5 Great Political Speeches – That Aren’t from MLK (TAP)

3. Jesse Jackson

Presidential Campaign Announcement, 1984

Former presidential candidate, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Jr., gave a riveting speech in 1984, and galvanized African-American voters (whose registration base paved the way for future Democratic contenders).

Excerpt:

“All this talk about qualifications…What do blacks know about foreign policy?” It’s an insult. I was three years old, I came into my consciousness, my Daddy was coming home from the war. Foreign policy. If he was so dumb, how did he get over there and get back? If he didn’t know foreign policy, why did they give him a gun? And when they gave it to him, he knew which way to shoot. We know foreign policy. When you buy Honda and Toyota, that’s foreign policy. Russian Vodka, that’s foreign policy. Panasonic and Sony, that’s foreign policy. Mercedes Benz, that’s foreign policy, and as a matter of fact, we came here on a foreign policy!”

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