. Al Sharpton successfully rebranded himself years ago. He’s now seen – here in America – as a church elder, a Democratic Party elder, an anti-racism activist, an advocate and advisor for Black community, a peacemaker and a firebrand. He still has a MSNBC show, although it’s only a once-a-week show nowadays. I actually didn’t know that Rev. Sharpton still travels outside of America to talk politics, racism and culture, but here we are. Rev. Sharpton was on Good Morning Britain this week and he was asked about the situation with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (the GMB anchor notably only referred to Meghan by her maiden name) and everything that’s gone down with the British media and the Windsors. Rev. Sharpton was very thoughtful and he didn’t pull his punches.
Rev Al Sharpton speaks out about the racism Meghan Markle has faced including that vile column by Jeremy Clarkson.
Al has been talking the talk since I was a nipper.
He never sugar coats the truth which is why some people will be uncomfortable with what he says as it hurts pic.twitter.com/HocPkWiPyq— Lorraine King (@lorrainemking) February 7, 2023
First of all, Jeremy Clarkson did not apologize to Meghan and Harry “profusely.” Clarkson’s apology was self-centered and whiny, and as the Sussexes pointed out, Clarkson’s note of apology was addressed to Prince Harry alone, because Clarkson still refuses to see Meghan as an actual person. That’s how profound the dehumanization is – the apology only went to HARRY. As for what Rev. Sharpton says – “it was somebody Black working in the C Suites for the first time and they treat you differently.” That’s exactly what it was, and I still don’t believe the Windsors and the British media understand how women of color (specifically Black women) recognized Meghan’s experiences and treatment as part of a larger dynamic with Western society.
Additionally, Rev. Sharpton has made some very pointed comments about UK policing and the racism and bigotry within British police forces. I would not be surprised if the British tabloids launch a full assault on Sharpton this week.
Where was the lie from Rev. Sharpton? I’m still looking and can’t find not one.
Brilliant analysis and well expressed.
I feel sick to my stomach at the moment, what a fking disgrace this country has become and I BLAME THE PALACE, THE ROYAL ROTA, GBNEWS AND THE LIKES OF MORGAN AND CLARKSON, two 11 YEAR OLD GIRLS, YES 11 YEAR OLDS, have just been arrested for a racist attack on another young girl. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW WILLIAM
@mary pester Is this the attack that was egged on by grown adults? It’s not surprising, if the ‘royal’ family’s supposed to be the family we should all be looking up to, then those 11 year old girls are in line with them. They have shown that you can bully a black woman out of the country and to the point of her wanting to take her own life and that of her unborn child. It’s now open season I’m afraid. Really wish I had the money to jump ship!
I want more and more people to say this out loud. We have seen their treatment of Meghan around the world. It’s horrifying. And no, neither the palace nor the courtiers understand the larger dynamic in western society going on. I don’t fault the palace insiders and the royal family for not understanding that initially. What I cannot forgive is that they refused to let anyone tell them, and they have refused to listen to the people who have tried. That’s how they are showing not only the racism of the royal family, but the racism intrinsic to the UK to the whole world.
This is going to look worse and worse as time goes on. This is going to be even more embarrassing for the royal family than the pictures of Edward 8th teaching the future Queen Elizabeth and her sister the nazi salute. Those are just photos. This has been a story for 7+ years.
The good Reverend is asking the right question. Apologies are good and well (though Clarkson’s was very weak), but why would someone go so far out of their way to spew hate in the first place and how on earth did it get published? That still hasn’t been explained to my satisfaction?
He really is asking the right question. And setting the right tone. Apologies are good and well but it doesn’t change where the hate came from. The BM want his weak apologies to mean that any further discussion is just complaining.
