1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:04,680 Speaker 1: Coming back here is not easy. The racism that I 2 00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:11,320 Speaker 1: played here when I played here, the difficulty of going 3 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: through different places where we traveled. Fortunately, I had a 4 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: manager and I had players on the team that helped 5 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: me get through it. But I wouldn't wish it on 6 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: anybody today. 7 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 2: There are people in the United States that seek to 8 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 2: divide by race, that seek to dominate. We hear again 9 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:36,360 Speaker 2: a siren call of supremacy, Confederate flags flying and marching. 10 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:40,000 Speaker 2: Reggie Jackson is telling a profound truth here. If a 11 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 2: vote for Donald Trump puts him back in the White House, 12 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 2: because he doesn't believe in voting rights, he doesn't believe 13 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:51,519 Speaker 2: in civil rights, he doesn't believe in equality or justice 14 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 2: under the law. He believes in retribution, he believes in punishment. 15 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 2: He believes in a dark vision of the world. The 16 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 2: world that Reggie Jackson is talking about is not very 17 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 2: far away. It is June the twenty first, one hundred 18 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 2: and thirty seven days to go until the American presidential election. 19 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 2: Today we're going to talk about baseball, and we're going 20 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 2: to talk about mister October. Reggie Jackson. I'm fifty three 21 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,400 Speaker 2: years old, which meant I was seven years old in 22 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:31,839 Speaker 2: nineteen seventy seven, and I don't care what anybody says, 23 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:36,040 Speaker 2: There's never been a team like those nineteen seventy seven 24 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:40,720 Speaker 2: nineteen seventy eight New York Yankees teams. It was exciting, 25 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 2: it was off the hook, and Reggie Jackson was a 26 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:48,520 Speaker 2: giant of my childhood. When I was seven years old, 27 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 2: it really never occurred to any of us that Reggie 28 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 2: Jackson was anywhere before he was in New York Yankee. 29 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 2: It was as if he just appeared spontaneously to win 30 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 2: World Series games. He famously said he was the straw 31 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:08,080 Speaker 2: that stirred the drink, and he was. Every single Yankee 32 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:12,120 Speaker 2: fan of a certain age will always remember the moment 33 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 2: went on. Three swings of the bat in a single 34 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:20,119 Speaker 2: World Series game. The man remembered by baseball fans forever 35 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 2: is mister October hit not one, not two, but three 36 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:36,639 Speaker 2: home runs. He was a legend, Reggie Jackson, and he's 37 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:38,920 Speaker 2: a cool dude. If you ever had the chance to 38 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 2: meet Reggie Jackson, he was gracious, he was kind. Reggie 39 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:48,080 Speaker 2: Jackson was a proud, outspoken man and a great, great 40 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:52,480 Speaker 2: baseball player, a great American. Reggie Jackson was out of 41 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 2: ball field that he played at early in his career 42 00:02:56,240 --> 00:03:00,240 Speaker 2: in Birmingham, Alabama, and he was asked a question and 43 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 2: his answer was, riven. 44 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:06,640 Speaker 1: It coming back here is not easy. The racism that 45 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:12,920 Speaker 1: I played here when I played here, the difficulty of 46 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:19,079 Speaker 1: going through different places where we traveled. Fortunately I had 47 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 1: a manager and I had players on the team that 48 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 1: helped me get through it. But I wouldn't wish it 49 00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 1: on anybody. People said to me today I spoke and 50 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:29,239 Speaker 1: they said, you think you're a better person. You think 51 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:33,400 Speaker 1: you won when you played here and conquered. I said, 52 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,680 Speaker 1: you know, I would never wanted to do it, want 53 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:40,040 Speaker 1: to do it again. I walked into restaurants and they 54 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 1: would point at me and said, can't eat here. I 55 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: would go to a hotel and they said, can't stay here. 56 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:51,160 Speaker 1: We went to Charlie Finley's country Club for a welcome 57 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 1: home dinner and they pointed me out with the he 58 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: can't come in here. Finley marched the whole team. 59 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 2: Out before Reggie Jackson swung the bat and sent those 60 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 2: three home runs into history in the World Series in 61 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 2: Yankee Stadium. He was a minor league ballplayer in Alabama 62 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 2: in a different era in America, it's worth remembering because 63 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:19,279 Speaker 2: those forces are very much alive. There was just a vote. 64 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,320 Speaker 2: It took place in the United States Congress, and it 65 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 2: was an act of desecration. What the vote did was 66 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 2: to raise again the Confederate Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery. 67 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 2: And this is an important piece of American history. Arlington 68 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:39,600 Speaker 2: National Cemetery was the confiscated properties and grounds of Robert E. 69 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 2: Lee and his slave estate in Arlington. The Union dead 70 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:46,840 Speaker 2: were buried there, and in time it became the nation's 71 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,680 Speaker 2: most hallowed ground. So it is shocking to the conscience. 