National Review editor: Al Sharpton's prominence means the civil rights struggle is over

Rich Lowry, editor of the conservative National Review, interprets the meaning of Rev. Al Sharpton as a leader in the modern day civil rights movement:

Then there’s Sharpton, whose career is a long catalog of the ridiculous and outrageous in pursuit of newspaper clips and cable TV appearances.

Sharpton is a Christian minister who refuses to this day to apologize to the man he defamed by falsely accusing him of raping a woman. He is the peacemaker who in the midst of anti-Jewish riots issued the inspiring call, “If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house.” He is the paragon of civil rights who denounced a Jewish businessman in Harlem as a “white interloper.”

If there were genuinely something consequential at stake, as in the fight against segregation of the mid-20th century, it would be a disaster for the country that Al Sharpton is so prominent.

Sharpton was one of the lead organizers of the 50th anniversary celebration of the March on Washington which took place in Washington, D.C. Wednesday.

@eScarry