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Don't ever forget there were some whites that went and died to fight for us" during the civil rights marches of the 1960, said the Rev. Al Sharpton on Saturday at the Howard Club scholarship lunch in Sarasota.

SARASOTA - Speaking to an almost entirely black audience, the Rev. Al Sharpton issued a stern warning specifically to young black men and women about avoiding judging right from wrong based on skin color.

Don't judge it on race, Sharpton told more than 400 people at a ballroom near downtown Sarasota. Everybody that is black is not right, and everyone white is not wrong.

Sharpton added that the civil rights movement is about fighting for everyone's rights and not just for people who are black.

Don't ever forget there were some whites that went and died to fight for us, while some blacks across town were saying 'I don't know why they's marching and why Dr. King won't leave town,' Sharpton said at the Howard Club of Southwest Florida's annual scholarship lunch.

The Howard Club brought Sharpton and boxing promoter Don King to town to help raise money for scholarships for young people in the community to be able to afford to attend historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Sharpton aimed his message at the 20 to 30 younger college-bound students in the room. He implored them to fight for women's rights and gay rights, just like they might stand up for the rights of the black community.

Stand up for what is right, for everybody, he said. You can't fight for nobody's rights unless you fight for everybody's rights.

Sharpton has become one of the nation's most polarizing figures. While supporters see him as a civil rights activist who has been the impetus for vital criminal justice reforms, critics see him as a public relations sideshow who exploits racial issues.

But Sharpton told the college students that they need to be wary of and not deterred by people who will try to label what they do. He noted that someone like billionaire Donald Trump can be considered influential and savvy by some audiences that then turn around and label him as controversial and Don King as slick.

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Sharpton cautions against judgments based on race