Al Sharpton hosted a "reclaim the dream" march on the same day as Glenn Beck's highly publicized (and criticized) "Restoring Honor" rally. Sharpton voiced concerns early on about Beck's choice of venue for the event, as it was on the date and in the same place as the Martin Luther King, Jr. "I have a dream" speech.
Sharpton is a controversial character in the political landscape by his own means. Some say he's racist against whites, while others agree with his agenda.
Sharpton's criticism comes more from the black community than anywhere else at all. CNS News reports that Mychal Massie, the chairman of Project 21 said "The Constitution, and I’ve read the Constitution, permits for Glenn Beck to hold a rally. He is not in any way taking advantage of a day or in any way being unfair or in any way maligning the history of Martin Luther King,”
He went on to accuse Sharpton of using race as a way to divide Americans, and said that the term "black community" should be dispensed of, as we are all Americans.
Do you think that Sharpton was correct in saying that Beck was trying to "hijack" the Civil Rights movement, or do you side with Massie and see nothing wrong with the "restoring honor rally"
Glenn Beck's rally attendance was around 87,000 people according to news reports. There were hundreds of thousands of people at the National Mall, near the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The Al Sharpton rally was also today in Washington DC.
Al Sharpton voiced opposition of Glenn Beck's rally, challenging the venue and date chosen by the Fox News commentator.
Today is an important day in history for the Civil Rights movement, as it is the date where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood at the very spot where Glenn Beck's rally took place and told the famed "I have a dream" speech.
Al Sharpton held his own rally, and it only brought in 3,000 to his attendance.
Glenn Beck's rally was about the troops - it was about Restoring Honor to the US. Al Sharpton's rally was about "restoring the dream" - but I would venture to say that we have achieved the dream. After all, our president is African American, and opportunities are not available to people any more just on the basis of their skin color.
On the flip side - the beautiful thing about America is that we all have our freedoms. It's great that Al Sharpton was able to hold his own rally on the date that he so choosed. However, Dr. Alveda King, MLK's niece, was a speaker at Glenn Beck's rally.
