Sister Souljah Moment - Other Examples

Other Examples

As a candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 2000, Texas Governor George W. Bush spoke before the conservative Manhattan Institute in October 1999 saying, "Too often, on social issues, my party has painted an image of America slouching toward Gomorrah," quoting the title of a book by conservative jurist Robert Bork. Bush's comments were seen as a repudiation of the religious right and an attempt to appeal to moderate voters; commentator Charles Krauthammer called it "an ever-so-subtle Sister Souljah on Robert Bork."

Also in the 2000 campaign for the Republican nomination, Arizona Senator John McCain stated, “Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right.” This was similarly seen as a repudiation of the religious right; columnist Jacob Weisberg called it "a pungent Sister Souljah moment."

During the 2008 United States presidential campaign, Democratic Party nominee Barack Obama received much criticism for his association with his longtime Pastor Jeremiah Wright, and Wright's pattern of provocative statements. On April 29, Senator Obama distanced himself, in a well-received speech on racism, calling some of Wright's statements "outrageous" and "a bunch of rants that aren't grounded in truth." South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn said of the speech, "This, I think, offers Barack Obama his Sister Souljah moment"; the speech was also described as "more than a Sister Souljah moment" by columnist Maureen Dowd.

On July 10, 2008, prior to a taping of Fox and Friends, civil-rights activist Jesse Jackson was unwittingly caught by an open microphone whispering to a fellow interviewee, saying that then-candidate Barack Obama was talking down to black people and that he, Jackson, wanted to cut Obama's "nuts off". Jackson's son, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois - co-chair of Obama's presidential campaign - publicly blasted his father's comments. Dan Balz called the comments "accidental Sister Souljah moment" for Obama, since Jackson had distanced himself from the candidate, without Obama having to take a stand.