SPIEGEL: You have hinted that you may consider running for president again in the upcoming election. Would you really run against Senator Barack Obama?
REVEREND AL SHARPTON: I haven't decided whether I'm going to or not. I'm going to wait and see if someone comes out and champions the issues of social justice that I'm concerned about. If they do, I will support them. So far I've not heard that clear call.
SPIEGEL: But Obama represents an historical opportunity for blacks in America to have one of your own in the White House. Would it not be better for you to throw your weight behind him?
SHARPTON: First of all, I haven't seen a poll that said Obama can win. I've seen polls that said Obama would do well. But I want to hear the policies. My support is contingent on whether his platform is something that serves the interests of black people.
SPIEGEL: Does it not count that he himself is black?
SHARPTON: He's certainly an impressive figure, but he cannot just get the support of all of the black community because he's black. We are no longer intoxicated by having the first black president. We had the first black secretary of state and the second black secretary of state and they brought us the most wicked war in our lifetime. So you have to be more than our color. You have to be our kind.
SPIEGEL: In his campaign speeches, Obama says it is time to stop fighting yesterday's battles. One of those battles in the US has been the struggle against racism. Is the civil rights movement obsolete?
SHARPTON: People who try and dismiss the present civil rights challenges as if they are in the past do so to excuse themselves from present day activism. Young blacks between 18 and 25 still say that they feel the reason they're not treated the same as other Americans is because of race. The generation that is young now doesn't feel these are issues of the past.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,472718,00.html