JJ: Affirmative action is a conservative remedy in light of the history I share in A More Perfect Union. It's not reparations. The long-term goals of affirmative action have been to fight negative action against African Americans, women, people of color and other people who have been historically discriminated against. The question is, Is affirmative action a powerful enough vehicle for overcoming the history I have shared with you from 1619 to the present? And what I have tried to argue in this book is that it is not. It is an important program necessary to include to fight ongoing discrimination, but it does not approximate the power of the Constitution.
PB: It is being said by many in the press that Al Sharpton, who recently announced that he will run for President, is the de facto leader-in-waiting of African Americans in light of your father's personal problems. Do you agree?
JJ: I have known Rev. Sharpton all of my life. There are very few Thanksgiving dinners and very few Christmases we have not spent together. So I don't know the press' interest in this selection process. There has never been an elected black leader. Leaders in the African American community have earned who they are. I know God is not finished with Jesse Jackson, I know God is not finished with Al Sharpton. There is enough work for everybody to do out there, and everybody has to pursue their passion and what drives them. The press can select and choose whom they desire, but my relationship with Rev. Sharpton, my relationship with dad, is obviously very strong.
PB: So you have respect for Sharpton as a political leader?
JJ: I have respect for Rev. Sharpton as a political leader, Rev. Jackson as a political leader, Rev. Farrakhan as a political leader.
PB: The Village Voice recently wrote that Michael Powell will be the first black President of the United States. Do you think he will be?
JJ: I don't know Michael Powell, the FCC chairman. I always thought his father [Colin Powell] would be.
PB: You contend in the book that the best way for the Democrats to win the White House would be to put a progressive African American on the ticket as a vice president. That runs counter to what most people would think. Why would that work?
