Jackson Says Sorry to Minister

By JOE WILLIAMS
Daily News Staff Writer

he Rev. Jesse Jackson has formally apologized to a local minister for not living up to his end of a deal to atone for an extramarital affair when he appeared at a Harlem church in January.

At the time, Jackson was battered by revelations that he had fathered a child out of wedlock with one of his Rainbow Coalition staffers, so the Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, pastor of the Canaan Baptist Church in Harlem, offered a way for him to make amends.

Come to New York, Walker offered, apologize for cheating on your wife, appear contrite and announce that a sabbatical is planned.

In exchange, Walker would open his church on 116th St. for a "Service of Penance" to begin the healing process with a congregation packed with supporters.

Walker lived up to his part of the bargain, but a defiant Jackson used that first public appearance several days after the love-child news broke to bash the presidential recount fiasco and criticize several of President Bush's nominees.

Deeply concerned that he had been duped, the Harlem pastor — whose ties to Jackson date back to the 1960s when Walker served as chief of staff to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. — demanded a formal apology for Jackson's violating the format of the service.

In a letter obtained by the Village Voice this week, Jackson offered his mea culpa.

"I have read your letter several times over," the Voice quotes Jackson as writing. "Let me assure you, I care deeply for you and respect what you mean to our people and to me. Because this is true, I reached out to you during this phase in my journey."

"I apologize for any error in judgment and communication or any offense to you or your congregation," Jackson wrote. "I would never knowingly disrespect you. If I have done so, I apologize."

Walker was traveling out of the city yesterday.

A spokeswoman for Jackson was not available for comment.

Original Publication Date: 5/17/01

-- Anonymous, May 17, 2001