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Rev. Al Sharpton explains why Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' decision to make players stand for the national anthem "smacks of a plantation mentality." USA TODAY Sports

Jemele Hill of ESPN in Houston on Feb. 3, 2017.(Photo: John Salangsang, Invision/AP)

Rev. Al Sharpton said Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hasaplantation mentality in a news conference Tuesdaywhere he called forESPN to reinstate anchor Jemele Hill, who wassuspendedtwo weeks for violatingthe companys social media policy.

We found the suspension of Jemele Hill to be outrageous at best and insulting in fact, Sharpton said outside's ESPN's offices in New York. "To suspend someone for tweeting an analysis of what Jerry Jones did to act as though somehow desecrates the name of the company seems to us to be a bridge too far."

Hill, who last month rankled ESPN execs and others over a tweet where she called President Trumpa white supremacist," was suspended Monday for writing on Twitter that people shouldput pressure on the Cowboys by "not patronizing" the team's advertisers.

Jones has stepped up his criticism in recent days of players' national anthem protests meant to draw attention to racial inequality and has pledged tobenchplayers who refuse to stand during The Star-Spangled Banner.

"Jerry Jones' decision in many ways smacks of a plantation mentality," Sharpton said.

Reverend Al Sharpton spoke with media on Tuesday and asked if ESPN suspended Jemele Hill due to pressure from President Trump's administration. USA TODAY Sports

Rashad Robinson, executive director of the racial justice organizationColor Of Change, called ESPN's suspension of Hill "aflagrant suppression of black voices in sports" in a statement Tuesday.

"ESPN is happy to stand with enablers of racism and sexism, but dare speak out against these issues and you're in trouble,"Robinson said."They seek to champion black athletes, activists, and hosts until billionaires like Jerry Jones threaten their revenue streams. ...By choosing to ban its reporters' opinions, ESPN is making an explicitly political decision to side with the Trump administration on the wrong side of history."

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Rev. Al Sharpton: Jerry Jones has 'plantation mentality'

Sharpton, 62, reportedly usedpart of his speech Monday toattack President Donald Trumps criticism of American sports stars for kneeling in protest during the recitation of the national anthem as the most despicable thing I have seen him do. Sharpton also said, forDonald Trumpto act like this is a flag issue is to divert attention from how he is dealing with the issues that they are kneeling about.

During a rally for defeated U.S. Senate candidate Luther Strange who lost to Roy Moore for Attorney General Jeff Sessions vacated Senate seat earlier this month, Trump said, Wouldnt you love to see one of theseNFLowners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! Hes fired. Hes fired!

Sharpton told the crowd at his award ceremony, This is the same president, a few weeks ago, that when we saw neo-Nazis marching inCharlottesville, he said that there were some fine people on both sides but he calls the mother of pro athletes bitches. It is something that I think is beyond the pale.

In addition to this, the Democrat who worked with the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a youth said race relations in the United Staes are in as much peril now as we were when I was a kid joining Dr King, echoing the majority of his fellow political party members opposed to the commander-in-chief.

Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Nobel Laureate and mathematician John Nash, economist Paul Krugman and author JK Rowling are past James Joyce recipients.

Sharpton also spoke with student leaders at the Trinity Historical Society:

In an opinion piece, the Irish Centrals Niall ODowd wrote, The UCD Society that invited him should be ashamed of themselves for awarding Sharpton. ODowd also questioned why the presenters of the award did not mention his role in the debunked Tawana Brawley case,in whicha 16-year-old black teenager from New York lied about getting raped by six white men and having KKK written across her chest and nigger, nigger written across her stomach.

Brawley had even claimed one of her assailants was a white police officer.

At the time, Sharpton who was a spokesman for the legal team and the Brawley family said, New York State is now the capital of racial violence.

Embattled comedian Bill Cosby also came out in support of Brawley.

Veteran state investigator John Ryan helped crack the case, and then-New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams testified, Those allegations are untrue. The people who made those allegations lied. Their outrageous, irresponsible acts have increased the atmosphere of tension between the races.

It came out later that Ms. Brawleys boyfriend reportedly said that she had faked the attack to avoid a beating from her mother for spending days with the boyfriend.

In a letter to the editor of theIrish Times, an Irish national wrote, There are many deserving African-American civil-rights leaders that UCD could have chosen for this honour, instead of Sharpton.

While fielding questions from students, the subject of President Trumps potential reelection was raised. Asked if this was a possibility, Sharpton reportedly replied, Yes, if we dont organize.

Sharpton appeared to be referring to the lefts so-called Resistance movementagainst Trump.

Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her onFacebookandTwitter

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Irish University Honors Al Sharpton With James Joyce Award ...

The Rev. Al Sharpton was honored in Ireland on Monday for his long odyssey in the civil rights world with an award named for Ulysses author James Joyce.

The civil rights activist, 62, traveled to University College Dublin to receive the tribute from the institutions Literary & Historical Society.

