Blue Spot

Former 60's radical Bill Ayers appeared on Good Morning America and called the attacks on him and the attempts to associate Obama to him a "dishonest narrative."

Labels: anti-war movement, Bill Ayers, Cultural issues, FBI, personal attacks - mudslingling, Terrorism, The 60's, Viet-Nam War, war crimes

Labels: Cultural issues

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin sits down for her first national television interview as a Republican vice presidential candidate with ABC News' Charlie Gibson in Fairbanks, Alaska on Sept. 11th.

In the above excerpt, she clarifies remarks made about God and war.

Labels: Cultural issues, Gov. Sarah Palin, Religious Right

(New York, NY) Yesterday, Governor Paterson angered some state lawmakers by comparing them to vampires, calling them a bunch of blood suckers. Today, he raised eyebrows, and tempers, by accusing the John McCain campaign of veiled racism. CBS 2's Don Dahler reports.

Labels: Cultural issues, General Election 2008, Gov. Paterson, Race

Click on the image to view larger version (you may have to zoom once it's open).

In a year where Obama has made some progress picking up evangelical support, and has tried to show how important his own faith is to him, comments like these from his loyal subjects at Daily Kos are sure not going to help him. This barrage came after a well worded critique by a blogger called Newton Snookers of what he perceived as a slap in the face to progressive Christians by Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow.

Labels: Cultural issues, Kos, Netroots

The Associated Press: Police: Man shot churchgoers over liberal views

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — An out-of-work truck driver accused of opening fire at a Unitarian church, killing two people, left behind a note suggesting that he targeted the congregation out of hatred for its liberal policies, including its acceptance of gays, authorities said Monday.

A four-page letter found in Jim D. Adkisson's small SUV indicated he intentionally targeted the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church because, the police chief said, "he hated the liberal movement" and was upset with "liberals in general as well as gays."

Adkisson, a 58-year-old truck driver on the verge of losing his food stamps, had 76 rounds with him when he entered the church and pulled a shotgun from a guitar case during a children's performance of the musical "Annie."

The Knoxville News Sentinel reported Monday that Adkisson may also have chosen the church because his ex-wife was a former longtime member of the congregation.

He remained jailed Monday on $1 million bond after being charged with one-count of murder. More charges are expected. Four victims were hospitalized in critical condition.

The attack Sunday morning lasted only minutes. But the anger behind it may have been building for months, if not years.

"It appears that what brought him to this horrible event was his lack of being able to obtain a job, his frustration over that, and his stated hatred for the liberal movement," Police Chief Sterling Owen said.

Adkisson was a loner who hates "blacks, gays and anyone different from him," longtime acquaintance Carol Smallwood of Alice, Texas, told the newspaper.

Labels: Cultural issues, Gay rights, GOP Hypocrisy, Hate crimes, Race, Religious Right

Staten Island's Pakistani community and prospective leaders came out to celebrate the 61st year of Pakistan's independence Sunday. NY1's Bree Driscoll filed the following report.

What started out as a celebration of Pakistani independence quickly turned into a platform for the candidates vying for the 13th congressional seat.

Four candidates running for the job showed up at the 8th annual Pakistani celebration at Snug Harbor Sunday.

"This island is getting more diverse," said Dr. Mohammed Khalid, president of the Pakistani Civic Association. "There are more people moving in and more Pakistani Americans. Eight years ago there was less. Now they are in the thousands."

Democratic Candidate Steve Harrison says he stands for what these set of voters believe.

"We are out here right now talking to everybody about what we feel has to be done in order to make sure this nation is on the right path," said Harrison.

Pakistani community members say they welcome the recognition of the importance of their votes.

Labels: Cultural issues, NY-13, Steve Harrison

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Cheney apologizes to West Virginians for inbreeding joke « - Blogs from CNN.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Vice President Dick Cheney apologized Monday for what his spokeswoman called "an inappropriate attempt at humor" that implied that inbreeding is common among West Virginians, a remark that elicited outrage from the state's senior senator.

Asked during a question-and-answer session at the National Press Club about the fact that a search of his family tree found he is a distant relative of Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential front-runner, Cheney said the two politicians were unlikely to hold a family reunion.

