AL SHARPTON

Recent incidents in the United States have led to the shooting of black individuals, in circumstances which are unclear. Often police shootings create a backlash which is normal but undesirable whenever looting or added violence overtake grief.  All attention goes to a photo-op, while black-on-black crime continues unattended, as if the "selfie" now is more relevant than the continued spiral into the inferno elsewhere.

The reaction of many Americans, black and white alike, remains understandably emotional.

It is certain that while many black Americans occupy nowadays first-pole positions in all fields of society, many more feel disenfranchised. The same goes for white Americans who read daily about economic growth, lower unemployment and the energy boom, while being unable to measure the good news in terms of higher salaries, better education or improved infrastructure.

Unfortunately, the black population finds itself in a quandary. The ones that have "made it" remain often aloof, leaving a gap which is too often filled by demagoguery.  The main culprit in this negative, self-defeating strategy is the Reverend Al Sharpton.  Every incident is exploited shamelessly, parochially, dishonestly. Yesterday's dream is today's nightmare. He chooses to harangue over coffins pending on their color and foregoes the many which might distract from his unilateral, non-inspiring rhetoric.  He plays on frustrations and never comes forward with a therapy. The inner-cities are ghettos, the black lower-class family structure is broken, but he locks his flock up in the misery of prejudice and fatalism. The black elites are equally to blame for ignoring Sharpton's duplicity.  Likewise, his White House pass should expire.

The President needs to be congratulated for trying to elevate the debate and to reverse the curse of acrimony. The progress made by many should become a rallying point. Instead, there is a constant, deliberate narrative going on which locks hearts and minds up in a moral cul de sac. This is even more unacceptable when the preachers of doom and despair enjoy the better things of life without an once of embarrassment.