Jesse Jackson hits Rand Paul, Paul issues statement

By Robert "Rob" Redding Jr.

 Editor & Publisher

May 20, 2010, 1:30 p.m. - Rev. Jesse Jackson today assailed Rand Paul, the newly elected Republican nominee for Senate in Kentucky, for comments about the Civil Rights Act.

Paul, a Tea Party supporter, said yesterday on the Rachel Maddow show that he favors the Civil Rights Act but has concerns about telling private businesses how to handle race.

"He is playing with fire you can't have it both ways," Jackson told MSNBC.

During Jackson's appearance on the network, Paul attempted to clarified his comments with the following statement:  

"I have clearly stated in prior interviews that I abhor racial discrimination and would have worked to end segregation. Even though this matter was settled when I was 2, and no serious people are seeking to revisit it except to score cheap political points, I unequivocally state that I will not support any efforts to repeal the Civil Rights Act of 1964," Paul said.

"Let me be clear: I support the Civil Rights Act because I overwhelmingly agree with the intent of the legislation, which was to stop discrimination in the public sphere and halt the abhorrent practice of segregation and Jim Crow laws.

"As I have said in previous statements, sections of the Civil Rights Act were debated on Constitutional grounds when the legislation was passed. Those issues have been settled by federal courts in the intervening years."