One Sunday morning during the 1988 presidential race, Rev. Jesse Jackson stood before a black Baptist congregation in Mobile, Ala. Midway through a sermon on sin and redemption, virtue and transgression, Jackson paused and eyed the crowd.
“I remember when I had no family,” he told the congregation in a fiery oration. “When I was born there was no name for me. I had no daddy to claim me. A lot of neighbors laughed at me. My mama scorned and put out of church. I couldn’t get daddy’s name. Grandmother gave me a name to hold me over … But I’m makin’ it pretty good.”
Jackson has always used his background as an illegitimate child to help establish his moral authority, describing it as a crucible from which he emerged wounded but strong.
With the revelation Thursday that he fathered, out of wedlock, a child now 20 months old, Jackson faces the possibility that he has compromised his authority to speak out on some of the moral issues that have been at the heart of his ministry. As the arc of his remarkable life has in a sense doubled back on itself, the preacher who espouses personal responsibility has through his behavior invited a credibility crisis.
Despite the sting of scandal in Jackson’s admission, the credibility question hardly has a simple answer.
Foremost among Jackson’s specific, moral imperatives for black men has been this: If you make a baby, take care of it. And by his account Thursday, that is exactly what Jackson, 59, has done.
Further, Jackson’s personal march has led him to the international stage, where his sometimes self-appointed role as a diplomat and spokesman on the morality of government policy now seems far removed from the personal turmoil in which he is embroiled.
Still, do the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of speeches he has delivered at schools since the 1970s, so rousing and empowering as they charted a path for right living, have a hollow echo now?
At the Chicago Theological Seminary, where Jackson received a long-delayed master of divinity degree last spring, the mood was somber but accepting and generally upbeat about Jackson’s ability to keep fighting for social causes.
Seminary President Susan Thistlethwaite said Jackson’s ability to hold the moral authority that he draws on to intervene in situations of conflict “depends a lot on how he conducts himself during the coming days and weeks. He’s made a good start in admitting it.”
She drew a strong contrast between Jackson and President Clinton, who for a long time denied he had sex with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Jackson “isn’t the first person who has fallen short and won’t be the last,” Thistlethwaite said. “If he takes responsibility, makes amends, and doesn’t do it again … there is a good chance he could regain [his moral authority].”
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Najee Ali, a West Coast civil rights leader, said he still has the utmost respect for Jackson. “The fact that he’s taking care of his child, emotionally and financially, only shows the type of moral leadership he has within him, especially when you see so many fathers who just walk away,” Ali said.
But some saw the possibility of lasting damage.
“This is a shock for a reverend to do something like this,” said Latanya Moore, 41, as she walked past Rainbow/PUSH Coalition headquarters on the South Side. “How could he counsel someone else on their extramarital affair if he’s having one himself? I think his supporters will be very disappointed.”
Gerald Austin, who managed Jackson’s 1988 presidential campaign, agreed with those who believe the affair is not likely to blunt Jackson’s impact as a national political player. Still, Austin saw some credibility problems for Jackson.
“It doesn’t take away from his ability to speak out on wrongs that need to be righted,” Austin said. But if “he’s talking about counseling Bill and Hillary, there wouldn’t be as many people listening.”
Those inclined to view Jackson skeptically believed public redemption would be elusive.
“I think it will destroy any moral credibility Jackson had,” said Earl Ofari Hutchinson, a West Coast civil rights leader and longtime Jackson critic.
Similarly downbeat was Donald Miller, national field director for American Family Association, a national Christian organization that seeks to “restore America’s moral foundations.”
“It is certainly sad to see anyone unfaithful to their wife,” said Miller. “To know that there is someone who knows the scriptures and who claims to speak for the Lord, to fall to such temptation, it is sad. It is sad what anyone does, but you expect more of ministers.”
The first opportunity to gauge the impact on Jackson’s ability could come Saturday, when he is scheduled to lead an Inauguration Day rally in Florida to protest voting irregularities. A spokesman for Jackson said his appearance at that rally is now in doubt.
Jackson’s written statement acknowledging the affair with a 39-year-old Washington office director for Rainbow/PUSH said he was taking a break from public life.
Rev. Joseph Lowery, a close colleague of the late Rev. Martin Luther King and co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said he hopes Jackson participates in the Florida rally, but would understand if he didn’t.
“We can’t get bogged down. We can’t let this interfere with his continued public service,” said the 79-year-old Lowery. “The Bible says let him without sin cast the first stone. So instead of casting stones, he needs our prayers and our support.”
Others were taking the long view, trying to put Jackson’s situation into a larger perspective, both in terms of the minister’s life and the political realm.
“Even in this, he’s still a role model,” said Rosalyn Giles, an event coordinator at a South Side banquet hall. “He could have just walked away from that situation or tried to sweep it under the rug, but he didn’t do that … No matter what mistakes he’s made, he has still stood on the forefront for the black community, and we will not turn our backs on him. He will always be our guy.”
Chicago historian Timuel Black said that although Jackson made a “terrible mistake,” he hopes it does not overshadow the positive contributions Jackson has made.