Author: Reggie Jackson

Reggie Jackson: The impact of racism is the “Other Coronavirus Crisis” for People of Color

“Cultural racism can also lead to individual-level unconscious bias that can lead to discrimination against outgroup members. In clinical encounters, these processes lead to minorities receiving inferior medical care compared with care received by whites. Research indicates that across virtually every type of diagnostic and treatment intervention blacks and other minorities receive fewer procedures and poorer-quality medical care than do whites.” – David R. Williams Florence and Laura Norman Professor of Public Health; Professor of African and African American Studies and Sociology, Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health Dr. David Williams in one of the foremost experts...

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Reggie Jackson: The COVID-19 pandemic lays bare the absolute moral corruption of our society

We are facing a crisis that is unmatched in our lifetimes. The City of Milwaukee suffered its first Coronavirus related death on March 20. As of March 22, there has been 33,276 confirmed cases of Americans with the COVID-19 infection. Just six days ago the number was 4,661. So far 409 Americans have died due to the virus, compared to only 85 who had died six says ago. On the worldwide stage, 1,593 people died yesterday of Coronavirus and 1,651 died the day prior, for a total of 14,461 deaths according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. America...

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Reggie Jackson: The responsibility of understanding what White Supremacy really is

“American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.” – James Baldwin My journey of learning about America has taken me in many different directions. As a young boy I was always inquisitive. My favorite books were encyclopedias. I loved reading about everything. I loved to learn new things. History was always one of my favorite topics. History allowed me to see everything. I could study the history of anything. I can recall while in fourth or maybe fifth grade learning about the races of humans. The memory...

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Reggie Jackson: Applying lessons from the 2012 and 2016 Presidential Elections in Wisconsin to 2020

“Give us the ballot, and we will no longer plead to the federal government for passage of an anti-lynching law; we will by the power of our vote write the law on the statute books of the South and bring an end to the dastardly acts of the hooded perpetrators of violence. Give us the ballot, and we will transform the salient misdeeds of bloodthirsty mobs into the calculated good deeds of orderly citizens. Give us the ballot, and we will fill our legislative halls with men of goodwill and send to the sacred halls of Congress men who...

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Reggie Jackson: Hopelessness is the Enemy of Justice

“The death penalty symbolizes whom we fear and don’t fear, whom we care about and whose lives are not valid… We have a system of justice that treats you much better if you’re rich and guilty than if you’re poor and innocent. Wealth, not culpability, shapes outcomes.” – Bryan Stevenson People sometimes ask me where the motivations for the articles I write come from. At times there is a conversation that sparks me to look deeper into something. Sometimes the articles come from long simmering thoughts about topics that piqued my interest a while ago. At other times the articles...

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Reggie Jackson: MLK’s “Dream” was not about being colorblind but seeing the same value in every color

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” – Rev. Dr. Martin Luther Jr. August 28, 1963 This one sentence from the speech Dr. King gave at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom has been used to claim Dr. King was calling for a colorblind society. My belief, based on a reading of the entire speech, leads me to another conclusion about the use of colorblindness. This takes some unpacking...

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