AL ‘BULL HORN’ SHARPTON, SHAKEDOWN EXPERT, RACE BAITER…

How many out there, other than many in black community who may recognize the fact but choose to look the other way, have little difficulty in recognizing the fact that we have two supposed men of God who are essentially nothing more than extortionists, and of the very worst kind?  So in telling us what most of us already knew, the New York Post has now reported on how it is that Sharpton is able to get himself ‘paid’ to keep from calling the companies racist.  Quite the gig if you can get it and one that has proven to be quite profitable for old reverend Al. 

Sharpton's National Action Network (NAN), laughably referred to by so many as being some sort of a civil rights organization, has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from companies over the past decade, companies eager to either gain his support or to simply keep him quiet, according to the Post.  Ken Boehm of the National Legal & Policy Center told the Post, "Al Sharpton has enriched himself and NAN for years by threatening companies with bad publicity if they didn’t come to terms with him." He added, "Put simply, Sharpton specializes in shakedowns."

And it was according to someone who has worked with Al in the past that the typical shakedown scenario was said to go a little like this: Step one has Sharpton confronting a company over accusations of racism. Step two, he then meets with company executives, who end up contributing to NAN.  And it was this same source who said, "Once Sharpton’s on board, he plays the race card all the way through."  This person went on to say, "He just keeps asking for more and more money."  Knowing Al, as I think we all do, I’d say this sounds about like what we’d expect from someone like Al.

The Post cites a New York state inspector general's report on Plainfield Asset Management, which in 2008 gave $500,000 to Education Reform Now, which in turn gave the money to NAN.  The money was intended to promote "educational equality," but it was given at the same time Plainfield was part of a group, Capital Play, trying to build a racetrack and casino in Queens.  Plainfield denied the money was intended to curry favor from Sharpton, but a year later NAN was given another $100,000 from AEG, which had taken over for Capital Play, as a 

battle over the company's licensing was brewing.

The inspector general's report cited an email between two AEG employees in 2009 claiming that Sharpton had lobbied hard on the company's behalf with then-Gov. David Paterson.  And although Al denied taking any action on the casino's behalf, it was according to someone that the Post was able to find, someone that was familiar with this specific situation, who was quoted as saying that AEG saw its payments as a way of keeping Al from criticizing them and hurting their efforts.  So who you going to believe, Al or someone who appears to be telling what is a very credible version of events?

The list of companies that have paid NAN is a rather long and prestigious one.  It included American Honda, which was targeted by Sharpton in 2003 for not hiring enough minorities in management. Two months later, the company met with Sharpton and began sponsoring events put on by NAN. Sharpton's protests stopped almost immediately. Coincidence? I think not!  And Al also got a $25,000-a-year consulting job with Pepsi after threatening a boycott in 2008 because he said their ads did not include enough black people.  Who says crime doesn’t pay?  After all, extortion is a crime.

General Motors resisted Sharpton's requests for money for 6 years, but relented after Al threatened a boycott over the closing of a black-owned dealership in The Bronx.  Sony Pictures has not announced any donations to NAN after meeting with the movie studio's co-chair Amy Pascal, but Sharpton also has not given his support.  The recent hack of Sony Picture's computer system revealed racially-tinged emails Pascal wrote wondering whether Barry liked some of the company's movies – all of which were about blacks.  Al told The Post, "I have had no discussion with her about money."

Let’s face it, how many of us really needed to have some newspaper telling us that Al Sharpton is anything other than what he’s reported as being here in The Post?  I think we can all agree that Sharpton is about as far removed from being a simple preacher interested in ending racism as one can possibly be.  Far from being someone with a desire to bring about an end to racism, as a devout racist himself, be works very hard at perpetuating it.  And his special brand of racism is a very virulent form, the most recent examples of which were the two NYPD officers assassinated in their patrol car.  And they were but the most recent examples.