Poll - Jesse and Al DON'T Speak for Us

A recent Gallup poll asked black Americans who speaks for them on matters of race.

Barack Obama topped the list with 29 percent, followed by "No Opinion" at 16 percent.

Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson garnered six percent and four percent, respectively.

Nearly twice as many respondents volunteered their own name (seven percent) than said Jackson spoke for them. And that was before Fox News released an uncut videotape of him using the N-word.

Gallup concluded:

Twenty-nine percent of blacks name Obama as the individual or leader in the United States whom they would choose as their spokesman for race issues, far more than name any other individual, including the 4% who mention Jackson. This suggests a passing of the baton for the political leadership of black Americans, which some have suggested may be what is troubling Jackson.

To be sure, the standings reflect the Q rating of the presumed spokespersons. More important, the findings reflect African Americans' hunger for a new Niagara Movement. Black folks want a transformative leadership model that recognizes that we have come a mighty long way. But racial disparities still exist and they must be addressed.

Dr. Ange-Marie Hancock of the University of Southern California recently observed:

The difference of opinion between Rev. Jackson and Sen. Obama is a classic case of the generation gap that exists within the African American community, with both sides needing to hear what the other is saying. On the one hand, the older civil rights generation of black political leaders wants respect for the history and experience that they gathered over decades of bruising political battles, which they rightly deserve. On the other, younger leaders want the chance to translate what they have learned on the other side of the doors that the movement leaders opened for them into greater progress against new challenges.

Only when both generations come together and truly recognize that the 21st century is both a product of history and a chance for a new day in America will there be further political progress for African Americans.

And until they do, black folks have a message for their presumed leaders: You don't speak for me.