Jesse Jackson
Civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson was the latest high-profile person to weigh in on the April 2 beating of motorist Steven Utash, saying the attacks were driven by “hatred,” “alienation” and “desperation,” the Detroit News reports.
George Hunter of the Detroit News reported that Jackson said during a phone interview that he didn’t weigh in on the Utash beating earlier because he was in Japan at the time of the attack. Utash is now reportedly doing well.
“We’ve worked with this type situation across the years, and what happened to (Utash) was wrong,” Jackson said. “We believe in multiracial, multicultural dignity and decency, and we’ve been consistent across the years. We have to fight for justice, with one set of rules.”
Some white people on social media and in the comment sections of online newspapers criticized Jackson and Rev. Al Sharption for not speaking up, claiming they would have if the victim had been black and the attackers white. Those comments only exacerbated the racial sensitivity surrounding the attack.
One teen has been charged with a hate crime in the case.
