9781422277782

At the side of the highway, oblivious to the horrendous traffic jam the stopped buses were causing, Jackson and Rather embraced and exchanged pleasantries. What could say more about Jackson’s place at the center of things? Dan Rather, the most famous newsperson in America, had come to him and was riding his bus to the Democratic convention. Arriving in Atlanta four hours late, the Rainbow Express proceeded to Piedmont Park, where several thousand Jackson partisans had been patiently waiting all afternoon. Nearly a century before, on the same spot, Booker T. Washington had delivered his famous “Atlanta Compromise” speech, in which he urged his fellow blacks to exchange political and social equality for economic advancement. Compromise was not on Jesse Jackson’s mind. He demanded a significant place for himself and his supporters in the Democratic Party. He requested equity, partnership, and shared responsibility. “I don’t mind working,” he said of his role in the party. “I’ll go out and pick the voters. I’ll go back and bale up some votes. But when I get to the Big House, I want to help count the cotton.” He had stretched his pique with Dukakis too far. His remarks in Piedmont Park clearly cast him as the field hand and Dukakis, the man in the “Big House,” as the slaveholder. What did he mean when he proposed partnership and shared responsibility? After all, there were two, not three, places on the national ticket. If Jackson had any desire for a large future in the Democratic Party—and he most certainly did—the time had come to fold his hand. If he continued to shun Dukakis, he would be remembered as the man who wrecked the Democratic convention and spoiled the party’s chances for victory in November. In a profession that places an extravagant value on party loyalty, such a memory would be hard to overcome. Hardly a political innocent, Jackson knew this as well as anyone. So, on Sunday evening, July 17, when a telephone call fromDukakis reached himat the Fox Theatre, where he was attending a gospel concert, he readily took it in a backstage holding

1 4

C I V I L R I G H T S L E A D E R S : J E S S E J AC K S O N