Jesse Jackson, preacher, civil rights change-agent, and presidential candidate, has died at age 84.
Jackson made a swing through Fort Worth while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984. Jackson made three Texas stops on a two-day swing in late April in advance of the May election.
A day after visiting Dallas, Jackson arrived in Fort Worth for a speaking engagement at Mount Olive Baptist Church on Evans Avenue. He was greeted with a standing ovation.
Jackson urged the adoption of automatic voter registration, arguing that existing procedures were structured in ways that suppressed participation among minorities and low-income citizens.
“At age 18, you ought to be automatically registered to vote,” Jackson told an enthusiastic, predominantly Black audience. “They know you’re a citizen — you’re automatically eligible for the draft.”
Jackson said eliminating registration barriers was essential to boosting democratic participation.
He also sharply criticized Texas’ primary format at the time, which required voters to cast ballots in a daytime preference poll and then return in the evening to take part in a delegate caucus.
Jackson described the Texas system as “the most convoluted” in the nation and said it was “designed to discourage us from voting.”
Pointing to turnout rates, Jackson noted that a smaller percentage of Americans vote compared with citizens in other major Western democracies, attributing the disparity in part to cumbersome registration requirements.
He also took aim at the Democratic Party’s national delegate selection process, observing that although he had captured 18% of the vote in this year’s primary contests, he has secured only 7% of the delegates.
Students from Our Mother of Mercy Catholic school were among those present, according to the Star-Telegram.
“The reason we came is because we love Jesse Jackson,” said Cheryl Peavy, then a 14-year-old. “When he’s speaking, I listen. … When he speaks about black people, it gets in my blood.”
“I think he should be president,” said Monica Barnwell, 13. “He’s a good man. He gets my vote … well, my Mama’s vote.”
Jackson went on to finish third in the Texas primary, behind Walter Mondale, the eventual nominee, and Gary Hart. Jackson ran a second time in 1988, but it doesn’t appear as if he made a Fort Worth stop.
In West Dallas, he warned children who surrounded him “not to put cocaine in your membrane or dope in your vein.”
“You’re too special for that,” he said. “You’re God’s children, and God didn’t make trash.”
After his visit to Mount Olive Baptist Church, Jackson went to lunch at Drake’s Cafeteria on East Rosedale before heading off to Houston for more stumping.