He said that the Cheney line on his father's side of the family dates to 1630's, and a Cheney family line on his mother's side dates to the 1650's.

"So, I had Cheneys on both sides of the family — and we don't even live in West Virginia," Cheney cracked. After pausing for laughter from the crowd, Cheney added, "You can say those things when you're not running for re-election."

Afterward, West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd lashed out at Cheney for the "insult to all Americans." In a written statement, Byrd declared that Cheney showed "contempt and astounding ignorance toward his own countrymen" with the comments.


"Now that he or the administration he represents no longer needs their vote, Mr. Cheney apparently feels that he is now free to mock and belittle the people of West Virginia," said Byrd, a Democrat. "With his trademark arrogance, the vice president even added, 'You can say those things when you're not running for re-election.' "

He added, "This pitiful comment is not entirely surprising when you consider the source. Vice President Cheney's words reflect the attitude of an administration and a party that says what they must to get elected and then turns their backs on those they promised to represent."

Labels: Cheney, Cultural issues, GOP Hypocrisy

Obama resigns from controversial church - CNN.com

(CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama said Saturday that he has resigned from the church where controversial sermons by his former pastor and other ministers created repeated political headaches for the Democratic frontrunner.

"We don't want to have to answer for everything that's stated in the church," Obama told reporters. "We also don't want the church subjected to the scrutiny that a presidential campaign legitimately undergoes."

Obama said he was resigning "with some sadness."

"This is not a decision I come to lightly," he said.

The resignation comes days after the Rev. Michael Pfleger, a visiting Catholic priest, mocked Obama's Democratic rival during a sermon at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois.

In the video, Pfleger wipes his eyes with a handkerchief and suggests that Sen. Hillary Clinton wept because she thought that as a white person and the wife of a former president, she was entitled to the presidency.

"And then, out of nowhere, came 'Hey, I'm Barack Obama,' " Pfleger said "And [Clinton] said, 'Oh, damn, where did you come from? I'm white! I'm entitled! There's a black man stealing my show!' "

Pfleger is a Catholic priest at St. Sabina Roman Catholic Church on Chicago's southwest side. He is also a friend of Trinity's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, from whom Obama distanced himself in April.

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Obama, Rev. Wright, White Guilt

ABC News: Pesky Pastor Clouds Fight for Fla., Mich.

The job of uniting the Democratic Party after a long and divisive primary season just got tougher, thanks to yet another Chicago Christian leader who's a longtime friend and associate of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has rejected the comments of another controversial pastor who sharply mocked his Democratic nomination rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
(Reuters/Getty Images)Precisely at the time when Obama's camp needs to be building bridges to supporters of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, who's known Obama for about 20 years, took to the pulpit of Obama's church Sunday and ridiculed Clinton, using racially divisive language.

The timing could not be worse.

The Democratic National Committee's rules and bylaws committee will meet Saturday to hash out how to deal with the delegations of Florida and Michigan, which are going to be punished for ignoring party rules and holding early primaries.

Clinton supporters plan on staging protests, insisting that the committee count the votes as cast, even though no candidate campaigned in either state and Obama wasn't on the ballot in Michigan.

But hanging over the Saturday meeting will be the mocking comments made by Pfleger from the same Chicago pulpit that Obama's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, used racially inflammatory language about America to Obama's regret.

Obama was forced to say Thursday he was "deeply disappointed" by Pfleger's pulpit performance in which he mocked Clinton by pretending to bawl after saying she was "entitled" to the nomination because she was white and Bill Clinton's wife.

"There's a black man stealing my show," Pfleger wailed in his mock Clinton voice.

Pfleger quickly followed Obama's statement with his own apology, but the Clinton camp was not mollified.

"This is going to hurt Obama's efforts right now to bring the party together coming out of the primaries Tuesday," ABC's chief political correspondent George Stephanopoulos said today on "Good Morning America."

"The feelings between Clinton supporters and Obama supporters are rubbed very, very raw. This makes that worse," Stephanopoulos said.

