Jesse Jackson’s funeral brought together leading figures from US politics, including former presidents, to honour the influential civil rights campaigner. However, his son Jesse Jackson Jr has since criticised Barack Obama and Joe Biden, arguing they turned the service into an opportunity to push their own political messaging.
Obama, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Kamala Harris and Biden attended the ceremony on Friday (March 6) to pay tribute to Jackson, who died last month aged 84.
Jackson was a prominent force in American public life, having twice mounted presidential campaigns and continuing the Black Civil Rights Movement in the years after Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in 1968.
While the memorial featured personal reflections from people who knew him, Jackson Jr later suggested the tone shifted when high-profile political leaders took the stage—prompting him to condemn what he saw as a disconnect between their remarks and his father’s legacy.
According to the New York Post, Jackson Jr said at a private memorial at the Rainbow Push Coalition’s headquarters in Chicago on Saturday: “Yesterday, I listened for several hours to three United States presidents who do not know Jesse Jackson.”
He went on to say: “He maintained a tense relationship with the political order, not because the presidents were white or black, but the demands of our message, the demands of speaking for the least of these – those who are disinherited, the damned, the dispossessed, the disrespected – demanded not Democratic or Republican solutions, but demanded a consistent, prophetic voice that at no point in time ever sold us out as people.
“And it speaks volumes about who the Rev. Jesse Jackson was.”
Jackson Jr’s comments followed appearances at the service by major political figures, whose speeches included reflections not only on Jackson’s life but also on today’s political climate.
In his remarks, Obama said that ‘it’s hard to hope’ when ‘every day you wake up to things you just didn’t think were possible’.
He added: “Each day we’re told … to fear each other, to turn on each other and that some Americans count more than others, and that some don’t even count at all.”
Obama continued: “Everywhere we see greed and bigotry being celebrated, and bullying and mockery masquerading as strength. We see science and expertise denigrated, while ignorance and dishonesty and cruelty and corruption are reaping untold rewards.”
Harris also appeared to allude to President Trump, framing her comments as a warning she believed had proved accurate regarding what a second term might look like.
“I’m not into saying ‘I told you so,’ but we did see it coming,” Harris said. “But what I did not predict is that we would not have Jesse Jackson with us to get through this.”
Biden, meanwhile, drew attention for a remark that some interpreted as a jab at those listening, saying: “I’m hell of lot smarter than most of you. Well, all kidding aside, it makes you feel really small, makes you feel really small.”
He later added, in comments that appeared to reference the current administration: “I don’t think things would have been the same had Jesse not been around, because Jesse decided that his life was ensuring that we never fully walk away from it either.
“Because there’s bad times like now. We’re in a tough spot, folks, we’ve got an administration that doesn’t share any of the values that we have. I don’t think I’m exaggerating a little bit.”