Truthfully, I needed to hear this, but for a different reason. Growing up loving baseball but missing the era he was referencing (I was born exactly a year after MLK was shot), I *loathed* Reggie. His "Magnitude of Me" still echos in my head to this day, contributing to my continued antipathy to him and the Yankees.
I wish I had heard *him* say this far earlier, as it would have contributed to having a different perception of him, "contextualizing" some of the comments of his I heard back then. I'm glad I listened to this clip, and have listened to his remarks on repeat several times to etch *THAT* impression of Reggie permanently in my mind. Having become a student of the Negro Leagues after watching Ken Burns' "Baseball", putting him in *that* conversation changes the way I hear his remarks.
Thank you for pointing me to these remarks. As a side note, I'm thrilled that Negro League stats have been incorporated into MLB statistics. I am SO wanting to get to the Negro Leagues Museum, before or after its expansion-- I could've listened to Bob Kendrick (as I could've Buck O'Neill) on that broadcast for hours! But I need to hear Reggie's comments echo at the same time.
Perhaps if Jim Crow was so good for black families, surely the opportunity should be shared with White people. 70 years of reverse Jim Crow is only fair.
I saw this clip of Reggie Jackson last night and I am thankful that he was able to share these obviously painful memories and that the network did not cut away but allowed his voice to be heard.
I hope this reverberates and makes people uncomfortable to hear what it was like for him as a Black man and respected baseball player, and for all of us to remember that this happened within our lifetime or for younger folk, not so far in the past.
My wish is that no one should ever have to experience something like this and yet even today, in 2024, racism still exists and many non-white people experience this kind of hate and threat to their lives. We, all of us, need to do the work to heal and abolish racism within ourselves to stop perpetuating it in future generations.
As a white person I am irritated at the white people I know that want to play it down. It was in my lifetime that much of this was happening and I was clueless because I lived in an all-white rural community. I had no idea what was going on. What if we would have had access to news like we do today? What if? Not sure if that would have made it better or worse?
Truthfully, I needed to hear this, but for a different reason. Growing up loving baseball but missing the era he was referencing (I was born exactly a year after MLK was shot), I *loathed* Reggie. His "Magnitude of Me" still echos in my head to this day, contributing to my continued antipathy to him and the Yankees.
I wish I had heard *him* say this far earlier, as it would have contributed to having a different perception of him, "contextualizing" some of the comments of his I heard back then. I'm glad I listened to this clip, and have listened to his remarks on repeat several times to etch *THAT* impression of Reggie permanently in my mind. Having become a student of the Negro Leagues after watching Ken Burns' "Baseball", putting him in *that* conversation changes the way I hear his remarks.
Thank you for pointing me to these remarks. As a side note, I'm thrilled that Negro League stats have been incorporated into MLB statistics. I am SO wanting to get to the Negro Leagues Museum, before or after its expansion-- I could've listened to Bob Kendrick (as I could've Buck O'Neill) on that broadcast for hours! But I need to hear Reggie's comments echo at the same time.
Appreciate you sharing that backstory! I couldn't help but get emotional at his remarks.
Perhaps if Jim Crow was so good for black families, surely the opportunity should be shared with White people. 70 years of reverse Jim Crow is only fair.
And worth asking whether segregation ever truly ended...
Thank you Jemar for sharing this powerful testimony by Jackson
Oh how I needed to hear this honest, raw reality. Thanks for posting.
I saw this clip of Reggie Jackson last night and I am thankful that he was able to share these obviously painful memories and that the network did not cut away but allowed his voice to be heard.
I hope this reverberates and makes people uncomfortable to hear what it was like for him as a Black man and respected baseball player, and for all of us to remember that this happened within our lifetime or for younger folk, not so far in the past.
My wish is that no one should ever have to experience something like this and yet even today, in 2024, racism still exists and many non-white people experience this kind of hate and threat to their lives. We, all of us, need to do the work to heal and abolish racism within ourselves to stop perpetuating it in future generations.
As a white person I am irritated at the white people I know that want to play it down. It was in my lifetime that much of this was happening and I was clueless because I lived in an all-white rural community. I had no idea what was going on. What if we would have had access to news like we do today? What if? Not sure if that would have made it better or worse?