Beyond the boundaries: Reverend Jesse Jackson in international affairs

523 Pages·1997·1.94 MB·English

by  Karin L. Stanford

Beyond the Boundaries : Reverend Jesse
title: Jackson in International Affairs SUNY
Series in Afro-American Studies
author: Stanford, Karin L.
publisher: State University of New York Press
isbn10 | asin: 079143446X
print isbn13: 9780791434468
ebook isbn13: 9780585092584
language: English
Jackson, Jesse,--1941---Career in
international relations, United States--
Foreign relations--1981-1989--Citizen
subject participation, United States--Foreign
relations--Developing countries--Citizen
participation, Developing countries--
Foreign relations--United S
publication date: 1997
lcc: E185.97.J25S73 1997eb
ddc: 327.2/092
Jackson, Jesse,--1941---Career in
international relations, United States--
Foreign relations--1981-1989--Citizen
participation, United States--Foreign
subject:
relations--Developing countries--Citizen
participation, Developing countries--
Foreign relations--United S
Beyond The Boundries
Suny series in Afro-American Studies
John Howard and Robert C. Smith
Beyond The Boundaries
Reverend Jesse Jackson in International Affairs
Karin L. Stanford
Foreward by Ronald W. Walters
State University of New York Press
Cover photo: Jackson discussing the release of foreign hostages with
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein at Hussein's palace in August 1990.
All photographs by D. Michael Cheers and Courtesy Jesse Jackson
Archives. Reprinted by permission.
Production by Ruth Fisher
Marketing by Anne M. Valentine
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 1997 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any
means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in
writing of the publisher.
For information, address the State University of New York Press,
State University Plaza, Albany, NY 12246
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stanford, Karin L., 1961-
Beyond the boundaries: Reverend Jesse Jackson in international
affairs / Karin L. Stanford; foreword by Ronald W. Walters.
p. cm. (SUNY series in Afro-American studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7914-3445-1 (acid-free paper). ISBN 0-7914-3446-X (pbk.
: acid-free paper)
1. Jackson, Jesse, 1941-Career in international relations.
2. United StatesForeign relations1981-1989Citizen
participation. 3. United StatesForeign relationsDeveloping
countriesCitizen participation. 4. Developing countriesForeign
relationsUnited StatesCitizen participation. 5. Afro-Americans
Politics and government. I. Title. II. Series.
E185.97.J25S73 1997
327.2'092dc20 96-41612
CIP
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the memory of my sister, Toni Monique Grayson
Page vii
Contents
Foreword ix
Preface xv
1. Introduction 1
2. Approaches to Citizen Diplomacy 13
3. Jesse Jackson: The Emergence of a Citizen Diplomat 41
4. The 1984 Jackson Campaign: Progressive Perceptions 63
of U.S. Foreign Policy
5. Syria 83
6. Central American and Cuba 107
7. Southern Africa 137
8. Conclusion 161
Notes 181
Bibliography 209
Index 221
Page ix
Foreword
Shortly after New Year's Day in 1984, while Rev. Jesse Jackson, then
a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president, was in Syria
attempting to get Lt. Robert Goodman out of jail, I received a call
from a reporter.
1 In the course of a series of questions he asked about Reverend
Jackson's activities and motives. There was the clear impression that a
conversation the reporter had with a member of Congress revealed the
possibility that Reverend Jackson would be charged with violation of
the Logan Act upon his return.
I had heard this before, during what was, perhaps, the first significant
attempt at private diplomacy by African American leaders. In 1979,
when Andrew Young, then U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations,
resigned under pressure after it had been discovered that he had been
in negotiations with the Palestinian authorities, some members of the
press had intimated that blacks were uninitiated in the politics of the
Middle East and as such had no right to become involved. This
prompted a series of meetings by black political leaders that resulted
in their strong assertion of the right to voice opinions and to become
involved in international affairs, including those in the Middle East.
To emphasize this point, two missions seeking a dialogue on peace
were immediately launched to several Middle Eastern countries, one
of which was led by Reverend Jackson and another by Rev. Joseph
Lowery and Congressman Walter Fauntroy, both leaders of the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Some members of the
press intimated that

Page x
the leaders of these missions might be charged with violations of the
Logan Act.
2
This subtle intimidation was ineffective, partly because the individuals
involved were seasoned civil rights veterans, and partly because of the
unique character of American democracy. The Logan Act was named
for a Pennsylvania Quaker, George Logan, who, in 1798, went to
France at his own expense in an attempt to prevent a war between the
United States and France. He was promptly rebuked in a law passed
by Congress in 1799, then controlled by the Federalists, who desired
such a conflict. The Logan Act ostensibly forbids a private citizen
from engaging in unauthorized negotiations with a foreign power with
which the United States maintains a dispute.3
In practice, however, the Logan Act has never been tested, since it
also appears to run afoul of the Constitutional protections of free
speech and assembly awarded American citizens as well. Thus, when
Ramsey Clark, a former attorney general, visited North Vietnam at the
height of the Vietnam War, under explicit prohibitions from the U.S.
government, an irate American government nevertheless, did not
prosecute him, and when Harrison Salisbury, a journalist, reported
from Hanoi in 1966, no action was taken. However, the First
Amendment did not protect William Worthy, a black journalist, who
was the last American journalist in Communist China whose passport
was taken by the State Department in the late 1950s. In any case, this
meant that there was no legally enforceable way to restrain the
diplomacy of Reverend Jackson since so many citizens had become
involved in its practicebut it did become a public issue with his trips
to Latin America in July of 1984.4
The present volume by Dr. Karin Stanford is exceedingly welcome