WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards will make Don Imus' comments on the Rutgers women's basketball team a centerpiece of his speech Wednesday night to Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network, according to excerpts released from his campaign.

"I find it astonishing that there was even a debate over whether Don Imus' comments crossed the line," Edwards will say. "And I know I don't have to tell anybody here: Don Imus' comments didn't just cross the line. They defined the line that divides this country like the blade of a knife."

Edwards will also call intolerance a "direct" cause of the "growing disparity between the rich and poor."

"The people that are usually the targets of intolerance and bigotry are too often the same people who suffer from lack of opportunity, the same people who are left behind," Edwards will say. "And as long as intolerance pervades our culture, it's far too easy for politicians in Washington to ignore the big changes we need to make in order to end poverty once and for all."