Day: June 21, 2024

I was one of those who appreciated the raw honesty of Reggie Jackson (Hall of Fame baseball player who I admired when I was growing up)

Alex Rodriguez asked a question. Reggie Jackson answered it.

(Shouts to the producer and rest of the desk for staying out of Reggie’s way and just letting him talk. I doubt they expected this answer. But it’s a great few minutes of television.)pic.twitter.com/7WqjlppvF8

— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) June 21, 2024

(the first version I saw did NOT have the ugly racial slur bleeped out)

No, that this happened is NOT “news to me”; we learned about such things in my teen age years, though my parents informed me of that in my early childhood. Part of the reason, I think, is that my parents grew up with anti-Mexican prejudice in depression era Texas. But they freely admitted that Blacks had it far worse.

Still, my mind wants to believe that this sort of thing happened to those who lived a long time ago, rather than to those who are still alive now. And yes, I was born in 1959, when racial segregation was legally enforced in many parts of our country, and NOT just the south.

So…perhaps this frank admission that “this place reminds me of the hell I lived through” will bring people together? Sadly no.

My guess is that conservatives will respond with something like “well, that happened, and it was an ugly part of our history, but NOT our present reality. Meanwhile our liberals have watered down the concept of “racism” and “white supremacy” to virtual meaninglessness:

For example: the character Titania McGrath has complied a list of liberal stupidity

IMPORTANT THREAD 🧵👇

Brave social justice activists such as myself are working tirelessly to expose *all* the racist elements within our society.

Sometimes it is difficult to keep up, so I thought it would be helpful to curate a comprehensive list…

— Titania McGrath (@TitaniaMcGrath) July 9, 2020

But seriously, while we do not have the level of racism that Jackson talked about, well, just ask any middle age black male about run ins with law enforcement. I know that the guys I grew up with, and who are social-economic-education peers describe experiences that I am unfamiliar with.

I’ll let Senator Tim Scott (a Republican) describe some of it.

This is just plain wrong and, well, IMHO, this is part of where DEI efforts should be.