America’s New Awareness: From Not-Racist to Anti-Racist

Social media’s use of online memes has become today’s shorthand for condensing complex messaging into digital sound bites aimed at persuading or convincing the reader of a particular point of view. Seldom are memes’ claims fact-checked and more often they are by design a creation of propaganda-spewing machines and interest groups focused on messaging to promote beliefs of a particular group, ideology, or product. Platforms like Facebook are havens for memes, fueling trends and efforts to galvanize political opinion.

A recent meme focuses on Reverend Al Sharpton, host of MSNBC’s Political Nation and founder/CEO of the National Action Network (NAN), a civil rights organization that has more than 100 chapters across the country. NAN’s website describes Reverend Sharpton as having “been at the forefront of the modern civil rights movement for nearly a half of a century. He has championed police reform and accountability, calling for the elimination of unjust policies like “Stop-and-Frisk.” He has fought for voting rights, equity in education and healthcare, and LGBTQ rights. Across the years, Reverend Sharpton has advocated for those who have been victimized including Yusef Hawkins, Michael Stewart, Amadou Diallo, Abner Louima, Sean Bell, the Jena Six, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner. and others.’

The following meme was reposted by a Facebook friend and generated a thread of comments regarding conjecture over the monetary compensation Rev. Sharpton received for preaching the eulogy at George Floyd’s funeral in Minneapolis last June.

Ensuing comments took on racist connotations and vicious stereotyping. Rev. Al Sharpton needs no mouthpiece or surrogate to speak up for him. For decades he has spoken on behalf of those with limited access to media platforms or publicity to highlight perceived injustices. As a blogger and media acolyte, I was intrigued by the hostile attitudes presented in the post’s comment threads.

Below, verbatim, is the comment thread that followed the meme. The contributing commenters in this blog’s names shall remain anonymous, with the exception of one countervailing voice who used the platform to simply push back, citing factual references. The interchange strikes me as a clear example of how good patriots choose to be anti-racist during an era where it’s no longer sufficient to merely profess not to be racist.

MM’s Comment: CNN forks over $ 200K for him to come on, and STIR SHIT UP !!! This P.O.S gas a Private Plane , so he can get to any Poor Black CRIMINAL , that the POLICE DARE ARREST. ..Fck shim !!!

JS’s Comment: Must have been a powerful message from up on high. God’s getting more expensive every day.

RB’s Comment: I still would like to know what church is Rev. of Him and his other Pal Jesse Jackson, I guess their not giving him any money so he’s not going to talk for free, and who wants you in the first place.

Then Christopher Dollas posted: Better check more closely with your evangelical leaders.

1. Benny Hinn – While building his following, Hinn has earned quite a bit of money along the way. His ministry collects more than $200 million a year, and he’s admitted to his salary being over half a million. Hinn owns a private jet, lives in a $10 million house near the Pacific Ocean, stays in hotel rooms that cost thousands each night, and owns luxury vehicles. His lavish lifestyle was first exposed by Dateline NBC, and it’s now under investigation by the Senate.

2. Joyce Meyer—Since 1999, Joyce Meyer’s ministry has spent at least $4 million on 5 homes for Meyer and her children. Meyer’s house is a 10,000 square foot home with an 8-car garage, a large fountain, a gazebo, a private putting green, a pool, and pool house with a new $10,000 bathroom. Her salary was reported at $900,000 back in 2003, and she also enjoys use of a private jet and luxury cars. Needless to say, Meyer has been questioned for years, and she is once again under investigation by the government for possibly violating nonprofit laws.

3. Kenneth Copeland—Despite being under investigation, Kenneth Copeland refused to submit financial information about his ministry, saying “You can go get a subpoena, and I won’t give it to you. It’s not yours, it’s God’s and you’re not going to get it and that’s something I’ll go to prison over. So, just get over it.”
Copeland lives in a mansion that some have said is “the size of a hotel.” He also has acquired a $20 million Cessna Citation private jet for flying around the country to spread the word. And of course, he owns an airport for landing said airplane.
RELATED: Common charity scams and how to avoid them.