The clarkson garbage was published because the persons heading up that paper wanted it published. End of story. The editors were in agreement with what clarkson had written and wanted it published. Apparently, there are no libel laws in the U.K.? While it could be claimed to be an opinion piece, it wasn’t. It was vile and disturbing and would not have been allowed to be published in a mainstream media paper in Canada. The paper and clarkson got huge publicity from that article, made an enormous amount of money, and received a lot of support from like-minded individuals. The fact that many didn’t/don’t see or understand the broader issues/implications of what was written/published is shocking. It was a concerted effort on the part of the paper to slander the Duchess of Sussex. The paper was/is in cahoots with camilla parker-bowles, the former mistress of the current king and the woman who bullied Princess Diana when she was a very young woman. There was no apology. There will be no apology. None of the persons involved in writing, printing and supporting that story is sorry for anything..
I agree, Clarkson is essentially a tool (in the literal and figurative sense). He’s a horrible person in his own right and serving the purpose of his editors, paymasters, Camilla, etc.
The fact that Laura Keunssberg of the BBC literally had the editor of the Sun on her show the day after it came out and didn’t ask about the Clarkson article is unbelievable. And that she let the editor of the Sun say that they really aren’t that hard on Meghan and Harry in the press with no pushback is all that needs to be said really. It’s farcical.
I agree 100%!
Yep.
No lies detected. Not. A. One.
NO LIES, NOT A SINGLE ONE, just someone else calling out the racist British media who played to the racist part of British society, in fact, they INCREASED the amount of racism in the UK. Including the Palace. Those sick little men in grey suits and certain members of the family felt and still feel emboldened when they see the racist comments in the press. They don’t see a self made independent wealthy in her own right woman, they just see a woman of mixed race and not an English rose. They have LIED about her, twisted things she has said and done, all to keep the public from looking to closely at the Royal family. I’m sick of seeing people moan about the media still using the name Kate middleton, but think it’s OK to use Megan markle. Megan is Mrs Mountbatten Windsor, DEAL WITH IT you racist bstds
It was actually jarring to hear the rev talking on GMB. The tone of those morning shows is usually so smug and nasty towards Meghan. Every single anchor on there, including Susannah, has said something demeaning towards Meghan. To hear him so plainly lay out the facts to these fools was just lovely. Of course, as soon as he was done talking, Susannah just moved on to ask the next guest a question, completely disregarding what the rev said. When he says “she became a symbol, not of her own making” and that they revealed what was already there and then got mad at Meghan that they were revealed….🔥🔥🔥
ABC and NBC are “royalist.” I watch CBS with Gayle King.
It doesn’t matter who tells them. They just don’t want to know what they don’t want to know. I wish more people in GB understood how completely their media is failing them.
I wish more people would step up and speak out.. enough is enough. I have noticed some very successful authors pushing back on the Prince Harry book tour comments and Meghan not attending. People with platforms and large followings need to be doing more of this. No one should have to live being the target of an extreme racist hate campaign for over 6years for literally existing! It is an unprecedented human rights nightmare what the BRF and there rota mouthpieces have put the Sussex’s through.
I applaud the Reverend for his words and not backing away from the subject.
The RR and the British P class better not step… or AL will be all up in their grill for real.
You would think that the RR would realize America media and people are not impressed by the stuff they keep spewing. The RR really hopes American kicks them out.
Rev Al looks good – can’t believe he’s 68 years old!
Haha, that was not the answer they were expecting. Rev Al doesn’t mince words here so I don’t know why they thought he would mince words there. He put the crux of the vitriol towards her in a nutshell -racism and exposing what was already there and blaming her for it. I loved how he said “what makes him feel that its ok to say that in the first place?” Yes, JC was all in his feelings when he wrote that and its obvious to everyone but his cosigners. Rev Al didn’t hide his disgust about it either.
I don’t think the BM will come after Rev Al. They seem to leave rich influential/powerful Black American men alone. They hate Prez Obama bc racism and for telling them Brexit would be a huge mistake but mostly leave him alone post presidency. They tried to come for Tyler Perry, until they found out that he’s a billionaire with power and his own movie studio. Despite his statements in the H&M docuseries, they have wisely left him alone. The last thing they want is for Rev Al go on major US networks blasting them for racism and linking it Meghan. They prefer to excoriate women, especially Black women bc they know there will be little to no pushback. The only reason they get away with trying to come for Oprah is bc of the interview and tying her to H&M. They wouldn’t dare come after her exclusively bc she’s a billionaire protected by both Hollywood and the elite.
