Newsday’s Alfonso Castillo wanted to know why Al Sharpton would host Raw given WWE’s history with racial insensitivity. Sharpton responded via a press release from his spokeswoman. He wants to use WWE’s platform to draw awareness to a serious problem in his community:
“In order to raise awareness and actually do something about the devastating achievement gap in education between kids of color and their white peers the viewership of WWE events is precisely the group of people who need to be reached and involved. Reverend Sharpton has stated repeatedly that all of us must take extraordinary steps to reverse the current trend in education and that unlikely alliances (like with Newt Gingrich) and forums like the WWE should be utilized if they help close the gap.
The release cites the appearances by Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, and John McCain during the Presidential Primaries last spring as an inspiration for Sharpton’s appearance. Oh, and he’s had words with the man behind the curtain, too:
Rev. Sharpton has talked to Vince McMahon who assured him that they have corrected and will discontinue any racial denigration.”