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Hillary-haters, Obama, Obama supporters, Race, White Guilt

On Faith: Georgetown Blog

But by delivering his remarks, Father Pfleger seems to have officially submitted his entry to the What Else Can We At Trinity Do to Further Assure that the United States Does Not Have Its First African-American President Any Time Soon? video competition. And this application has “Finalist” marked all over it.

It achieves this status because Father Pfleger has more than a passing acquaintance with the person who stands on the verge of winning the Democratic Party’s nomination.

His precise relation to Senator Obama is presently being pieced together and rehearsed in articles across the internet (such as this one, and this one). As of now, it seems fair to say that Pfleger (who has suddenly disappeared from the candidate’s website) and Obama have known and liked one another for a long time. The former appears to have financially contributed to previous campaigns and to have worked for the present one prior to the Iowa Caucus.

According to widely circulated reports (although I have not been able to track down the original source in the few hours since this story broke) Obama once referred to Pfleger as a “spiritual adviser” in a 2004 Chicago Sun-Times article.

After watching -- slackjawed -- Father Michael Pfleger’s remarks about Hillary Clinton and White privilege I have queries. First, what is it about that particular pulpit that brings out the inner Chris Rock in assorted Men of God?

Second, are there any guys on the face of the earth having more fun than the four fellows in robes whooping it up directly behind Father Pfleger? Third, are we going to be told by Obama operatives that the remarks were taken out of context? Fourth, and most importantly, what will be the fallout for the Obama campaign?

In a general election a presidential candidate typically moves to the center. It is now going to be even harder for Obama to do that since America keeps seeing footage of his friends who stand to the left of Fidel Castro.

But that's not all. The Senator from Illinois has his share of difficulties with White Blue Collar voters. I have observed elsewhere that this group loathes this type of rhetoric (unless it comes from Chris Rock).

There's more to be concerned about. Obama has demonstrated some weakness with Catholic voters. The fact that he finds himself receiving glowing praise from a priest who has been in a running, public feud with his local Cardinal might aggravate the problem.

Let's not forget Senator Clinton. She surely will chime in on this controversy later today. It will deflect attention from her own recent gaffes. And it will strengthen her supporters’ conviction that the racial hang-ups of Obama’s inner circle will accrue to John McCain’s greater glory. Too, there is more than a touch of misogyny in the priest's oratory and (as the Male Space Invader Rick Lazio learned the hard way) many women voters rally to Hillary when they feel a gendered slight.

I don’t doubt that the Senator’s aforementioned words of regret are sincere. I don’t doubt that he truly deplores this type of rhetoric. But how many more radical Left- wing confidantes from the South Side can undecided voters withstand before they start questioning the man's claims about being a unifier who is above Red States and Blue States, Republican and Democrat, Conservative and Liberal?

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Obama, Obama supporters, Race, White Guilt

One last Kentucky tidbit : Top of the Ticket : Los Angeles Times#comments#comments#comments This is a link to a blog at the LA Times talking again about how white KY is, and trying to paint Hillary supporters as white racists for not voting for Obama. Below are some of the comments that were left:

Let the Republicans have the snake handlers and inbreeds and ignorance that goes with those so called uneducated WV and Kentucky voters.

Look at the way they live and look at the way they have voted locally. They cant govern themselves but America depends on their judgement to choose a candidate to lead all of us.

It is time to put these "Regan Democrats"(whatever that really means) into history with Jessica Lynch!!!!!!
Posted by: EddienTexas May 22, 2008 at 11:07 AM

Hillary ought ot run for president of Kentucky.
Posted by: blarsen May 22, 2008 at 11:07 AM

93% - that's the same percentage by which blacks vote for Obama. So what is it that 90%+ voting preference says???
Posted by: Keith May 22, 2008 at 11:08 AM

...AND WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE BLACK VOTE IS OBAMA GETTING. REVERSE RACISM IS STILL RACISM.
Posted by: Gordito Mojito May 22, 2008 at 11:09 AM

I love being from Kentucky. Aside from Louisville and Lexington, it's the last bastion of wilderness untouched by the PC radicals obsessed with diversity.
Posted by: Seth May 22, 2008 at 11:09 AM

I'm not sure I understand why Hillary is so proud of her KY & WV victories. Is it really a good thing that she is winning the votes of uneducated, poor, rural whites? I mean, I don't think I'd want to trumpet the fact that I'm the choice of people who tend to be less intelligent and more racist than the average person...

