The Rev. Jesse Jackson, one-time Democratic presidential candidate and longtime civil rights activist, visited the Spin Room earlier Tuesday evening at Longwood University’s Media Center ahead of the Vice Presidential Debate in Farmville.

Jackson gave brief interviews to several media outlets following a short press conference.

“The fact that we can hold the debate here in an international, multi-cultural, multi-racial city is a sign of good news for Farmville,” Jackson told The Farmville Herald. “America must, as Farmville has, embrace its future … one nation under God.”

Fifty years ago, he said, Farmville could not have hosted the debate.

“Because of hostilities, there were protests that were not embraced. Farmville has (since) seen the value of the center of America. It’s morally right … and can become the Farmville of our dreams.”