Jackson Sees ‘Pattern’ to Probes of Black Officials

MEMPHIS, Tenn. —  The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Saturday that a pattern of discrediting black elected officials is developing in the United States, similar to one that drove blacks from office following Reconstruction.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a conspiracy, but one can at least see a pattern here. Not one of these people has been convicted, but they keep investigating,” the civil rights leader said at a prayer breakfast sponsored by embattled Rep. Harold E. Ford (D-Tenn.).

The two-time Democratic presidential candidate centered his remarks around Ford, who is running for a ninth term but still faces political corruption charges that were first filed in 1987.

Ford’s first trial ended in a mistrial April 27 after a jury could not reach a verdict. Prosecutors said they plan to retry the case.

“Why does this Harold Ford trial take on such national importance? Because there is a sense of history, not hysteria. We remember what happened in the last century,” Jackson said.

“Ten years after slavery ended, the numbers of black officials were growing rapidly,” he said. “But then the group of people who says we are only a little higher than animals and a little lower than people started their campaign to disrupt, discredit and destroy our leadership. It did not take very much to re-instill fear in whites.”

Jackson cited probes of Rep. William H. Gray III (D-Pa.), Rep. Ronald V. Dellums (D-Berkeley) and Rep. Gus Savage (D-Ill.), which he said were fruitless.

“There have been all these discrediting leaks and investigations, and not one conviction. But there has been just enough suggestion, and the power of suggestion has power,” he said.

Unlike the others, Jackson said Ford has been indicted and tried.

“In a jury of his peers, 9 of 12 exonerated him. But losing 9-3 is not enough for the government. They say: ‘He is our trophy. We cannot stop because he is our trophy,’ ” Jackson said in urging the government not to retry Ford.