ON THE RECORD with Rev. Al Sharpton: 'A lot?has to be done'

Daily Pennsylvanian: What brought you to Penn? Why did you decide to come speak? Al Sharpton: Well, I was invited to the Martin Luther King Commemoration and I wanted to come. One -- that it is a school and as I said in the speech I wanted to come out in the movement of Dr. King and then to come and share my views with the University of Pennsylvania community, and the broader community, of how I saw Dr. King at this point in the [civil rights] issue. DP: What message do you hope to leave with Penn students today? Sharpton: I hope to challenge them to not have a distorted view of King, and to become active themselves and to remember that King himself enlightened them to face vilification and ostracization and survive to what he is now -- a national holiday -- and that they should have the same kind of convictions in what they believe. And that was the general message I wanted to bring forward to you. DP: You mentioned Martin Luther King's message in your speech today. How much of it do you see living on and how much of it do you think needs to still to be worked on? Sharpton: There's some of it that's been honored, but a lot still needs to be honored. You still see a lot of racial disparity. Let's not forget today as we're here they're starting the trial in Jasper, Texas, of the three young white men that tore a black man's body in pieces. I talked about the racism in the advertising industry, I talked about the economic disparity, so I think that there's still a lot that has to be done. DP: You've been seen in the media and in other places as a very controversial figure. How do you respond to criticism that people put forward about some of your thoughts and ideas? Sharpton: Well, I think that any civil rights leader is controversial because you're challenging the status quo and you're challenging the powers that be and clearly they're going to fight back. So, I take it as it goes with the territory. I think what they have to explain is how when I have run for elective office with no money, I've gotten overwhelming support from my community. So, I'm not controversial to the people I serve. DP: This past summer with the Tawana Brawley verdict, do you think that that verdict hurt your influence or your reputation in any way? Sharpton: Not at all. I think that in many ways it backfired on them because they had told America that I had set out and concocted a hoax with a young girl. The trial established that I never was involved in the case until after, way down the course of four months, and in fact the jury said there was no conspiracy. They just felt that we had made statements that could not be proved. And the damages were lowered. I mean, he sued me for I think something like $30 million, the damages were $65,000, and we're appealing that. But then let's look at what happened after the defamation case. I campaigned actively for [Democrat] Chuck Schumer for U.S. Senate [and] Elliot Spitzer for attorney general. They both won. They both came to my work and thanked me, so where did it hurt me? You have a new senator, a new attorney general -- everyone in the political establishment is still relating to me. President Clinton invited me to the White House for Christmas. So no, I think that they intended for it to be harmful and in fact if anything it clarified what did and didn't happen in terms of my role. DP: What issues or events are you currently working on, either personally or with the National Action Network? Sharpton: With the Network I'm doing a lot in terms of the advertising racism question. I'm doing a lot on the question of voter registration and mobilization. We're having the National Action Network Convention on that on April 9, 10 and 11 in New York, and concentrating a lot on mobilizing around the issue of second chance for non-violent felons. On February 27 we're having a national conference in New York on second chance to say that mandatory first-sentencing laws are unfair; that people should be able to re-enter society if they are not violent offenders and have the right to vote and hold jobs. So we're working on those issues. DP: Everyone knows about your past political runs for both mayor and also senator in New York. What are your future political plans? Do you have any? Sharpton: I haven't decided. I probably will run again. I'm only 44 years old, so I'm one of the youngest nationally known political figures. So I haven't decided yet but I probably will run again. DP: Do you know if it'll be for Senator Patrick Moynihan's (D-N.Y.) seat that you're thinking about running? Sharpton: Very possible. I'm weighing that right now.