Jackson 'used racial slur' during Obama rant 17/07/2008 - 07:55:14
The Reverend Jesse Jackson used an emotionally charged racial slur during a break in a TV interview in which he criticised presidential candidate Barack Obama, Fox News confirmed today.
The longtime civil rights leader had already come under fire this month for crude off-air comments he made against Mr Obama in what he thought was a private conversation during a taping of a Fox & Friends news show.
In additional comments from that same conversation, first reported by TVNewser, Mr Jackson is reported to have said Mr Obama was “talking down to black people”, and referred to blacks with a slur commonly referred to as the N-word when he said Mr Obama was telling them “how to behave”.
Though a Fox spokesman confirmed that Mr Jackson used the slur, the network declined to release the full transcript of the July 6 show and did not air the comments.
Mr Jackson – who is travelling in Spain – apologised in a statement today for “hurtful words” but did not offer specifics.
“I am deeply saddened and distressed by the pain and sorrow that I have caused as a result of my hurtful words. I apologise again to Senator Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, their children as well as to the American public,” Mr Jackson said in a written statement.
“There really is no justification for my comments and I hope that the Obama family and the American public will forgive me. I also pray that we, as a nation, can move on to address the real issues that affect the American people.”
A spokeswoman for Mr Jackson’s civil rights organisation, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, said she could not confirm that Mr Jackson used the slur.
Mr Jackson has called on the entertainment industry, including rappers, actors and studios, to stop using the word, which is associated with America’s painful history of segregation and slavery.
He also urged the public to boycott purchasing DVD copies of the TV sitcom Seinfeld after co-star Michael Richards was taped using the word during a rant at a Los Angeles comedy club in 2006.
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The Reverend Jesse Jackson used an emotionally charged racial slur during a break in a TV interview in which he criticised presidential candidate Barack Obama, Fox News confirmed today.
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