Author: Reggie Jackson

Why the issue of race matters and a long path across is contours in America, from the Jim Crow South to Milwaukee. My great-grandfather Edward Diltz was born in Tillatoba, Mississippi in 1890, twenty-five years after legalized slavery ended in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Papa, as we called him was a tall, thin man who could have easily passed for white due to the light complexion he inherited from a white grandfather on a small cotton plantation in the northern edges of the Mississippi Delta. He moved his family to Charleston, the...

“Michael Phelps sets record in 100m butterfly and receives second place medal.” “Cleveland Indians outscored 8 to 7 in game seven of 2016 World Series, win first World Championship since 1948.” “Simone Biles dominates the field at 2016 all-around final, receives silver medal.” “Golden State Warriors blow 3-1 series lead against Cleveland Cavaliers, losing final game 93-89, win back-to-back championship.” These headlines are all obviously fake and absurd. No one who wins actually loses. But for the fourth time in US history the winner of the popular vote in the presidential election has lost. None of the fictitious sports...

A black man, 40-year-old Terence Crutcher, was walking away from several Tulsa police officers with his hands in the air when he was shot and kiIIed by white officer Betty Shelby. She is now facing a “heat-of-passion” mansIaughter charge in the case. He’s dеad, she’s alive and well, walking free after posting a $50,000 bond. She was released 20 minutes after being booked. A police helicopter flying above the scene filmed the incident. The husband of the officer who fired the fatal shot was the pilot in that helicopter. In released video, one of the officers in the helicopter...

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with ʍurder.” Colin Kapaernick, San Francisco 49’s quarterback – August 26, 2016 With these words and a refusal to stand during the playing of the national anthem, a young quarterback who many outside of NFL fans had never heard of before, became an...

Editor’s Note: Reggie Jackson was a panelist at a public meeting hosted by the Wisconsin Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights on August 29, to discuss the issue of under-reported hate crimes and civil rights violations. This is the testimony he presented at the hearing. | Wisconsin’s Hate Crime statute (939.645) is highly ineffective due to three key factors. The first factor is that hate crimes are very underreported in Wisconsin just as they are nationally. Secondly, the law was written as a penalty enhancer instead of as a sentencing aggravator. As a result the prosecutor...

| Just two brief weeks ago the world began to see you for the first time in your lives. People came from far and wide to learn the reasons behind what you had been accused of doing. They asked many people why you did the things you were accused of doing. They assumed that these people, who were brave enough to talk with, had the answers. I was one of those people they asked. I had an answer. It was not your answer. Only you could have given an accurate answer. Only you knew the real reasons. No one...