I always thought that Sharpton and Jackson are living proof of the persistance of racism. If any white politician were to act remotely as stupid as these two clowns, he'd be laughed off the stage.
But since these two are supposedly "leaders of the African-American community" (Oh yeah? Since when? Who voted for them? What office did they run to?), they are tolerated by people afraid to laugh in their face as to not be accused of "racism".
The one bad thing about Martin Luther King's legacy is that, since he led the civil rights movement by his charisma and actions, not by elections, he (unintentionally) set the precedent that the black community leaders are unofficial and unelected.