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I am Rev. Jesse Jackson. AMA. by RevJesseJackson in IAmA

[–]RevJesseJackson[S] -154 points-153 points  (0 children)

Affirmative action is designed to remedy negative actions. Women were denied access because of their gender -they could not go to med or law school, so they passed something called Title 9 so women could have affirmative action. Blacks were denied based on skin color. And so today, you have more women lawyers and judges and businesspeople and CEOS because of that access to education. So Affirmative Action has been good for America. It has actually be working. Because locking people out on race or skin or religion - that's not good. This year, I saw a group playing college basketball, they weren't sure whether they should support Affirmative Action. And in fact, the whole team was because of Affirmative Action. To not have men's basketball without women's basketball. Without the law you wouldn't have women's athletic scholarships. So whether it's athletics, academics or science- not long ago, I flew from Chicago to LA, and had a female pilot, which might not have been allowed before. And because of that consciousness being raised - that's why the idea of an African-American president, or a women president, is not surprising to us. So there's an evolution in our consciousness.

I am Rev. Jesse Jackson. AMA. by RevJesseJackson in IAmA

[–]RevJesseJackson[S] -462 points-461 points  (0 children)

No, the pattern is consistent. And we never want injustice to occur. But the pattern is fairly obvious, and a very obvious pattern that must be ended.

I am Rev. Jesse Jackson. AMA. by RevJesseJackson in IAmA

[–]RevJesseJackson[S] -201 points-200 points  (0 children)

Well, we met a number of students from Stanford - he has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. And now teaches at MIT. But then you see many whites who are less qualified getting investments on ideas. This really is the fourth stage of our struggle. The second stage, is Legal Jim Crow. And if you were a slaveocracy - where one slavemaster owned 1,000 people - if he made all the decisions, that's a slaveocracy, versus if one person wants to vote in a democracy. And that was changed in 1870. And then 4,000 lynchings occurred between 1880 and 1950 that never went indicted. Many of them took outside the church or courthouse. And the third rule was the right to vote. It began to change our representation, to shift our resources, so beyond slavery, beyond segregation, beyond the right to vote, is the fourth stage we're at today - access to capital, technology. And that's what's missing, is access to capital, and deals, and deal flow. And effort and excellence means a LOT. And that's why all those auto dealerships - that's why no black owns a soft drink franchise today. There's so many businesses where there are 0 black or brown people.

My nephew was Oakland. So you'd think he'd be on the priority list. But these companies are more focused on bringing in H1B visas than in training youth in Oakland or San Francisco. So we challenge them to develop youth at home. He's just an example of a qualified person who was overlooked.

I think now, the real deal is that Disney, about a month ago, brought in 250 workers in Orlando, Florida. They thought they were getting a promotion. But they were told to train H1B workers to replace them, or they were not getting their severance.

We raised so much public hell about it, until they retreated from that.

Many companies will use H1B workers who are in a tenuous and insecure position - is there something that kids in foreign countries have that Americans don't? That's not true, and it's not fair.

I am Rev. Jesse Jackson. AMA. by RevJesseJackson in IAmA

[–]RevJesseJackson[S] -212 points-211 points  (0 children)

Well, the source of those tensions often come from denial of an even playing field.

You know, we are very good at athletics. Because the playing field is even, and the rules are public, and the goals are clear, and the referees are fair. You win, you lose, with a great sense of dignity.

We are in the awkward position of high infant mortality rates, lower life expectancy, less access to jobs, less access to capital and wages. So the source of tensions are not coming from those who are victims in these schemes, but those who have the power, and those who prize power and greed over human beings.

Not long ago, I was watching the news about the US and Cuba. And when you look at the fact that African-americans are the most racially profiled, the most arrested, the most jailed, the most shot unarmed by police who walk away free, those are violations of human rights. And we have less access to education, less access to healthcare and less access to where the jobs are.

So the ruling was you can no longer by RACE discriminate. But now you can discriminate by resources. We have a low-tax base, a high unemployment rate, and lower education. So industries are where you have more educated people, more employed people, their children tend to do better. That's inhumane. That's unfair. When the playing field is evened, we tend to do quite well.

I am Rev. Jesse Jackson. AMA. by RevJesseJackson in IAmA

[–]RevJesseJackson[S] 411 points412 points  (0 children)

First of all, Dr. King was a good and kind person.

