Guys -

Yeah, count me as one of the people boycotting Al Sharpton on RAW last Monday night. The episode was recorded by my DVR and will be promptly erased, unseen.

I have a long history of following Rev. Al, from a professional perspective. In the mid-1980s, I worked for a weekly newspaper chain in Queens, New York. Firsthand, I watched his involvement with some of the most disgusting news stories of that era.

In 1984, Michael Jackson reunited with his brothers for the VICTORY album tour. Rev. Al Sharpton held a press conference and demanded to know what the tour promoters were doing for "inner city youths" who could not afford the $25 ticket prices. The promoters quickly set up an arrangement with Sharpton to set aside blocks of tickets in Detroit, Philly, New York, and other urban stops. However, investigators discovered that people with scalped tickets were sitting in those blocks. Fewer children were being bussed to the concerts than promised by Sharpton's action committee. Sharpton's books were going to be audited on a Monday morning. On Saturday night, his offices were burned to the ground. No official investigation ever took place, since the evidence was destroyed.

Later in 1984, a (white) nut named Bernie Goetz decided to shoot anyone who mugged him on the subway. When four African-Americans approached him in an alleged robbery attempt, Goetz shot them. Sharpton was one of the voices declaring that Goetz was racist and demanded an inquiry.

In 1986, three African-Americans were chased through the predominantly white, Italian neighborhood of Howard Beach (a few blocks from where John Gotti lived). They were chased onto the Belt Parkway, a local highway, and one of them was struck and killed. A sad incident and a horrible indictment of the neighborhood. Sharpton soon led a rally through the area, which allowed the locals to hurl more racial invective at him.

Most people in my region know that Sharpton came to "full prominence" in 1987 after the Tawana Brawley incident. Basically, a black teenage girl spent the night with her boufriend. She was afraid of her stepfather, who had beaten her for doing the same thing in the past. Brawley spend days away from home, then went to a housing complex and let herself be "discovered" in a sleeping bag, where she had smeared racial epiteths on her body (upside down, so she could read what she was doing).

Sharpton and his cronies pounced on the case, which became a media circus as they demanded an investigation. They accused the Dutchess County police of a cover-up and zeroed in on officer Steven Pagones. A man with a fragile psyche, Pagones ultimately committed suicide and his family sued Sharpton and won - although Sharpton has never paid one penny.

There are more incidents that happened after that, but I was fully disgusted by Sharpton by that point and tried to spend as little time thinking about him as possible. Whenever he runs for public office, I run through this laundry list for anyone who even considers him as "viable."

I have not even gotten into his involvement in an FBI sting (where he took money) or his relentless politicizing small events onto a national stage in attempts to push his causes.

I know that WWE feels they HAVE to have guest stars every week now, but the week leading into a PPV should be reserved for WWE "legends" or celebs who "get it." Sharpton does not "get it" and is about as polarizing a figure as WWE has ever used. I cannot imagine a high viewing rate with his participation on this program. And I avoid any program he appears on.

Jeff Cohen
Flushing, NY