The Rev. Al Sharpton, a controversial activist and an expected presidential candidate in 2004, urged students to follow his lead and take action in support of their beliefs, regardless of public opinion, last night during a speech sponsored by the Tucker Foundation.
Sharpton covered an array of issues ranging from his intentions to run for the presidency in the upcoming election in 2004 to the dangers he said big business poses to civil liberties.
Speaking candidly, Sharpton elicited mixed reactions from the crowd, though laughter and applause often punctuated his speech.
While the themes of public service and social justice -- were woven throughout Sharpton's speech, he spent the majority of his time addressing issues that will be important if he does indeed run a campaign.
Addressing the expectations for his intentions to run for the presidency, Sharpton began his speech by emphasizing the importance he stakes in standing unwaveringly up to his beliefs and dismissing the need for public approval.
Sharpton's speech in Rollins Chapel is part of his first visit to New Hampshire, a major political battleground since the state holds the first presidential primaries in the nation.
Despite his political aspirations, Sharpton claimed that he is not interested in telling people what they want to hear.
Sharpton criticized the Bush administration for suppressing "civil liberties and civil rights of American citizens" and supporting "some very reactionary regressive laws" in the wake of Sept. 11.
Sharpton emphasized the importance of the right to protest and criticized the current administration's response to the Sept. 11 attack, linking "reforms to silent dissent and protest" to an alleged assault by the Justice Department's on the civil rights movement.
He was also quick to declare that he would take the same position if the Democrats were in office.
The reemergence of justifications of racial profiling in the wake of Sept. 11 was also a major concern that surfaced during Sharpton's speech.
Sharpton suggested that to justify the profiling of any party will lead to the profiling of everybody, and that profiling could lead to the division of Americans.
"You don't fight terrorism by profiling," Sharpton said.
Sharpton offered criticism of the United States' lack of a standard policy regarding which nation are condemned on the basis of human rights violations and which countries are not.
Shifting his focus to national issues, Sharpton reiterated his belief that the suspension of constitutional rights and civil liberties should not be negotiable.
Sharpton called for a redefinition of politics in America, citing the need for campaign finance reform and the adoption of a standard voting process.
Sharpton argued that the reform to campaign finance should be to eliminate private campaign funding altogether in order to remove private money from the political credibility equation.
Following his speech, Sharpton answered questions on a variety of topics, including some on charges that have followed him about his accusation of an innocent man in the rape of a black girl that incited a deadly riot in Brooklyn in 1991.
Sharpton denied wrongdoing in both cases, saying that the claims against him were "fabrications" in the latter case. With regard to the rape, Sharpton said he had the right to disagree with the jury.
