| Jesse Lee Peterson | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 22, 1949 Midway, Alabama, United States |
| Residence | Los Angeles, California |
| Occupation | Minister, author, columnist |
| Title | Reverend |
| Political party | Republican |
| Religion | Christian |
| Website | |
| Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny | |
Jesse Lee Peterson (born May 22, 1949) is president and founder of The Brotherhood Organization of A New Destiny (BOND), an American group dedicated to a conservative agenda among African Americans. Rev. Peterson is also the Founder and President of BOND Action, Inc., a nonprofit, 501 (c) (4) organization. He has hosted a cable TV program and a syndicated radio talk show. His radio show is cited by Republican groups as an example of a black Republican message, including denounciations of affirmative action as "reverse racism". He is a member of Choose Black America, an organization of African Americans who oppose illegal immigration to the United States.[1] He is a member of the advisory board of Project 21, an African American conservative organization, and former board member of the California Christian Coalition.[2]
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Peterson was born in Midway, Alabama, and raised in Comer Hill, Alabama. His mother and father moved to Gary, Indiana, and East Chicago, Indiana, respectively, where they separately started new families of their own. Peterson was left to be raised in Comer Hill by his grandparents who worked on the same white-owned plantation that his ancestors labored on as slaves a century earlier. As a teenager, Peterson moved in with his mother and stepfather in Gary, and eventually settled in Los Angeles, California, as a young adult.[3]
The Brotherhood Organization operates several programs, including: the BOND Home for Boys, After School Character-Building Program, Entrepreneur Program, Inmate Rehabilitation Program, and counseling services.
Jesse Lee Peterson hosted the nationally syndicated Jesse Lee Peterson Show radio talk show on the Information Radio Network until December 30, 2005. The show is now a privately run National show airing live in several markets including Houston, TX, New Orleans, LA, Memphis, TN, and Tampa, FL. The show airs Mon-Fri., 9-12 Noon EST / 6-9 a.m. PST. The live broadcast and recorded broadcasts are also available online.
Peterson hosted the Jesse Lee Peterson Show, which was produced and shown by God's Learning Channel. He has also made televised appearances discussing the "Urban Moral Crisis."[4]
Peterson has established the annual “National Day of Repudiation of Jesse Jackson” event.[5]
On September 21, 2005, Peterson penned a column for WorldNetDaily, in which he suggested that the majority of the African-American people stranded in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina were "welfare-pampered", "lazy" and "immoral". Peterson also criticized New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin for blaming President George W. Bush for his lack of response to the crisis, stating that "responsibility to perform legally and practically fell first on the Mayor of New Orleans."[6]
On February 28, 2006, as a member of a student panel discussion at the University of California, Irvine on the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, Peterson described Islam as an "evil religion", and argued that extremist Muslims "hate us [America] because we are a Christian nation and we support Israel."[7] The event was sponsored by the United American Committee and College Republicans, and gained national attention for the controversy and confrontation associated with it.[8]
In January 2010, Peterson issued a statement calling for the resignation of Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele, saying "Michael Steele is a weak leader and he needs to resign or be fired. We need someone who's not afraid to boldly promote strong conservative Republican ideas. The only reason Steele is still RNC Chair is because he's black and the party is terrified of the implications of firing him."[9]
He has also claimed that "Barack Obama hates white people, especially white men" and that "Barack Obama is Jeremiah Wright Jr. He is the NAACP and the Congressional Black Caucus! He embodies the aspirations of every left-wing black group that wants to tear down this country and take power away from the "oppressive" white man. He's not an obvious race hustler like Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson; but Obama is a smooth pathological liar—with a wicked heart".[10] Peterson has also thanked "God and white people" for slavery and described slave ships as akin to "being on a crowded airplane".[11]
On January 17, 2006, Peterson was a party to the case Jesse Lee Peterson, et al., v. Jesse Jackson, et al. (BC 266505), in Los Angeles County Superior Court, after a ruling the previous week by Judge George H. Wu. Judicial Watch filed the civil lawsuit against Jackson, his son Jonathan, and others on behalf of Peterson, who was the alleged victim of a physical and verbal assault at an event hosted by Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. in December 2001.[12]
On January 27, 2006, a Los Angeles jury dismissed all of the counts except one, in which the jury deadlocked. The parties settled the remaining charge out of court.[13]