“That was not the answer they were expecting.” If they knew anything about Al Sharpton then they should have expected that answer? Frankly, I’m shocked that they invited him on at all but I know that the British media doesn’t really bother with background research. These are the same people who thought that Bonnie Raitt was an “unknown blues singer” even though a 30 second google search could have cleared that up…
There was a moment where the anchor asked that question and you could see the other anchor suck in a breath and release it. She knew it was coming. I was surprised they even asked him about Harry and Meghan. They’ve just so gotten in the habit of asking everyone about the Sussexes but not sure what they expected to hear him say.
Zero lies detected.
I LOVED his comments. He really nailed the situation in a few sentences. And the fact that the said this to people who have been behind some of those nasty racist comments about Meghan…….hahahahahaha. Tell them Reverend.
People really have a short memory when it comes to AL Sharpton.
Naw…we don’t…but what he WAS he AIN’T no more.
Tawana Brawley
That was 36 years ago FFS.
Thirty-five years ago Al Sharpton thought the Brawley case should go to trial and did not accept the grand jury’s findings that the case was a hoax. Sharpton said that a prosecutor on the case had once charged him from stealing from his youth group, hence his distrust of the prosecutor’s dealings with the grand jury.
“In 1998, Steven Pagones, who was the county prosecutor at the time, won a defamation suit against Sharpton, Brawley and Brawley’s attorneys. They had accused Pagones of being among Brawley’s attackers.” (Mark Memmott, NPR, 8/5/2013). Sharpton paid off the $65K judgment with money raised by supporters.
My estimation of Al Sharpton has risen considerably over the years. His public speaking in the last decade has been concise and incisive, especially when questioned about certain situations. His recent GMB comments were in that same vein, encompassing and totally on-point.
If we’re still holding the royals responsible for the harm they did decades ago, then we need to do the same for Al Sharpton. Sharpton was committing defamation and destroying lives at the same time that C&C were mistreating Diana. It’s nice that he’s defending Meghan against racially motivated defamation today, but the source undercuts the credibility of the message. I wish someone else had said it.
Ar we talking about rhetoric? Or are we talking about racism to the point of running a monopoly selling enslaved black Africans?
Has he repeated that recently like the RF did with Meghan? Is he holding onto ill-gotten gains from that time of his life like the RF hoards stolen property and gifts from questionable sources? Is he conspiring with the media now to destroy someone’s life like the RF are?
I loved Rev. Al making the point that people “around the world” recognized what was happening to Meghan.
I’m glad he made it clear that the racism Meghan faced was noticed far beyond the confines of Britain.
Well, if he was hoping to stir up some controversy (a good idea) about Racism in British society, I think he hit the nail on the head. Nothing like challenging everyone listening to look to themselves. Good on him.
Here’s a question for the British Posters: Do you think a civil rights movement is possible in the UK? From what I’ve read, it seems like the Tories have made protests unlawful?
@saucy&sassy No I don’t believe there will be a civil rights movement here in the UK. Its a hard one to explain really, we black brits see the writing on the wall but are quite reluctant to start an uprising on that scale. We have had race riots in the past and the rise of BLM especially after the George Floyd murder. My personal experience discussing racism is with other black people, we do it to the side quietly, I have also discussed racism with white friends one of which I no longer speak to and one other that’s a bit more open to talking about certain things but still is quite defensive. Racist accusations are shut down here, the white British people do not want to hear it and will rubbish it away, unfortunately there are some black British people who are the same. Racism was bad in the past 50s, 60s, 70s, but was getting a little better until recently, we are now rolling backwards.
I have been a life long Anlophile. Now I’m disgusted by what I have seen. I’ve stopped watching a number of British You tube personalities as they one by one added to the hate. What is so alarming is seeing how widespread the hate towards Meghan is. I’m certain I’m not the only one who feels repulsed by what we have seen from the British media, the “royal” family, and many British subjects.
Bohemian angel, yes it was the one where adults were egging them on and teachers were doing nothing