Civil rights leaders like the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson are still caught up in the 1950s and '60s and have made race into a business, says columnist and Fox News commentator Juan Williams.
"On the other side of that fence, I understand there are lots of poor black people, poor people of any color in this country, who feel they never get heard from, and when a Sharpton or Jackson shows up, at least the media shows up," Williams said Monday on Fox Business Network's "Lou Dobbs Tonight."
"But I think it's bad leadership when you don't say to people, 'Here's what you can do to help yourself. Here's why we can help you in terms of education, in terms of employment, in terms of family, in terms of faith to take the steps to get up that ladder of upward mobility and enjoy America and benefit from all that America has to offer," Williams continued.
Williams said that rather than seeing civil rights leaders focus on hot-button issues such as the George Zimmerman acquittal, he would focus on the breakdown of the black family and the need for better schools.
"I would talk about drugs, I would talk about that whole thug life, gangster culture that is being encouraged," he said.
Williams later moved over to Fox News Channel's "O'Reilly Factor" to continue the attack.
"You never see a protest against the drug dealers. You never see them taking on the unions about the bad schools in the big cities that educate black and Hispanic and poor children," Williams said. "You never see anybody say, 'Hey, you know what? We've got too many out-of-wedlock births in our community. And it leaves kids feeling abandoned."
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