22 Aug 2014 Project 21’s Cooper on “O’Reilly”: Sharpton, Others Criticized for Lack of True Concern for Civil Rights
After Fox News Channel host Bill O’Reilly delivered a scathing indictment of race-mongering by the likes of Al Sharpton and others in charged situations such as the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Project 21 co-chairman Horace Cooper was brought on “The O’Reilly Factor” the very next night to debate the issue further.
With guest host Greg Gutfeld sitting in for Bill O’Reilly on the 8/21/14 edition of the show, Horace humbled NAACP senior vice president Hilary Shelton in an exchange in which Shelton actually seemed to try to up the ante by dropping in loaded words and phrases regarding Brown and Ferguson that included “execution,” “blue versus black” and “gun down unarmed citizens.” Shelton further sought to raise dubious complaints about Ferguson such as the fact that the city has many white ranking government officials and a majority of white officers on its police force without really addressing the fact these officials were elected in the 67 percent black community and whether police applications and hiring procedures back up the bias Shelton obviously meant to infer exists.
While all agreed that Sharpton has a right to speak his mind, Shelton did not repudiate the wrong direction advocated by Sharpton while Horace was quick to call it out. When Gutfeld suggested Sharpton was “trouble” in these crises, Horace said:
Well, that’s his game plan. And, in fact, even if there’s not a crisis going on, he brings a can of fuel and pours it all around. And then the match, and lights it up and then [Shaprton] watches everyone else.
If you want him to talk about what America is going to do so that America addresses how blacks, whites and browns all get along, Al Sharpton isn’t the man to do that. But if you want to talk about how it can be blown up, how it can be destroyed, how the problems can be exacerbated and the progress can be denied — he’s the man to call.
To drive the point home and expose the “deflection” he says is being used by those stirring up trouble through the use of the race card in Ferguson, Horace added:
What they have done… is try to exploit this situation. And the governor of the state has joined in, along with a number of other people. When you race to judgment and pre-judge this before we know all of the facts, it reminds me of something — the first and most important civil right is the right not to have the government charge you, indict you, incarcerate you, penalize you without the right process, the right investigation.
The rush to justice is the kind of thing I would’ve hoped the NAACP and Al Sharpton would have issued an announcement immediately when those people were making these rush to judgment type statements — even the governor of Missouri.
Their silence tells you all you need to know about their real concern about fundamental civil rights.