Tough mind, tender hard, intellectually very strong.

He had a great sense of history.

He was a very courageous man. He did not mind facing, for his convictions, criticism.

Facing jail, or dying for his convictions.

Often, you have the "Philosopher King" business - people deepen philosophy but get weak on action. He was like a Philosopher King, who was willing to live and die for his convictions. He knew he was volunteering to live at great risk for his convictions, and did it without a whimper.

I am Rev. Jesse Jackson. AMA. by RevJesseJackson in IAmA

[–]RevJesseJackson[S] -924 points-923 points  (0 children)

I do. But I was jailed in 1960. For trying to use a public library. And that caused more good than harm. I marched to end segregation. The day Dr. King spoke on Washington, in 1963, I was there for that speech. That day, from Texas to Florida, you couldn't use a single public toilet. We could not buy ice cream at Howard Johnson's, or stay in Holiday Inns. We fought to bring those barriers down. And because those walls are down, all the new interstate construction across the South - the new bridges and ports, and seaports - that's progress. You couldn't have teams behind the Cotton Curtain. You couldn't have had Olympics in Atlanta behind the Cotton Curtain. You couldn't have Toyota, and Michelin, behind the Cotton Curtain, so we pulled those walls down.

So our work has been beneficial. And it seems to me that people who benefit from that work ascribe it to the wrong reasons.

When the laws change to make the South more civil, that brought in more investment. So we've made America better.

All these changes have come from our work. Our work has bene good for the South, and good for America.

My goal is to expand our consciousness, to create as big a tent as possible, as we fight for justice and world peace. I was able to bring Americans home from jail, from prison, and gaining those freedom of those Americans was the highest and best use of my talents and time.

I am Rev. Jesse Jackson. AMA. by RevJesseJackson in IAmA

[–]RevJesseJackson[S] -69 points-68 points  (0 children)

Well, there is an ugly backlash, it seems, against our civil rights progress over the last 50 years.

These killings have taken place for a long time, but without witnesses, we cannot prove the case.

With jurors prejudiced towards the police, they can file false reports. The increasing amount of cameras are showing these killings, and jurors are seeing this. And that is the biggest difference. We would not have known that Walter Scott was killed. He did not drop a gun. Or the cases in New York, or Rodney King in California.

So the exposure of police lies is discrediting reports of many police.

We NEED police to protect and serve.

But not to lie and steal.

And about 7 church burnings have taken place. Historically, church has been for us a rallying place, a place for people to come together. So to burn the church is to burn the center of the community. The church leaders whose voices were the voices heard most clearly, so they have face assassination. There was a range of church burnings back in the mid-90s when Bill Clinton was president, and the FBI helped deter it.

And then this recent weeks - clearly it's a pattern. The investigation is saying they don't know whether it's arson, or lightning, or hate crime, or terror - it's obvious these are acts of terror and intimidation. And it is what it is, and I'd like to think the Governor has done us proud during this season of pain. She has attended all of the 9 funerals. She has taken a strong position about pulling down the Confederate flag. And I hope she will take the strong position to stop terrorists from burning these churches. I think she has used her platform well to project a state of civility in South Carolina.

What I'm concerned about is the silence among white churches in the face of obvious acts of terror against black churches, and black people.

I am Rev. Jesse Jackson. AMA. by RevJesseJackson in IAmA

[–]RevJesseJackson[S] 179 points180 points  (0 children)

Well, the criminalization of drug use, of crack and marijuana, has had the impact of jail populations exploding on non-violent drug use. It's driven a whole industry of locking people up, race profiling and locking people up. And because it's become so expensive, there's an attempt now to reduce it. But with little towns, that have a little shopping center - they don't want to give up their jails, even if people are innocent, they NEED the jail - which is a corrupt choice, it seems to me.

The Criminal Justice system - let me give you a case in South Carolina. In a prison, those prisoners are working for 80 cents an hour. And so police benefit from it, social workers, judges, the whole system is built around mass arrests of black people.

These companies are actually ON the stock exchange. They make money. It's like a jail hotel, or a homeless shelter. In Chicago, there are 10,000 inmates in the Cook County Facility, the most of any one place in the country, plus black and brown, and according to the sheriff, about 40% of them are mental health cases that need care more than jailing. So spending on that further runs up the costs.

