Reggie Jackson and Emmitt Smith’s race talk refuses to let America forget its past

It’s been interesting to watch NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith and MLB Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson use their platforms in recent weeks to shine light on the intersection of sports and racism. 

Sometimes, the public lionizes star athletes as though they’re superhuman figures who somehow transcend race or rise above the harms of racism. But Smith and Jackson are dispelling that myth.

Jackson went viral last week with remarks he made during an MLB broadcast from Alabama’s Rickwood Field, the oldest professional ballpark in the United States and the former home of the Negro Leagues’ Birmingham Black Barons. Jackson played at the stadium when he was on Birmingham’s Double-A team in 1967, and when MLB great Alex Rodriguez asked him how he felt about returning, Jackson spoke of the racism he experienced.

“Alex, when people ask me a question like that, it’s like — coming back here is not easy.” Jackson went on to say he wouldn’t wish on anybody the racism he experienced when he played in Birmingham and said he’d “never want to do it again.”

“I walked into restaurants, and they would point at me and say, ‘The n—– can’t eat here.’ I would go to a hotel and they’d say, ‘The n—– can’t stay here,’” Jackson explained. He also discussed the murderous Ku Klux Klan’s impunity in Alabama at that time.

Last week, Jackson attended a luncheon in honor of the Negro Leagues, where he told the story of a time when iconic football coach Bear Bryant referred to him using a racial epithet.

Emmitt Smith, the Dallas Cowboys great, was moved by Jackson’s honesty. Smith — who attended the University of Florida and has been outspoken in denouncing Florida’s assault on diversity programs — said in a written statement posted on social media that Jackson’s recollection “reinforces why DEI programs and initiatives must exist.” Smith has previously encouraged Florida athletes and others associated with athletics in the state to use their leverage to support DEI programs.

Smith continued to argue for the value of such efforts: “People with power, money and influence must acknowledge these horrifying times when America failed Black and Brown people to dismantle the systematic racial systems that still exist today,” he wrote. “These stories must be heard so we don’t continue to make the same mistakes over and over again. DEI work must continue to build a better America.”