72 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:55,599 Speaker 2: In twenty twenty four, a generation after Doctor King's birthday 73 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:59,000 Speaker 2: was made a national holiday, we have Republican members of 74 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 2: Congress presenting the party of Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant 75 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 2: and James Garfield, who voted to raise a statue that 76 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:12,400 Speaker 2: shows a Confederate soldier kissing his baby goodbye, that is 77 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 2: held in the arms of his enslaved mammy, while his 78 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:20,360 Speaker 2: other slave prepares to follow him into battle for the 79 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:25,159 Speaker 2: cause of the Confederacy, the cause of slavery. It is vile, 80 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 2: it is disgusting. It has no place but this revanchism, 81 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 2: this yearning for the days of segregation and Jim Crow 82 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:39,080 Speaker 2: are ever present. So we see this duality play out, 83 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 2: this great judxtaposition. We see these men on a national 84 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 2: broadcast talking about the national pastime. They're black men and 85 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:52,480 Speaker 2: a white man sitting together as equals, and they ask 86 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,039 Speaker 2: a question to Reggie Jackson and he answers it with 87 00:05:56,160 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 2: great dignity and rawness and honesty. This is America's history 88 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 2: and it is very real. Reggie Jackson was a trailblazer. 89 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 2: He wasn't in the first wave with Jackie Robinson or 90 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:13,680 Speaker 2: even the second, but Reggie Jackson came up in a 91 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:18,600 Speaker 2: time where racial animus and prejudice and segregation was very real. 92 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:23,160 Speaker 2: Listen to him tell the story of allies of people 93 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,159 Speaker 2: who stood up for his dignity with him, of a 94 00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 2: team that ate together. 95 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: Fortunately I had a manager in Johnny McNamara that if 96 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,919 Speaker 1: I couldn't eat, if I couldn't thank you, if I 97 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:40,599 Speaker 1: couldn't eat in the place, nobody would eat, would get 98 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:43,360 Speaker 1: food to travel. If I couldn't stay in a hotel, 99 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:46,279 Speaker 1: they drive to the next hotel and find a place 100 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:50,200 Speaker 1: where I could stay. Had it not been for rolly fingers, 101 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:55,039 Speaker 1: Johnny McNamara Dave Duncan if Joe and Sharon Rudy, I 102 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:59,440 Speaker 1: slept on their couch three four nights a week for 103 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:02,400 Speaker 1: about a two month and a half. Finally, they were 104 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 1: threatened that they would burn the our apartment complex down 105 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 1: unless I got out. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. 106 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,240 Speaker 2: And today there are people in the United States that 107 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:17,160 Speaker 2: seek to divide by race, that seek to dominate. We 108 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 2: hear again a siren call of supremacy, Confederate flags flying 109 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 2: and marching. Reggie Jackson is telling a profound truth. Here, 110 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:31,080 Speaker 2: listen to him. It's deep. Baseball is an eloquent sport, 111 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 2: graceful sport, and there are few people who have ever 112 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:39,240 Speaker 2: played it who were more eloquent and graceful than Jackie Robinson. 113 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 2: He is a revered figure in our nation, in our conscience, politically, morally, 114 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 2: and in sport. His standing is so high that each year, 115 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:55,600 Speaker 2: on every team, on every player's jersey, his number forty 116 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 2: seven is one Jackie Robbins. Turned back to clock to 117 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 2: nineteen seventy two, when Jackie Robinson died a young man 118 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 2: fifty three years of age. 119 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 3: Jacka as a figure in history, was a rock in 120 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 3: the wall creating consistric symptoms and ripples a new possibility. 121 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 3: He was medicine. He was immunized by God from catching 122 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 3: the diseases that he fought. Law arms of protection enabled 123 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:32,560 Speaker 3: him to go through scene and unseen, and he had 124 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:36,199 Speaker 3: the capacity to wear glory with grace. 