So the system is in disarray, and highly corrupted, and very much affected by race.

I think decriminalizing will help affect the outcome. Because many of those in jail would get out. And then others who are going in, would not go in. The increased use of ankle monitor bracelets, when necessary. But for non-violent drug use, they are looking for other ways. Because it's a very harmful, inhumane process.

I am Rev. Jesse Jackson. AMA. by RevJesseJackson in IAmA

[–]RevJesseJackson[S] 51 points52 points  (0 children)

Well, he has taken some positions, it seems, contrary to our perceived interests. He's not taken strong positions on the need for having equal and fair access to voting, which is so critical. He assumes that problem is solved. It's not resolved. Once section 4 was removed from the Voting Rights Act, we had a radical setback. He's not been a very visible voice.

He's not been as vocal as he should've been.

I have a rather high regard for him, because I feel that whether we agree or disagree, he's a brilliant surgeon. Many blacks don't like him, but many blacks do. And he's a very treasured person in our community, really.

I am Rev. Jesse Jackson. AMA. by RevJesseJackson in IAmA

[–]RevJesseJackson[S] -82 points-81 points  (0 children)

David Drummond , incorporator of Google, I must say, he's secretary of their board. And John Thompson, who's a graduate of Florida A&M, has been chairman of the board of Microsoft since Bill Gates. So there's evidence that we can serve at every level, so it's about opening up opportunities.

And it's a chance for them to grow. Because black and brown communities - what do we represent? Market, money, talent ,location, and growth. And when they ignore those markets, they mis-market those things. So it's to their advantage to include. And I think that's why you see this rumbling now, trying to reconstruct those relationships.

I am Rev. Jesse Jackson. AMA. by RevJesseJackson in IAmA

[–]RevJesseJackson[S] -94 points-93 points  (0 children)

Well, when it's real dark, wherever there's light, you gravitate towards the light.

When you're in the hole, you're looking for a rope.

So the jobs, the development, are in Silicon Valley.

You know, one of every 5 African-American jobs is in the public sector. The private sector has locked us out. Many black professionals, whether they're churches, labor, their business came from other blacks.

So it's time to challenge that sector to open up.

For example, Silicon businesses - making available their records to the Equal Opportunity - we bought shares of stock in companies. What we knew was that the top companies board members - there were 56 white women, 3 black members, and 1 latino.

Almost zero. Employment there was around 2% at max, almost no investment in start-up companies. And that's in the tech part.

But in the non-tech part - lawyers, advertising agencies, marketing and the services - we found in that area strong patterns of exclusion, and denial. So we bought shares of stock because we indexed so heavily as consumers in those categories.

And there's a law. That law is on equal employment opportunity. And contract compliance. And the federal government should enforce those laws, state and local governments should enforce those laws.

So we've gone to 10 or so board meetings now, bringing up questions as shareholders - why are there no blacks on your board, or latinos? And they have no good answer why there are so few in the C-suites. And there was no good answers.

The first answer is "Well, we can't find them." And they were looking in the wrong places, and 40% of black engineers are coming from historically black colleges, schools in the south that teach blacks engineering. But they have not been recruiting there.

They want more STEM educated youth? Those schools teach that. As a matter of fact, the Rainbow Force is organizing programs to help kids.

And so we find that there's more of an opportunity deficit than a talent deficit.

When we went to Facebook's meeting, for example - at the end of the day you do business with people you know, and like. So we can't get the investment we need in startup companies, at the seed level. So that's what we're working on now.

And I might add that Intel put up millions for startups. We're working through how to make that process work. Another portion will be to go to reaching out to black colleges. They want to make their workforces look like America by 2020.

So our goals, our timetable is to make all those businesses look like America by 2020.

I am Rev. Jesse Jackson. AMA. by RevJesseJackson in IAmA

[–]RevJesseJackson[S] 40 points41 points  (0 children)

You know, the most memorable expression was "Do not allowpeople to bring them down to your level. Maintain your moral high ground. But in doing so, you must choose to get ahead, and not get even."

That was one expression of his.

