April 11 - Where Are They Now? Wednesday - Yankel Rosenbaum

This week’s WHERE ARE THEY NOW? WEDNESDAY is Yankel Rosenbaum. Who is Yankel Rosenbaum, you ask? I’ll get to that.

Last Wednesday, Don Imus made a comment about the Rutgers Women’s Basketball Team. He called them, “Nappy Headed Ho’s.”

I occasionally listen to Imus because he frequently has politicians or interesting guests. His irreverent questions make for interesting entertainment. He was Jon Stewart before Jon Stewart was given a stage.

As for the latest political correctness, media created event, Imus made an attempt at humor that failed. It went virtually unnoticed until Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson decided they hadn’t been in front of a camera in a while.

Here’s my question. Who appointed Sharpton and Jackson as the spokespersons for the African American community? What about Barack Obama or Colin Powell? They seem like reasonable role models. Or how about James Earl Jones? That is a voice that people could get behind.

I previously blogged about the Reverend Jesse Jackson on June 30, 2006.

In 2001, it was revealed that Jackson had an extramarital affair with a staffer Karin Stanford that resulted in the birth of their daughter, Ashley. According to CNN, in August of 1999, The Rainbow Push Coalition had paid Stanford $15,000 in moving expenses and $21,000 in payment for contracting work. It was unethical, if not illegal, to use charitable contributions to pay hush money to your lover or dare I say Ho.

In addition Rev. Jackson had referred to Jews as "Hymies" and to New York City as "Hymietown" in January 1984 during a conversation with Washington Post reporter, Milton Coleman.

As for Al Sharpton, there is the Tawana Brawley affair. In 1987, Tawana, a 15-year-old black girl, was found smeared with feces, lying in a garbage bag, her clothing torn and burned and with various slurs and epithets written on her body in charcoal. Brawley claimed that she had been assaulted and raped by six white men, some of them police officers, in the town of Wappingers Falls, New York.

Al Sharpton handled Brawley’s publicity. He stirred racial tensions by launching a full-fledged media circus. Sharpton claimed that the entire case was a coverup going all the way up to the state government. He named New York prosecutor Steven Pagones specifically, calling him a racist and a rapist, among other accusations.

A grand jury was convened; after seven months of examining police and medical records, the jury determined that Brawley lied about being assaulted by the police. Sharpton, was later successfully sued for statements made in connection with the case, and ordered to pay $345,000 in damages. The jury found Sharpton liable for making seven defamatory statements about Pagones.

Even though Brawley finally admitted it was all a hoax, Sharpton has never apologized to Pagones for naming him a perpetrator.

So you have two documented racists in Jackson and Sharpton trying to represent themselves as a higher moral authority.

What Imus said was wrong. But I’m not sure it was racist. Some of the Rutger’s basketball plyers were white.

Don Imus has called Rush Limbaugh a “fat, pill-popping loser.” He called Lesley Stahl a “gutless, lying weasel.” He hung up on Tucker Carlson and called him a “bow-tie-wearing pussy.” Don Imus has a pattern of name-calling. It doesn’t make him a racist

Unfortunately, Imus cannot pursue the same avenue of rehab afforded other recently pronounced racists: Michael Richards and Mel Gibson. Imus went to rehab in 1987 for cocaine and alcohol abuse. He has been clean for 20 years.

Interestingly, the Rutgers team held a press conference on Tuesday. One player said she was severely harmed by Imus’ statements and that she would never be able to get over it. Come on, you can’t tell me there isn’t “trash talking” in Basketball. The last time I was in NYC, I was subjected to worse verbal abuse on the subway. I’ll bet she’ll get over it when her lawyer extorts blood money for her pain and suffering from Imus.

So back to my question, who is Yankel Rosenbaum?

In 1991, Al Sharpton ignited a four-day riot in Crown Heights, NY. It was prompted by the accidental death of a young African American, Gavin Cato, who was struck by a funeral motorcade for a prominent Jewish rabbi.

Al Sharpton became the de-facto representative for the Cato family. During the funeral he referred to "diamond merchants" considered a code word for Hasidic Jews, for shedding "the blood of innocent babies" leading marchers shouting "No Justice No Peace.” Sharpton lit the proverbial match to start the riots by inflaming the tension between the black and Jewish communities. A visiting rabbinical student from Australia by the name of Yankel Rosenbaum, 29 years old, was killed during the rioting by a mob shouting "Kill the Jew.”

So Yankel Rosenbaum is the collateral damage brought on by Al Sharpton’s rhetoric. Don Imus’ langauge may have caused harm, but no one died.

Who’s the racist, Don Imus or Al Sharpton?

Who thought Michael Jackson would be the least controversial person in this photo?