Or is it more telling that Obama is winning the "educated voters"? Wouldn't all of this mean that Hillary is winning the people who don't know any better but Obama is winning the people who think for themselves and try to make fact-based decisions?

I don't see Obama going out and being so proud about winning the overwhelming majority of black voters. Why is Hillary accepting such blatant racism in her victories?
Posted by: A Voter May 22, 2008 at 11:10 AM

It's no surprise that those hillbilly barrios are full of racist rednecks. Have you ever seen Deliverance?
And no the reverse racism thing just doesn't hold. Black people have voted for whiteys before. King Clinton I owes being elected to the black voters so you can't call them racist. Just because they would prefer to vote for Obama than Queen Clinton II does not mean they are racist and would refuse voting for whitey.
Seriously is anybody going to say with a straight face that Kentucky and West Virginia are not hillbilly, redneck, cesspools of racism, bigotry and ignorance? Come on!
Posted by: TruthIsTreasonComplianceIsPatriotic May 22, 2008 at 11:16 AM

Stay classy Obama supporters!

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Obama supporters, Race

On last night's Hardball, Chris Matthews, with a little help from his tag-team partner, Andrea Mitchell, continued the latest meme that people not voting for Obama are dumb racists. Buchanan does his best to call him out on it. Later in the discussion, Matthews' "white guilt" becomes very visible. He tries to come back with a lame excuse when asked why West Virginians are considered racists for not voting for Obama but no such claims are made of blacks who have been voting for Obama at about 90%. According to Matthews there is a difference between "negative voting and positive voting." So is that supposed to mean if we vote for Obama, that's positive but if we vote for Hillary that's negative? The fawning is so blantant, it's disgusting.

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Obama, Race

While the media has already decided who the Democratic nominee will be, and the Democratic leaders have chosen to disenfranchise millions of voters, the voters of still want to have their say. Here are a few of those voices on C-Span last night.

Labels: Comment, Cultural issues, Election 2008, Hillary

Racism on the trail - War Room - Salon.com

On Tuesday, the Washington Post's Kevin Merida reported on a phenomenon that's apparently all too common:

For all the hope and excitement [Barack] Obama's candidacy is generating, some of his field workers, phone-bank volunteers and campaign surrogates are encountering a raw racism and hostility that have gone largely unnoticed -- and unreported -- this election season. Doors have been slammed in their faces. They've been called racially derogatory names (including the white volunteers). And they've endured malicious rants and ugly stereotyping from people who can't fathom that the senator from Illinois could become the first African American president.

The Post story does lack some context, though. At times it's difficult to tell whether the aggressors in the anecdotes Merida relays are Democrats or Republicans. For all we know, some could just be jerky kids out to prove they're big by saying something shocking and stupid, rather than truly representative of feelings in their larger community.

The reaction to Merida's article from bloggers on the right has been fascinating to read. Their primary feeling, apparently, is that this is just another example of liberal media bias covering for Obama -- and that this proves Democrats are racist. The former sentiment was summed up at the Jawa Report, where one poster headlined his discussion of the article "Obama General Election Strategy Taking Shape" and wrote:

When a story hits this many outlets simultaneously it's pretty clear that there is a coordinated effort to establish a new "meme." This meme: if you're white and vote against Obama, you're an ignorant racist.

This will be a common theme right through the election in November: racism may cost Barack, the post-racial candidate, the election (white racism that is, blacks voting over 90 percent for Obama isn't "racism." It's payback, just like the verdicts in the Reginald Denny case were payback).

This is what decades of affirmative action and racial victimhood politics have done to American society.

Writing at the National Review's Campaign Spot blog, Jim Geraghty said, "The Washington Post picks an interesting day to run a front-page feature story on volunteers for the Obama campaign encountering blatant racism ... the timing of the article, coupled with its relentless portrait of voters driven by ferocious, unmitigated bigotry, certainly feels like a prepared excuse for a blowout loss for Obama tonight."

