Definition
Al Sharpton (born 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, and television host who has been one of the most visible and controversial figures in the fight for racial justice for over four decades. He first gained national attention in the 1980s as a street-level activist in Brooklyn, then became a household name through his involvement in high-profile cases like the Tawana Brawley controversy (1987), the killing of Amadou Diallo (1999), and the death of Trayvon Martin (2012). Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network and the host of PoliticsNation on MSNBC. He is praised by supporters as a tireless advocate for the marginalized and criticized by detractors as a publicity-seeking opportunist.
Why It Matters
Al Sharpton is a Rorschach test for American attitudes about race. To his supporters, he is a man who shows up when nobody else will — at the funerals of police violence victims, at protests, at the White House. To his critics, he is a racial arsonist who inflames tensions for personal gain. The truth is complicated: Sharpton has been on the right side of history more often than not (he was a key figure in the Diallo, Martin, and Garner cases), but he has also made serious mistakes (the Brawley case was a hoax, and his refusal to apologize damaged his credibility for years). Sharpton’s evolution from a street activist with a perm and a tracksuit to a trim, suited MSNBC host and White House advisor is itself a story about how American political culture absorbs and transforms its radicals. He is not a saint. He is not a devil. He is a man who has spent 40 years fighting for Black Americans in a country that still doesn’t know how to talk about race.
Example
“He saw Al Sharpton speak at a rally in 2014. The crowd was angry. Sharpton was angry too, but his anger was controlled, strategic, and somehow comforting. He spoke for 20 minutes. The crowd was still angry when he finished. But they were also organized. That was Sharpton’s gift. He didn’t calm people. He focused them.”
Related Terms
- Civil Rights Movement — The tradition Sharpton works within
- Tawana Brawley — The 1987 case that nearly destroyed Sharpton’s career
- National Action Network — The organization Sharpton founded in 1991
- MSNBC — The network where Sharpton hosts PoliticsNation
- Black Lives Matter — The movement that both succeeded and critiqued Sharpton’s approach