Reggie Jackson’s recounting last week of the racism he endured while playing in Birmingham in 1967 “reinforces why DEI programs and initiatives must exist,” another Hall of Famer in a different sport said Tuesday.
Emmitt Smith, the former legendary running back for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, said the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame slugger’s stories of being called the N-word and being refused service at restaurants and hotels while a member of the Birmingham A’s need to be told “so we don’t continue to make the same mistakes over and over again.”
Meanwhile, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said experiences such as Jackson’s serve as inspiration for the city’s progress.
Jackson shared his experiences with racism during Fox’s pregame broadcast of MLB’s game last week at Rickwood Field between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals, which paid tribute to the Negro Leagues and Willie Mays, the former Giant, Birmingham Black Baron and Alabama native who died two days before the event.
He also recounted to AL.com columnist Roy Johnson of how then-Alabama football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant spoke to him after Bryant was in the stands in Rickwood when Jackson hit two triples in a game.
“He put his hand on my shoulder,” Jackson said of Bryant. “He said, ‘This is the kind of n….. we need to beat…” Bryant began naming other top college football coaches of that era.
“He meant it as a compliment,” Jackson said. “I didn’t take it as such.”
Smith took to social media on Tuesday, posting that Jackson’s experiences made the case for DEI programs.
“As I’m reflecting on Reggie Jackson’s raw comments from last week, it reinforces why DEI programs and initiatives must exist,” he said. “His truth is a reminder of the pain and suffering endured by many of our Black ancestors, including significant sports figures.
Smith noted that Jackson, 78, is one of the few sports legends around “to share their stories and shed light on the racist history” of the country.
“This is why DEI is so vital for the progress of this nation,” the former running back said. “People with power, money and influence must acknowledge these horrifying times when America failed Black and brown people to dismantle the systematic racist systems that still exist today.
“These stories must be heard so we don’t continue to make the same mistakes over and over again,” Smith said. “DEI work must continue to build a better America.”
In an Instagram post Tuesday, Woodfin thanked Jackson for sharing “harsh truths about our country’s dark past.”
“We were all struck by the very candid comments of the legendary Reggie Jackson, and his experience playing here in Birmingham in the 1960s,” the mayor said.
“During the time of celebration, Mr. October brought harsh truths about our country’s dark past to light. And to Mr. Jackson, I have two words: ‘Thank you.’
“Thank you for your honesty, your strength. Thank you for your truths, decades removed from the Civil Rights Movement,” he said.
Woodfin said Birmingham “is no longer a city defined by hate” due to “homegrown heroes like Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth as well as icons like Dr. Martin Luther King and our fearless Foot Soldiers who marched Birmingham out of darkness and into the light.
“It’s that very legacy that drives us today to tear down monuments of hate, to bring hope to underserved neighborhoods crippled by inequality for generation and to ensure every resident, regardless of race, religion, gender or orientation feels welcome in the city they call home,” he said.
But Jackson’s experience and others like him “across the Jim Crow South were far too common, and we don’t run from that past,” Woodfin said.
“These are stories that must be told because history that is forgotten is doomed to be repeated. And to whitewash his experience is an utter form of disrespect,” he continued.
“The story of Reggie Jackson, of the Negro Leagues, of every Black family that survived the segregated South, is a story of triumph,” the mayor said.
“We don’t hide from history in Birmingham. We’re motivated by it,” he said. “Motivated to be better than our past to build a stronger future, And like the icons who made history here, we’re motivated to continue to change our world.”