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Obama supporters, Race

ABC News: Wright Still Wrong for Obama

Pennsylvania was Sen. Barack Obama's chance to salt away his lead, answer the demographic questions about his candidacy -- and put the Rev. Jeremiah Wright in his rearview mirror.

It was a nice thought. Make that oh-for-3 -- and objects in that mirror are now uncomfortably close.

Pennsylvania's wake has left Obama arguing that he's still ahead (and doing so on the side of not counting votes in two key states), explaining why he can't close the deal (despite the fact that it's not clear Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton can even make a deal work) -- and coping with the sudden, very public reemergence of that pastor he wished would spend the next six months in East Paraguay.

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Obama, Rev. Wright

On Hardball, Matthews discusses Bill Moyers' interview with Rev. Wright. That'll be a must-see tomorrow. It seems like Wright is saying that Obama's recent criticism of Wright's remarks was just political rhetoric. There's no way this will go away if Obama faces the GOP as our nominee.

At the end of the clip, Matthews pays tribute to Hillary. Wow...are we looking at a changed man? I doubt it, but if Hillary keeps winning, maybe we'll be seeing more of this.

Labels: Chris Matthews, Cultural issues, Media, Moyers, Rev. Wright

Clinton's Jewish staffers at Seder: Next year in the White House | Jerusalem Post

Recruiting out-of-state volunteers for the Clinton campaign going into Tuesday's primary was a tall task for Heather Capell. Again and again she heard, "I can't come. It's Passover."

So Capell came up with a special pitch: "Make your exodus to Pennsylvania, so we can celebrate Passover next year in the White House!"

When people complained that it was terrible timing, she said it was actually the perfect time. "Even when it seems inconvenient or hard, you keep on going," she told them. "That's the message of Passover. You keep going to get to the other side."

Enough people responded to her appeals that the campaign gathered more than 40 staff and volunteers, many adorned with Hebrew "Hillary" pins, to celebrate the second night of the holiday on Sunday. Taking a break from knocking on doors, the Clinton boosters sat together at the University of Pennsylvania Hillel, feasting on gefilte fish, singing "Had Gadya" and drawing parallels between the historic ritual and their own present endeavor.

It wasn't just the presence of top advisers and dedicated volunteers at the table that made it clear it was a Clinton event; it was also what was on the table itself: The Seder plates all had oranges on them.

Capell thought including the citrus fruit was important, since the group was supporting a female candidate for president, and some Jews have defiantly included the orange based on an apocryphal story in which a man was said to have told leading Jewish feminist Susannah Heschel that a woman "belonged on the bima [the pulpit from which the Torah is read] like an orange belonged on a Seder plate."

"A woman should be in the White House as much as an orange should be on the Seder plate," explained Capell, a 37-year-old lawyer who took a leave from her firm to volunteer for the campaign.

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Hillary, Pennsylvania

Jewish Voters Still Have Questions About Obama - US News and World Report

In Florida, Alex Halberstein, who serves on AIPAC's executive board, is among those who predict that Democrats will lose Jewish votes in the Sunshine State if Obama is the nominee. "We just don't know very much about him," says Halberstein, who supported President Clinton and contributed to and voted for Bush in 2004. He said that Obama's lack of a long track record on Middle East issues, as well as Wright's anti-American comments and praise of Farrakhan, remain ongoing concerns among many Jewish voters. The concerns linger, he says, even with the senator's denunciation of his former pastor's comments. Obama's friendship in Chicago with Palestinian intellectual and Israel critic Rashid Khalidi, now a professor at Columbia University, also requires more explanation for hard-line voters, says Morton Klein, who heads the conservative Zionist Organization of America.

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Obama

Lou Dobbs is citing a poll that has Hillary up 20 points in PA, post-Obama remarks. Also, he gets into a discussion about the definition of elitism after Keith Richburg of the Washington Post breaks out the typical Obama defense that Hillary is the one who is an elitist because she makes more money. Dobbs astutely responds by bringing up Obama surrogates, and very rich Kennedy family.

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Hillary, Lou Dobbs, Obama

Altoona, PA voters protest outside an Obama campaign office yesterday, over his remarks of small town values.

