Speaking with radio host Tavis Smiley, Princeton University professor Cornel West attacked MSNBC host Rev. Al Sharpton for not demanding that the Department of Justice immediately charge George Zimmerman with a civil rights violation in connection with the shooting of Trayvon Martin. West insisted that Sharpton is “still on the Obama plantation,” or he would be more critical of the president and Attorney General Eric Holder.
“Black people now find themselves, essentially, at the mercy of an African-American attorney general to do something else,” Smiley said.
“What do you make of the irony of who we have to depend on now to make a decision that I don’t believe is forthcoming?” Smiley asked regarding federal charges against Zimmerman for violating Martin’s civil rights.
West agreed that federal charges against Zimmerman were unlikely. He said that unrest surrounding the Zimmerman verdict will not “settle down” and is likely to create some division among African-American political commentators with regard to how President Barack Obama‘s administration has approached the case.
“It’s too humiliating. It’s too embarrassing. You see it with brother Sharpton,” West said. “Sharpton probably deep down wants to be critical of the president, but he can’t because he’s still on the Obama plantation.”
Listen to the clip below via The Tavis Smiley Show:
Source: Mediaite