125 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:41,640 Speaker 2: What Reverend Jackson is talking about is what Reggie Jackson 126 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 2: is talking about. He's talking about dignity and grace. He's 127 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:49,800 Speaker 2: talking about human beings who yearned to be free in 128 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:54,000 Speaker 2: America and about the progress towards that goal, which we 129 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:58,000 Speaker 2: should never ever step back from as a society, because 130 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:01,920 Speaker 2: people have paid two high a price and fought for 131 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 2: too long and struggled so very hard before they were 132 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:10,320 Speaker 2: able to achieve the progress that created the moment in 133 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:15,080 Speaker 2: the stadium where we can see Reggie Jackson teach the 134 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 2: way he once hit the baseball, the way he once 135 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:21,800 Speaker 2: swung the bat. When he did that and you witnessed it, 136 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:25,719 Speaker 2: it was beyond electrifying. I've never seen anybody swing a 137 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:29,920 Speaker 2: bat like Reggie Jackson did or connect with the baseball 138 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,440 Speaker 2: the way that he did in Yankee Stadium. He was 139 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:38,040 Speaker 2: bigger than life, but never bigger than he was telling 140 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 2: the truth unvarnished. What a hit by Reggie Jackson, a 141 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:47,160 Speaker 2: great American. Don't let anybody ever trivialize the impact of 142 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:52,640 Speaker 2: sport and greatness and the striving with purpose towards excellence, 143 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:57,240 Speaker 2: the noble goals of justice and fairness. It's important to 144 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:01,840 Speaker 2: understand something. Race in America is not an abstraction. It 145 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 2: is core to our history, who we are and who 146 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:10,640 Speaker 2: we can become. It is essential to understand that Maga 147 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:15,199 Speaker 2: are the descendants of Jim Crow. They are the descendants 148 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:18,199 Speaker 2: of the state troopers on the other side of the 149 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 2: Edmund Pettis Bridge with barbed wire wrapped billy clubs. They 150 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 2: are the heirs to violence. They are the home to 151 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:30,800 Speaker 2: fascist thugs like the Proud Boys. The Civil Rights movement 152 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 2: is as profoundly important towards the advancement of justice in 153 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:41,240 Speaker 2: America as was the Civil War, as was the Revolutionary War. 154 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:45,360 Speaker 2: It birthed the Third Republic, if you will. It gave 155 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 2: birth to the fifty star flag that is the only 156 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:54,160 Speaker 2: American flag in our history that under the law, says 157 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:58,880 Speaker 2: all Americans are to be treated equally by it under it. 158 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:02,920 Speaker 2: This is a recent development in our history, and there 159 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:07,200 Speaker 2: was rapid progress the election of a black president. But 160 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:10,160 Speaker 2: there is a backlash now and it is fueled by 161 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:14,080 Speaker 2: anger and by the same forces that gave rise to 162 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:17,920 Speaker 2: the backlash against the victory of the United States in 163 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:21,480 Speaker 2: the Civil War. In the eighteen seventies, when the ku 164 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:25,960 Speaker 2: Klux Klan raged across the South, it was a backlash. 165 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:29,640 Speaker 2: And again in the nineteen twenties there was a backlash 166 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 2: the racial progress to the idea that black soldiers returning 167 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:38,200 Speaker 2: from Europe have encasted something that looked like a quality 168 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:43,199 Speaker 2: there would return to Jim Crow without a whimper. Backlash 169 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:47,200 Speaker 2: in the nineteen seventies, and now backlash in the post 170 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:51,559 Speaker 2: Obama era that has gone on for ten years of contestation. 171 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 2: Donald Trump's side keeps losing these elections, that's true, but 172 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:00,680 Speaker 2: the question on the ballot requires him own to win 173 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:05,960 Speaker 2: once and despite whatever setbacks his cause has had, and 174 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:09,080 Speaker 2: no matter where they've had it, that all gets wiped 175 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:12,320 Speaker 2: away and a lot of progress with it if a 176 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:15,679 Speaker 2: vote for Donald Trump puts him back in the White House. 177 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:19,160 Speaker 2: Because he doesn't believe in voting rights, he doesn't believe 178 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 2: in civil rights, he doesn't believe in equality or justice 179 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:28,920 Speaker 2: under the law. He believes in retribution, he believes in punishment. 180 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 2: He believes in a dark vision of the world. The 181 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:37,559 Speaker 2: world that Reggie Jackson is talking about is not very 182 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:42,800 Speaker 2: far away. Listen to him. This is the warning. I'm 183 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:45,480 Speaker 2: Steve Schmidt. This is the warning, and I invite you 184 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:49,840 Speaker 2: to join. Subscribe on our substack, on our YouTube channel, 185 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:52,040 Speaker 2: follow us. Welcome to the community.