Brooklyn-born Sharpton joined a prestigious list of other honorees that includes Nobel Prize-winning anti-apartheid campaigner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Irish politician John Hume and poet Seamus Heaney.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson is another prominent American civil rights activist who received the award, picking up his honor in 2004.

Sharpton slams Trump's 'cowardice' in Kaepernick comment

Sharpton used part of his speech to students Monday to slam President Trump after his criticism of U.S. athletes taking a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality.

He said Trumps calling NFL players such as Colin Kaepernick the first to take a knee in protest a son of a b---h is the most despicable thing I have seen him do, the Irish Times reported.

Read more:
Rev. Al Sharpton receives James Joyce Award in Ireland

Rev. Al Sharpton is the subject of a day-long Columbia University School of Journalism symposium examining the impact he has had on civil rights and urbanizing the doctrines of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. over the last 50 years. The event will take place on Wednesday, October 11 from 9-5 p.m. at 2950 Broadway.

Civil rights leaders, scholars and media analysts will be among those examining Rev. Sharptons leadership, including civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson, former New York City Mayor David Dinkins, MSNBC television host Joy-Ann Reid, race theory scholar Kimberle Crenshaw, television correspondent Angela Rye, and others, who will judge the historic impact Rev. Sharpton has had, how he has further developed the movement of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and how he has set a tone on fighting racial violence for all communities of color.

Sharpton began his work in activism at the age of thirteen in 1967, under the tutelage of Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Dr. William Augustus Jones. Sharpton became the youth director of Operation Breadbasket, an organization using the power of Black ministers and the organizing strength of churches to create economic opportunities in Black communities. In 1991, Sharpton founded his non-profit civil rights organization, The National Action Network.

October 3, Sharpton's 63rd birthday, marks 50 years since his involvement in the civil rights movement.

Continued here:
Rev. Al Sharpton's activism being assessed at Columbia ...

As I watched neo-Nazis march in Charlottesville, VA a few weeks ago with torches in hand yelling Jews will not replace us while celebrating a general of the Confederate Army who had fought to overthrow the U.S. government in order to preserve the institution of slavery, I reflected on the fact that those who have raised the banner of anti-Semitism and racism are usually one in the same, or at least bedfellows. We are currently witnessing a rise in both forms of hate in the U.S.and in many other places around the world, and just like the past, it is going to take a unified coalition to defeat it all.

On Monday, Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and Rabbi Steven Fox, joined Martin Luther King III and I as we led a massive demonstration in Washington, D.C. The One Thousand Ministers March for Justice brought together religious leaders from multiple faiths and people from all backgrounds to collectively fight for the soul of our nation. On the 54th anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, we gathered for four main principles: voting rights, health care, criminal justice reform and economic justice.All are currently under renewed threat in the United States.

Whether it is attempts to suppress the vote, take away health care reform, or an overall mechanism where there is unequal access to opportunities and a criminal justice system that preys on the poor and communities of color, this is where the battle for equality is today. We as faith leaders joined in unison because we know that an attack on one group or an injustice against one group is an injustice against us all. In addition to the overt forms of racism and bigotry we push back against, we must also tackle the systemic forms of racism and inequality that still permeate our society. It is why ministers, rabbis and imams locked arms and marched with thousands of others from the King Memorial to the steps of the Department of Justice.

Historically, the African American community and the Jewish community have fought for each other and against racism, anti-Semitism and hatred in all its forms. During World War II, black soldiers fought against the Nazis even though they were still segregated and discriminated against back home. In 1964, three civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi; two of them, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, were Jewish Americans. We have stood by one another and fought against bigotry during some of the toughest periods in history. Today, we continue to do just that.

Now, there are some who point to moments of tension between our communities, or things which we may have disagreed on some of which was distorted on both sides. We can debate what occurred or didnt occur a quarter of a century ago in Crown Heights, Brooklyn or anywhere else, but we cannot do it at the expense of the clear and present danger of now. Our common struggle is more important today and at this time.

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Those of us really committed must get past our arguments on what did and did not happen in order to deal with the broader mandate of standing up for humanity. There is far too much that we all face today which will require unified fronts like our march in the nations capital on Monday. The One Thousand Ministers March echoed the demonstrations of the past when religious leaders peacefully assembled together to shed light on injustice.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel marched alongside Dr. King as they fought for civil rights for every man, woman and child. In fact, we honored Rabbi Heschel posthumously at National Action Networks (my organization) convention and presented an award to his daughter. During the 1960s and throughout many other time periods, we achieved progress only when we came together for equality and justice.

Dr. King himself once stated: The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

We are at a critical juncture here in the United States and around the world. What we do next and how we proceed will shape the future for generations to come. If we are to defeat vile hate groups who now feel emboldened, or defeat laws that are being implemented to reinforce systemic racism and discrimination, we must stand united because we know that we stand on the right side of history.

Rev. Al Sharpton is president and founder of National Action Network

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Al Sharpton: Only a unified Jewish-African American coalition ...