A dip into the pool reports: Sharpton recalls slavery as 'full-employment' for blacks

AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

From a White House pool report covering President Obama's meeting Tuesday at the White House with black civil rights leaders (emphasis added):

The African-American civil rights leaders who met with the President came out to the microphones after the meeting, which lasted more than an hour.

Rev. Al Sharpton said of the minimum wage, "What must be weighed in any analysis, CBO and others, is that blacks suffer disproportionately from having to do work and not get the kind of wages that we need. This is a central concern in our community. It's not just having a job; but having wages that are guaranteed to provide for our families. We had full employment in the black community during slavery. We just didn't have wages. So we don't want just a job, we want a job that pays, and pays so that we can take care of our families."