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Rev. Jesse Jackson said Sunday apartheid still exists in the United States as he reflected on Nelson Mandela’s impact on American politics.
“Apartheid remains. Apartheid gaps in poverty, healthcare and education — we’re in the middle of the end of the apartheid struggle now, but it’s just changed phases,” he said on NBC News’s “Meet the Press.”
“For almost 30 years, we had a lead jump on the right to vote and used that right to vote to empower allies in South Africa,” Jackson said.
{mosads}Jackson is expected to attend the Dec. 15 funeral for the former South African president, who died late Thursday in Johannesburg at 95.
President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are going to attend the national memorial service for Mandela on Tuesday in South Africa. Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, have reportedly accepted an invitation to accompany the Obamas on Air Force One.
Former President Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are also expected to attend memorial events.