Jesse Jackson: Obama was acting white

The US civil rights leader and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson reportedly ripped fellow Democrat and fellow African American, Barack Obama, by accusing him of ‘acting like he's white’ in his campaign for the White House. Later he refused to recall making any such remark.

Jackson, while conducting a voter registration drive in South Carolina blasted the Illinois senator for not bringing notice of the scandal of six black kids arrested on attempted murder charges in Jena, La. Known as the case of ‘Jena Six’, it has largely moved black activists and their sympathizers across the US.

"If I were a candidate, I'd be all over Jena," Rev Jackson said at an event at a predominantly black university in South Carolina's capital, Columbia.

Besides his race-related concerns, Jackson also told the South Carolina audience that he did not think Senator Obama was bold enough to catch up with the party's frontrunner, Hillary Clinton.

Although Jackson denied the story published in The Wednesday edition of the State, a South Carolina newspaper, Steve Brook, deputy managing editor of the State, maintained that it was not made up. "We stand by our story," he said.

"I don't associate myself with that statement, that's not my position," Jackson said. “I’m dumbfounded by this story. ... Black enough, white enough, this argument is an absurd one." Obama, he said, "does not have to jump through hoops to prove his ethnicity.''

Jackson also backed up his assurance to vote for Sen. Barack Obama, warning that nothing can affect his support for the Illinois senator.

He was critical of Democrats in general for not boldly defending the Jena 6. "At least Barack issued a statement," Jackson said. Avoiding to take any names, Jackson said the Demacrats should "at least call for hearings. Whether it's the Jena 6 or Katrina, it is just too obvious to ignore."

Responding to questions about Jackson’s comment, Obama said, "Outrage over an injustice like the Jena 6 isn't a matter of black and white. It's a matter of right and wrong. We should stand as one nation in opposition to this and any injustice” adding that he had been advised on the Jena 6 issue throughout, by Jackson's son, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.