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Obama, Pennsylvania

On CNN's Washington Journal a very articulate FL caller addresses Obama's latest remarks and the attempted spin by Obama and the media.

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Media, Obama

Friday's breaking coverage on Lou Dobbs of Sen. Obama's latest remarks which even Obama supporter Mayhill Fowler, the lady who broke the story on the Huffingtonpost.com, found offensive. She's interviewed here.

Yet another example of why Obama can't win a general election contest.

If you get a chance, please go to http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/4/12/20415/6142#48 where there's a pro-Obama diary posted called Do People Even Care? The Obamabots are trying to downplay this.

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Elitism, Obama, Pennsylvania

Larry Johnson over at NO QUARTER has a story of a verbal tirade by prominent Obama supporter and L.A religious leader, Eric Lee, launched at Jews and aimed in particular at Daphna Ziman who was supposedly being honored at this event sponsored by the national African-American fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi on April 4th 2008. Ms Ziman was being honored for her work with Children Uniting Nations and African-American children who are living out of home care. There's a clip there of an interview with Ms. Ziman by Roger L. Simon.

Labels: African-American issues, Cultural issues, Obama, Race

I couldn't help but notice that on the 40th anniversary of Dr. King's death, even John McCain showed up in Memphis to reflect on MLK's legacy. Where was Barack Obama? Apparently, he felt it was more important to be in Indiana and continue campaigning.

Labels: African-American issues, Cultural issues, Hillary, MLK

The Obama speech has been well covered throughout the internet. So, I thought if I was going to post anything about race today, it should be the vid below which seemed a lot more interesting than what I heard today.

Here's Hillary weeks ago at the State of the Black Union, with the courage to address what amounted to a hostile crowd, as most of the audience and previous panel members were Obama supporters. Although Obama & McCain were also invited, Hillary was the only one to show up.

Labels: African-American issues, Cultural issues, Hillary, Race

Friday night's AC 360 panel discusses the Rev. Wright remarks. Some good points from Tony Perkins, of all people.

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Media, Obama, Race

George Stephanopoulos discusses the controversy over Obama's former pastor Rev. Wright with his panel. Donna Brazile's Obama bias becomes quite evident right around 6:22 into the vid.

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Obama, Race

Let's see...it took Hillary one day to respond to the Ferraro remarks and because the Obama supporters were not satisfied, she was forced to denounce the comments again on Thursday. According to Obama, he's known about these remarks for a year (he says this in the clip above). So why has it taken this long for him to denounce his pastor's racial remarks. I think since his camp made such a big issue about the length of time between Hillary's response last week, it's definitely fair to ask the same of Obama.

Also, you're going to tell me that you don't know your church's or pastor's doctrine after 20 years of attendance?!? I mean most pastor's have the same theme or aim that is circular. They're going to eventually keep coming back to the same subjects to reach as many people as possible and spread their beliefs; to reach new people or hammer home old points or to fire up their regulars. Obama knows this man. You're going to let someone baptize your kids without knowing what he stans for? Hard to believe. I can't imagine that Rev. Wright never expressed these beliefs during personal conversations over a 20 year period. I'm not saying that I believe Obama believes what his pastor says in these videos. What I'm questioning is when he knew and his judgment and actions (or in-action) afterward.

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Obama, Race

wcbstv.com - Sharpton Leads Protest Over Derogatory Rap Lyrics

(AP) NEW YORK Protests were held in more than 20 cities Tuesday over the use of degrading lyrics by the music industry, the Rev. Al Sharpton said.

The so-called Day of Outrage, organized by Sharpton's National Action Network, included protests in New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Houston, Richmond, Va., Jacksonville, Fla., and other cities.

Sharpton, who led a demonstration at the Motown Museum in Detroit, said, "I'm here in Motown in Detroit as a symbol of when music was not denigrating and was entertaining."

Sharpton announced an initiative in April to combat the use of words such as "nigga," "bitch" and "ho" in rap music.

He called Tuesday for the withdrawal of public funds from entertainment companies that "won't clean up their act."

Labels: African-American issues, Cultural issues, Local