Sunday Opinion: Rev. Jackson, Ronald Reagan was no racist
On Friday, Campus Reform’s Josiah Ryan reported on Reverend Jesse Jackson’s incendiary remarks while commemorating the civil rights movement at Furman University.
The Reverend Jackson implied President Ronald Reagan was a racist who supported policies that would have kept college and national football segregated.
“Goldwater and Reagan – had they been successful, it would have been illegal for blacks and whites to play together on a Saturday afternoon,” he said.
“You couldn’t have had the Carolina Panthers behind the cotton curtain playing the Atlanta Falcons … it would have been illegal.”
The Reverend Jackson’s remarks resemble more of a hateful Reverend Wright then a hopeful Reverend King.
Watch: Crossover with Caleb Bonham
Quick history lesson for the Reverend Jackson.
In the autobiography, "An American Life," Reagan recalled that during his college football days, two of his teammates, the African-American ones, were denied hotel rooms because of their race. Reagan stood up and did not hesitate to bring the two teammates to his parents home, where they would receive a warm welcome.
That doesn't sound like a racist who wanted to keep football segregated.
The outcomes of Reagan’s policies are not racist either.
Columnist Joseph Perkins analyzed Reaganomics and it’s effect on black America.
Perkins writes that "On balance, then, the majority of black Americans made considerable progress in the 1980s."
Post Reagan tax cuts, African-American unemployment fell from 19.5 percent to 11.4 percent. Under Reagan, the median African-American household income increased by 84 percent. The poverty rate dropped during the 1980’s from 14 percent down to 11.6 percent.
Black-unemployment decreased by 9 percent and African-American owned businesses saw income rise from $12.4 billion to $18.1 billion.
The middle class among African-Americans expanded from 3.6 million to 4.8 million, all under Reagan’s leadership.
Larry Elder also offered several key reasons Ronald Reagan was no racist.
“Reagan hired future Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and future Secretary of State Colin Powell. He signed legislation making Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a national holiday and signed an extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act for another 25 years. He granted amnesty to nearly 3 million illegal aliens.”
Nice try Reverend Jackson. Reagan was no racist.
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