Ten presidential campaigns ago, in 1984, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was almost universally described by media and politicians as the first Black man to run a serious major-party campaign for president, also ran a parallel campaign — against being identified by his skin color. Jackson was among the first major public figures to identify himself as “African-American” rather than "black," and for the next few decades, many among media people, politicians and the public followed suit, adopting that term. America seemed poised to end one of its ugliest features: identifying its people by the color of their skin.
This current presidential campaign suggests that history has regressed, if anything, since Jackson’s days in the limelight. Now 82, he was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
