91Èȱ¬

Veteran American Civil Rights Campaigner The Reverend Jesse Jackson talks to presenter Fern Britton in Fern Britton Meets... on Sunday 12 December, on 91Èȱ¬ One, about the challenges he feels President Obama faces to his Presidency, and discusses if Obama is on track to become a great president.

Speaking in the programme Reverend Jackson, who himself ran as a losing candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in 1984 and 1988, says: "He's come into presidency at the most difficult time. He's doing well, but there are odds so great he's running uphill trying to get the willingness back. He is running uphill (with) unprecedented attacks. We've never known such violent personal attacks on someone with coded words – Is he one of us? Is he an American? Was he born here? Is he a Christian?

"We've never known such violent attacks before. He has a high moral compass. He has integrity and he has courage, so he has the stuff of which great presidents are made. But he's operating against great odds.

"But I find a certain satisfaction of watching him grow in the office. Well, he has superior skills and his greatness will come in time."

One of the unforgettable images during Barack Obama's victory speech was of Jesse Jackson in the crowd, with tears running down his face. Talking about that moment he says: "When I looked at him walk out and victory being declared, I thought about nameless, faceless people that you will never know, many of my friends had become martyred for the right to vote, and now here we are electing an African-American President. So, there I stood watching 50 years of labour, sacrifice and risk and so the journey overwhelmed me and the joy of us getting there."

In response to the suggestion that Barack Obama wouldn't have won the race for the White House if it hadn't been for Jackson's own trailblazing political campaigns, Jesse Jackson answers: "I was on a 54-year marathon, I was able to run a lap or two! And he ran that ankle leg of a 54-year race. He ran a fast lap.

"When I played football so many years ago, I appreciated how a blocker is on the ground because he knocks someone. He rolls and looks up and sees the runner scoring. He doesn't feel diminished because he knows this: had he not blocked, the runner couldn't have scored. But they're both on the same team."

Despite having an African American in the White House, Jesse Jackson believes the fight for civil rights still has a long way to go.

"We are free but not equal… There's a lot of unfinished business, as we seek not just racial justice but economic justice. That's important because when they close a plant and turn the lights out we all look very much alike in the dark. So we must take light into dark places and heating into cold places. That's important with our mission."

Notes to Editors

Fern Britton Meets... Jesse Jackson is on 91Èȱ¬ One on Sunday 12 December at 10am. Any quotes used from this release must fully credit the programme and transmission details.

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