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Question
#16883. lime
asks:
Who was the first African American to be nominated as a presidential candidate?
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What-A-Mess
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Never has there been an African American nominated.
Jesse Jackson first ran for The Democratic Nomination in 1984. Although he didn’t win he put up an impressive total of 450 delegates, way more than Shirley Chisholm in 1972. At The Democratic National Convention, Jackson said, "This is not a perfect party. We are not perfect people. Yet we are called to a perfect mission: our mission to feed the hungry; to clothe the naked; to house the homeless; to teach the illiterate; to provide jobs for the jobless; and to choose the human race over the nuclear race." Jesse Jackson believes the government should spend more money on people than on weapons for war.
Jackson also ran for President in 1988. In this election he ran even stronger than before. He targeted all minority groups such as blacks, women, and Hispanics along with more white voters. This time he got 1200 delegates. Although it wasn’t enough to win, it was extremely impressive. Many people laughed at the idea of a successful black candidate. "The nation isn’t ready!" they said. Jackson showed them up! He responded, "Excellence is doing your best against the odds, as I run for President I run against the odds… yet I defy the odds." Even though he couldn’t win the race, it was almost like Jackson ran just to prove to people that a black person could still do well in a Presidential election.
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112391/jesse_jackson.htm
He only ran for the nomination and has not yet been nominated.
Jul 20 06, 10:55 PM
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