Rev. Jesse Jackson on Families & Children

Citizenship Education Fund focuses on youth development

The Citizenship Education Fund was established by the Reverend Jesse Jackson in 1984 to promulgate the democratic principles of civic virtue in order to improve life opportunities for those citizens who are often voiceless and forgotten. The Citizenship Education Fund seeks to empower citizens through the effective use of public policy advocacy, issue orientation, and connections between the greater community and the disenfranchised. The Fund also conducts research, collects data on non-partisan related initiatives, and organizes seminars and public awareness campaigns on a variety of public policy issues. The primary programmatic thrust of the Fund involves issues related to youth and youth development. Source: Rainbow Push web site, www.rainbowpush.org/founder/ Dec 25, 2000

Send Elian back to Cuba; Castro is OK

Jackson was at the forefront of the movement to send Elian Gonzalez back to a life of slavery in Fidel Castro’s gulag state. But this isn’t surprising: During a 1984 visit to Havana, Jackson described the bearded butcher as “the most honest, courageous politician I have ever met.” During a visit to the University of Havana, Jackson cried, “Long live Castro! Long live Che Guevara!” Source: Opinion by Rev. Jesse Peterson, The New American magazine Aug 14, 2000

Give our children education & character, as lasting gifts

make them smart and teach them to learn in their formative years
develop their character, so they can be trusted
teach them a work ethic
teach them fiscal discipline
teach them a sense of religious values.

Investing in human capital was what was important-not buying them material things Source: It’s About the Money!, p. 5 Jul 2, 1999

Nurture, not police

The Rainbow Coalition has mobilized 100 ministers in 50 cities to meet with juvenile court judges in that city and to reclaim 20 youth each as alternatives to unnecessary jailing. These are our children. Some just need parenting and tutoring, and they need caring adults. Better we have 100,000 youth in churches with 25,000 coaches nurturing them than 100,000 police chasing them. These are our children. It costs too much to disclaim them. Source: United We Stand America Conference, p.134-35 Aug 12, 1995

Jackson populism: attack big business; stress family values

Jackson attacks big business and stresses family values. “S. Koreans did not take job from us, G.M. took jobs to them-with government incentives. They took our jobs, our capital, our hopes and dreams. When I see men measuring their manhood by their ability to make a baby with no commitment to raise the baby, there’s a crisis in values.” These positions, when added to Jackson’s call for a war on drugs and the support of a Palestinian homeland, make liberals uneasy. Source: The Search for Common Ground, by Charles Henry, p. 81 Jul 2, 1991

Click here for definitions & background information on Families & Children. Click here for policy papers on Families & Children. Click here for a profile of Rev. Jesse Jackson. Click here for VoteMatch responses by Rev. Jesse Jackson. Agree? Disagree? Voice your opinions on Families & Children or about Rev. Jesse Jackson in The Forum.
*Other candidates on Families & Children:*	*Rev. Jesse Jackson on other issues:*
John Ashcroft Pat Buchanan George W. Bush Dick Cheney Bill Clinton Hillary Clinton (D,NY) Elizabeth Dole Steve Forbes Rudy Giuliani (R,NYC) Al Gore Alan Keyes John McCain (R,AZ) Ralph Nader Ross Perot Colin Powell Jesse Ventura (I,MN) *Party Platforms:* Democratic Platform Green Platform Libertarian Platform Republican Platform	Abortion Budget/Economy China Civil Rights Crime Defense Drugs Education Environment Families Foreign Policy Free Trade Govt. Reform Gun Control Health Care Immigration Labor Principles School Choice Social Security Tax Reform Technology War & Peace Welfare