Rev. Jesse Jackson defends ‘apartheid’ comments about Fla.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Rev. Jesse Jackson is standing by his comments that the state's struggle with the Trayvon Martin case can be compared to the civil rights clashes during the 60s in Selma, Ala...
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Despite calls to apologize by Florida’s governor, the Rev. Jesse Jackson is standing by his comments that the state’s struggle with the Trayvon Martin case can be compared to the civil rights clashes during the 60s in Selma, Ala.
Jackson joined protesters at the state Capitol this week, and called Florida the “Selma of our time.”
Republican Gov. Rick Scott blasted Jackson’s comments as “reckless” and “divisive.”
But Jackson says Florida’s voting laws, its figures on juvenile crime and the disproportionate number of blacks in prison, reveal differences between blacks and whites, which can be viewed as apartheid-like conditions.
Jackson says instead of fighting the governor, he’d rather work with him to change policies like the “stand your ground” law.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