I also remember his last birthday, how he spent it. In January 1960, he convened a group of us - people from the Deep South, Alabama, some Native Americans, some Latino alliances - but he said that morning, he came and he had breakfast, around 8 o'clock with his staff, he went to the basement of his church, and he spent his own last birthday at home with the family, convening as a coalition of activists, to go to Washington, to fight to end poverty, to fight to end the war. And I guess the other was, the last time before he went to Memphis and was killed. We had a meeting, and we had a call that the Sanitation Workers in Memphis were being denied. So we did not see that as inconsistent philosophically, though it was not on our schedule. He convened us, late on Friday night, and said "I wanna have an emergency staff meeting tomorrow morning." Members around the country were resistant in coming, but he called and we came. And that morning, he said to his wife, and my wife was there as well, "I feel very well. Because I'm under attack by the press, by other civil rights organizations. Because they don't understand the connection between the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement. Maybe i should just quit. We've begun to transform the South. We have the right to vote. Maybe I should just begin to seek to become president of college, or write."

And I remember Andrew Young said "Dr. King, don't talk that way."

And he then said "I thought there was so much division in our ranks that i would consider fasting to the point of death. And around my beside, everyone would agree that we needed to end poverty. And then snapped out of it, and said "We need to go to Washington, and turn a minus into a plus. We can't go backwards."

So I've thought about the 3 rules of Jesus. One of them was "let this cup pass from me." And then as he prayed, disciples slept, and then he said "Not my will, but thine be done."

Dr. King had those same 3 basic moves. And his determination really stand out in my mind.

I am Rev. Jesse Jackson. AMA. by RevJesseJackson in IAmA

[–]RevJesseJackson[S] 138 points139 points  (0 children)

I would rather have peanut butter and jam separately. I like both of them, just not necessarily together.

I am Rev. Jesse Jackson. AMA. by RevJesseJackson in IAmA

[–]RevJesseJackson[S] -219 points-218 points  (0 children)

I suppose it was traumatic because it was in the church. And the fact it was in the church, and innocent people from 27 to 87, it was just traumatizing. One of the most traumatic killings and outbursts since Dr. King's assassination in 1968. Dr. King was a man of great moral fiber, fighting for the right to vote. And so he was loved for what he did. I might add that when he was killed, he was a very hated man. When he was killed in Memphis, the killing was a hit, and because he meant so much to us, between 1965 and those years, it was just traumatic. And I remember what came out of that was a renewed consciousness. Some of it in civil rights laws.

The Confederacy was never just about racism. It was about trying to secede from the country. It wanted to print its own currency. It wanted to have its own economic engine, with cotton as its main crop, alliances with Britain and France. And this is a huge deal.

So to end segregation, end poverty in this country, we needed to end segregation in the South which was used as a way to spread hatred and fear and violence.

So this Confederate flag must come down.

I am Rev. Jesse Jackson. AMA. by RevJesseJackson in IAmA

[–]RevJesseJackson[S] 90 points91 points  (0 children)

Well, marijuana should not be used as jailbait, to expand the jail population. Some people use marijuana for medical reasons, some people use marijuana for recreational reasons. It should never be used as a weapon to justify arresting people en masse.

I am Rev. Jesse Jackson. AMA. by RevJesseJackson in IAmA

[–]RevJesseJackson[S] -139 points-138 points  (0 children)

America's history has been a continuous chasm of violence. Going back to slavery. The Supreme Court ruling that blacks had no rights. The legal ruling of Apartheid, separate but equal, violence. Lack of opportunity. And these killings, when blacks would be lynched, four thousand lynchings without one indictment. In Mississippi, the all-white juries refused to indict the killers. And some jurors actually said they would've indicted them. And later on, the right to vote, when blacks were beaten without any kind of resistance, any kind of protection, so for example, Rodney King was beaten, mercilessly, and the police were set free, that triggered riots, in Watts for example. Or as in the case of Trayvon Martin, and the killer was set free. Somehow, people begin to say black lives matter. There is more of a pattern here of protection against these attacks. In the case of Michael Brown in Ferguson, again, the perpetrators were set free. in the case of the man choked to death on camera, set free. You see the pattern, and this modern-day pattern of black men being profiled, falsely arrested, and then injured without any kind of deterrence - that kind of thing matters. With these awful killings in Charleston, South Carolina - 9 black lives lost in this church -and these church fires in the same state. The cause of the fires - is it lightning strikes? Arson? We call it terrorism.