Sharpton Insists He Still Has a Role to Play

Civil rights leader not threatened by new wave of black politicians
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 26, 2007 2:34 PM CST
Sharpton Insists He Still Has a Role to Play
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is greeted by Rev. Al Shaprton, left, after being introduced during the 9th annual National Action Network convention Saturday, April 21, 2007 in New York. Democratic presidential contenders are scrambling for support in what's being dubbed...   (Associated Press)

Is there a place for Al Sharpton in a Barack Obama world? The first black politician with a serious shot at the Oval Office hardly mentions race, whereas Sharpton is, as one historian puts it, “kind of a racial ambulance chaser.” But Sharpton isn’t worried. “They say we don’t matter,” he tells the Washington Post, then “they want to know who we’re endorsing.”

Sharpton has had a busy year, spearheading outrage over Don Imus, the Jena Six, and a Queens police shooting. “We’ve always had blacks so-called in the system and blacks outside,” he says, and while Obama speaks to the former, Sharpton holds sway over the latter. “If I’m a guy seeking office,” he says, “I would not want me against me.” (More Election 2008 stories.)

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