4. Creflo Dollar—Creflo Dollar was another televangelist who ignored the Senate’s request for probes into financial records. Dollar claimed he was concerned about the privacy of his donors, and he said that if the IRS requested it, he would send it over. However, since it was Congress asking for the information, he wouldn’t do so without a subpoena. His church made $69 million back in 2006, and the church also provided him with a Rolls Royce. In Dollar’s words “Just because it (my life) is excessive doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong.”

5. Eddie Long—According to Eddie Long, Jesus wasn’t broke, and leaders of churches shouldn’t be either. Long has earned millions in salary from his ministry, owns a million dollar home on a 20-acre lot, has use of a $350,000 Bentley, and pulls in a host of other benefits too. Long was also in the group of televangelists who refused to give the Senate the information requested of the ministry. Senatore Grassley, the leader of this investigation, said “When I hear about leaders of charities being provided a $300,000 Bentley to drive around in, my fear is that it’s the taxpayers who subsidize this charity who are really being taken for a ride.”

6. Randy and Paula White—The Whites’ ministry brings in millions each year, and they own million dollar homes across the country (including in Trump Tower). The couple has been under constant scrutiny for mismanagement of church funds, and they recently got divorced, further complicating matters for the ministry. At last check, they also failed to provide the Senate with all requested records.What do you think? Should we be taking a closer look at these nonprofits?

7. James Orsen Bakker (/ˈbeɪkər/;[1] born January 2, 1940) is an American televangelist, entrepreneur, and convicted fraudster. He hosted the television program The PTL Club with his then-wife, Tammy Faye, from 1974 to 1989. He also developed Heritage USA, a now-defunct Christian theme park in Fort Mill, South Carolina. In the late 1980s, Bakker resigned from the ministry over a cover-up of hush money to church secretary Jessica Hahn for an alleged rape. Subsequent revelations of accounting fraud brought about felony charges, conviction, imprisonment, and divorce. Bakker later remarried and returned to televangelism, founding Morningside Church in Blue Eye, Missouri. He hosts The Jim Bakker Show, which focuses on the end times and the Second Coming of Christ while promoting emergency survival products. He has written several books, including I Was Wrong and Time Has Come: How to Prepare Now for Epic Events Ahead.

8. In the wake of Hurricane Harvey in 2017, preacher Joel Osteen – who helms one of the largest churches in America with 50,000 members and a 600,000-square-foot stadium – was criticized for not welcoming hurricane evacuees into his Lakewood megachurch. A social media post from the megachurch claimed the building was inaccessible because of “severe flooding.” But locals said otherwise, posting photos around the church showing streets that were easy to get to. Regardless of what happened, it brought negative publicity to the church and Osteen, who has a reported net worth of more than $50 million.

9. John Gray – South Carolina megachurch pastor John Gray gave his wife a $200,000 Lamborghini SUV for their eighth anniversary in 2018. A flood of negative responses followed. To name a few who exploit their pulpit position.

Dennis Day responded: Thank you Christopher Dollas for keeping it real. It’s irrelevant the $24k alleged to have been paid Sharpton. Truth is Sharpton for millions of Black people has credibility on the issue of BLM as demonstrated over 30 years, doing what he demonstrated at George Floyd’s eulogy: providing an historical and social context for a family’s pain and suffering while using his celebrity and platform to add a clarion voice for change to a cause long marginalized and ignored. Whether one believes in BLM as a social movement or not, the movement has gained global attention and traction at this moment. And the gravitas and support it has garnered is aided by individuals like Rev. Sharpton, who is  known for articulating the aspirations of the aggrieved, their pain, and a meaningful response to our national crisis involving police and community relations and racism.

There are those who wish to stifle progress and will use wedge issues to deflect from the broader call for deep reform. One proven way to impede further progress is to mute, nullify, or discredit the stronger, more visible advocates for systemic change in a nation whose “Achilles heel” is, sadly, systemic structural racism. But we shall overcome! Thanks for your effort at being not merely non-racist but more importantly, being anti-racist. That’s what’s needed.