sturtle [dot] com

Dear Jesse Jackson:

Hi.

How are things? You doing okay? I’m just wondering because I haven’t heard anything out of you in a while. I guess you’ve been busy. Or maybe you got sick? I bet it was allergies–all that pollen in the air. Or one of those summer colds? They’re the worst.

Anyway, I just wanted to follow up on some stuff you were saying a few months ago–like how you were going to challenge the outcome of our mayoral election regardless of the winner…. Um, how’s that going, by the way?

I’m just a little worried because…oh, how to put this delicately?…well, I’m starting to think you’ve backed off the issue, and that’s kinda frustrating. You see, I have a problem with people who say they’re standing up for civil rights, who insist they won’t stop fighting until justice has been served, but suddenly back down when their candidate gets elected.

Now, if you wanna stand up for principles, if you want to fight for some larger cause, that’s great. More power to you. But if you say those kinds of things, and instead you really mean “vote for my candidate,” that’s not taking any kind of moral high ground. That’s not laudable. That’s just run-of-the-mill campaigning.

I gotta be honest here, Jesse: I wasn’t your biggest fan before the election, but I’d always listen to what you had to say. You come across as a thoughtful and compassionate kind of guy, but apparently you’re not as thoughtful as I’d imagined. If you were, you might have raised a bushy eyebrow or two when if became clear that some of Nagin’s biggest supporters were Uptown white conservatives–the kind who hate, hate, hate progressive social agendas like your own. You might’ve noticed that these folks were voting for Nagin in droves to help keep Landrieu out of office, ’cause they were sore afraid that Mitch would be the type to take people like you seriously. You might’ve paid less attention to the color of Ray Nagin’s skin and more attention to the fact that Mitch drew rainbow-style support from both white and black voters. In fact, many would argue that Landrieu is blacker than Nagin will ever be.

But clearly you didn’t care about all that. Pigmentation was all that interested you. Well, Mr. Jackson, we have enough of that attitude around here without you stoking the fire, so perhaps you just oughtta leave us well enough alone. Don’t call us, we’ll call you.

Sincerely (OMG, you have no idea how sincerely),
Richard

P.S. I should make it clear that I’m not contesting the election, Jesse. I’m totally willing to abide by the decisions made by the majority–even when they’re wrong.