Rainbow Coalition Stands Behind Jesse Jackson, Urges His Return

A day after admitting he fathered a child outside his marriage, the Rev. Jesse Jackson won a unanimous vote of confidence Friday from the executive board of his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, which granted him a leave of absence to “reconnect” with his family but insisted that he return when he is ready.

Rainbow/PUSH Executive Vice President James T. Meeks, named acting president, said the board agreed “not to accept any thought of resignation or pullback on the part of Rev. Jackson.”

Meeks said Jackson’s statement Thursday admitting an affair with an employee of the organization’s Washington office, Karin Stanford, 39, was “swift, responsible and contrite.”

Rhetorically addressing Jackson, who did not attend the news conference at Rainbow/PUSH headquarters, Meeks said, “We are excited about you coming back to continue to pilot this ship.” He said he didn’t know how long Jackson planned to stay away.

But Rainbow/PUSH Co-chairman Willie T. Barrow said, “We can’t afford to have Rev. Jackson on the sidelines for an indeterminate time.”

Meeks is a longtime Jackson friend and pastor of one of the city’s largest black Baptist congregations, the Salem Baptist Church.

Meeks said Jackson will worship Sunday at the Salem church and will be in New York next week for a Rainbow/PUSH-sponsored Wall Street Project to involve businesses in community improvement.

Meeks said Rainbow/PUSH is not paying the $3,000-a-month financial support given to Stanford, now living in Los Angeles with her 20-month-old daughter. He denied published reports that the organization paid for Stanford’s house. And he said that $40,000 in reported moving expenses was actually $35,000 in severance pay given when Stanford left her Washington job.

Meeks raised questions about why the story was leaked to the National Enquirer. He said it appears to be a deliberate attempt to silence Jackson’s protests of the presidential election results in Florida.

“We think that there is something awfully suspicious about the timing of this 2-year-old story,” Meeks said, noting that it broke three days before Jackson was to help lead a rally today in Tallahassee, Fla. Meeks said he did not know who could be behind an alleged plot to silence Jackson.

Rainbow/PUSH officials said it is unlikely that Jackson will attend today’s rally.

Meeks said Jackson, who remained secluded in his house, was in “very high spirits” and fielding telephone calls of support from scores of leaders, including President Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, President-elect George W. Bush and numerous members of Congress and religious leaders.

Jackson, 59, and his wife, Jackie, have been married for 38 years and have five children.

The Rev. Jerry Falwell, speaking Friday to a multi-faith group in Washington, said he talked with Jackson on Thursday night. He said a tearful Jackson “asked me to communicate to you his deep sorrow and regret over what has happened.”

Falwell praised Jackson for speaking forthrightly about the affair and “not hiring attorneys” and “not disavowing the child.” Falwell then asked the high-powered religious gathering to forgive Jackson.

“This is not a time to put our foot on the neck of anyone,” he said.