Al Sharpton criticizes the Democrats for education cuts

(AP Photo/Andy Duback)

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — The Rev. Al Sharpton criticized Democrats on Wednesday for "diluting" education portions of the economic stimulus bill in order to get re-elected. In a speech at Middlebury College, the civil rights leader also encouraged collegians to become vocal advocates for change.

"I am a civil rights activist and advocate," he told a packed house of 675 people. "I do not seek, as many who seek political office, to be appreciated or liked. I do not seek approval as opposed to clarity, unlike some politicians. I was concerned to see that some of the Democratic members of the Senate took out the portions that gave real vision and strength to president Obama's stimulus plan and diluted educational funding. It seems they were more concerned about midterm elections than vision."

In addition to those who got into the campus chapel to hear him, another 700 students crowded satellite venues on campus to watch him speak on a closed-circuit video feed.

Jeanine Busily, 21, who helped organize the event, said Sharpton was invited to the exclusive private college to speak because of growing student interest in activism.

"People wanted to hear from a sort of political figure that also dealt with issues of social justice," Busily said. "We wanted to be able to speak with someone about how Obama being elected changes the fight for social justice."

She wouldn't say how much he was paid for the appearance, but that the fee and production costs combined were about $20,000.

Sharpton said that despite the election of President Barack Obama, the civil rights fight isn't over.

"Many feel because we made this huge, historical step forward, we no longer need advocacy," Sharpton said. "We won the right to change, but we did not win the change. There is work yet to be done," he said, citing equality gaps in health care, the justice system and the economy.

Stressing the need for advocacy, he used the analogy of a thermostat _ which changes or pushes temperature _ and a thermometer, which merely records it. One student asked him which applied to Obama.

"I think he's a politician that has been a thermostat and has a thermometer agenda," Sharpton said. "And he had to have that kind of agenda to get elected. I've known President Obama for many years, we don't agree on everything. But I think if he at least holds to what he said, probably he can still make a dramatic difference."

Of newly appointed Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, the first black to hold the position, Sharpton said: "He's a likable guy.

"I think he will try to bring some people _ particularly from the black church _ over to the Republican side, with his right-to-life and anti-gay messages. And I will resist. Is he a nice man? Yes. Will I smile while I fight him on those issues? Yes, but fight I will."