Reggie Jackson, Author at Milwaukee Independent

“Give Me Liberty, And Give Me Death!” What the anti-mask messages really say

Posted by Reggie Jackson | Jul 10, 2020 |

“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” – Patrick Henry March 23, 1775 “Governor Brown has no authority to take our civil liberties. We aren’t going to wear masks. “F— Kate Brown.” – Oregon State Police trooper after refusing to wear mask inside Salem, Oregon coffee shop, July 2020 The cry by Patrick Henry of giving me liberty or giving me death is an...

Dear America: Your Heroes are Not Necessarily My Heroes

Posted by Reggie Jackson | Jul 5, 2020 |

“Most of my heroes don’t appear on no stamps.” – Public Enemy, Fight the Power, 1989 Over the past several weeks many venerated American heroes have had their status challenged by the current movement for social justice and reckoning with the history of systemic racism. Statues and other monuments have been removed, or torn down; names have been removed from buildings and college campuses. It is a moment that America has avoided for far too long. As a result, it is making some Americans very nervous about what hero of theirs is next in line. For others it has...

An Uncomfortable Guilt: The excuse of politics is not why people avoid talking about systemic racism

Posted by Reggie Jackson | Jul 4, 2020 |

“You can run, but you can’t hide.” – American idiom “They are just angry because the truth you speak contradicts the lie they live.” – Steve Maraboli White people who are afraid of the truths exposed about racism in recent weeks and months as a result of the resurgence of expressions of Black Lives Matter have cleverly hidden from the conversations by claiming they are too “political.” This is a method deployed to avoid having conversations that are too hard to handle by far too many whites in this country. As they have continued to deny the presence of...

Confederate Flags and Nooses: Holding on to Symbols of American Racism

Posted by Reggie Jackson | Jul 3, 2020 |

“Just because people don’t understand and don’t want to listen to the facts, they just see it as a fake and as a hoax.” “It’s a straight up noose. The FBI has stated it was a noose over and over again. NASCAR’s leadership has stated it was a noose. I can confirm that I actually got evidence of what was hanging in my garage, over my car… that it was a noose. Never seen anything like it. Whether tied in 2019 or whatever, it was a noose. So, it wasn’t directed at me but somebody tied a noose. That’s...

Empty Seats: The reckless need for something as meaningless as sports during a pandemic

Posted by Reggie Jackson | Jul 2, 2020 |

“Only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” – Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Quarterback “I am so deeply sorry our tournament has caused harm. Everything the organizers and I did the past month, we did with a pure heart and sincere intentions. We believed the tournament met all health protocols and the health of our region seemed in good condition to finally unite people for philanthropic reasons. We were wrong and it was too soon. I can’t express enough how sorry I am for this and every case of infection.” – World’s number one men’s tennis player...

Not Under Siege: Dispelling the myth that Black Lives Matter protesters have targeted police

Posted by Reggie Jackson | Jun 30, 2020

Several people have tried to convince me that police officers across the country are under siege by Black Lives Matter protesters. They are tying every officer shot in recent weeks to the protests. I decided to investigate. The most comprehensive database of officers killed in the line of duty is the Officer Down Memorial. PoliceOne.com also lists officers attacked across the nation. I looked at police officers shot and killed since George Floyd was murdered to ascertain the circumstances. This is what I found. Officer Shay Mikalonis, 29, is paralyzed from the neck down, on a ventilator and unable...