Hall of Fame slugger Reggie Jackson, in an open forum in Birmingham, Alabama, Thursday, was asked if he were a better person having come up through the city where Jim Crow laws existed and whether he was stronger after enduring the social inequities in Birmingham.
“I paused for 30 seconds,” Jackson told USA TODAY Sports on Saturday morning, “and I said, ‘Sir, I would never want to do that again. I wouldn’t ask anyone else to do it again. I don’t want anyone to think that because I went through that, it made me a better person. It did not make me a better person.’
“Humans are not built for that. You don’t put a human being in a situation like that and think they’re better for it. I wouldn’t want a white person in a prejudiced community, to go through that, frightening their life to make him better. I wouldn’t want a Black person to go through that. I wouldn’t want a Native American to go through that. I wouldn’t want a member of the LGBTQ community to go through that.”
The Code says, “I will respect the dignity of every human being and will not be abusive or dehumanizing of another either as an athlete or as a fan.” We all have prejudices within, how do you overcome them? What advice would you have for others?
