What Jesse Jackson's Funeral Brought To Mind: A message For White Supremacists

WHAT JESSE JACKSON’S FUNERAL BROUGHT TO MIND: A MESSAGE FOR WHITE SUPREMACISTS

On Saturday morning March 7, 2026, I sat at my desk in my study, and from my big screen desk-top computer, watched the civil rights activist, the Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson’s livestreamed funeral service. Appropriately, the service was held at the Rainbow PUSH Headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, the place for which he was most known. 

Two days prior to this last event, I was directed by my primary care physician to report to the local hospital lab for testing which would determine if I had Covid 19, the flu, or an ordinary cold. Luckily the tests came back negative. Still feeling the same symptoms that sent me to the hospital, feeling weak and tired with little appetite, I was glad that I had an excuse to just sit and watch the Homegoing Service of a man of whom I knew and admired---a man who happened to be a mere three years older than me, and a man who was literally gone too soon. I was certainly not prepared for what I gleaned, what I learned, or what thoughts and reactions would come to my mind in the approximately four-and-one-half hours long service. My many thoughts and emotions ran the gamut from anger and awe to gratitude that there had been such a man as Godly, compassionate, unselfish, and visionary whose life story had only been partially illuminated. I had no idea of the extent to which he went not only for his own people, but for the rainbow coalition of which he so often addressed, the population which included those who had no voice and no platform from which to speak.

As I continued to listen to the barrage of speakers comprised of family, friends and associates, I could not help but notice those in attendance…. a rainbow coalition for sure. Although the attendees were mostly Black, there were many Whites in attendance as well, which brings me to the main points of my observations and what the life of Jesse Jackson elicited in my thoughts.

I was reminded that the NAACP was founded not only by Blacks but by Whites, many of whom were Jewish. I wondered about the absence and support of those White, Jewish, and Quaker sisters and brothers in this year of 2026. While the current president’s administration appears to be determined to wipe out diversity, equity and inclusion, and while this administration has taken steps to erase this country’s history of slavery, my thoughts traveled to a liberal arts college in North Carolina. On one very hot day in June, while on a business trip, I visited Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina where I stood under a tree adjacent to the campus being bitten by mosquitos, listening to a professor tell the group that this tree had a name. It was the “Underground Railroad Tree”, a spot used by Quakers to help escaped slaves on their journey to freedom. Notice I did not note the well -known name of Harriet Tubman, I referenced the name of the Religious Society of Friends, known as Quakers, who simply put, believed then as now that we are all loved by our creator and we all have a right to stake a claim in equality and inclusion.

An additional observation also came to mind as I looked over the many hues and colors of the Black people in attendance. Can the current presidential administration intelligently deny that slavery existed as obviously exposed by the many different hues and colors of Black people only made possible by the plantation “masters” raping and holding in bondage enslaved females both young and old? Surely, African Americans brought through the Middle Passage did not arrive on our shores in displays of such colors. There is no mystery or miracle that can intelligently explain the many hues. It reminded me of the day my very young, pre-school daughter, “out of the blue” looked at me and said, “Mommy you’re peanut colored”. Looking back, I realize that I missed a teachable moment although perhaps she was too young to understand. An after thought tells me that as parents of Black children it is imperative that we teach our children about our history in ways that are appropriate to their understanding and age.

I digress. Following my remembrance of my young child’s observation, I thought about the Black folks who resemble the nearly white color of the macadamia nut, the light beige color of the cashew nut, the off-whitish color the almond, the light brown color resembling the pecan before the dark brown caramelization takes hold   in a delicious pie. The expression “Georgia Peach” came to mind when I thought about one of my female friends who had the most beautiful, skin color of pink and yellow, another friend whose color reminded me of warm banana pudding, and yet another who was not milk chocolate but dark, dark chocolate. You know, the chocolate that is actually good for you.  One need only look at the gorgeous coloring of actress Lupita Nyong’o and model Alek Wek born of Kenyan and Sudanese parents respectively, to acknowledge the lack of one of the most brutal effects of slavery in the Americas.

For those who ascribe to the notion of White supremacy, I say, “Are you sure you are really White?” Are you sure you can tell who is White and who is not?  To those same people I say, use your favorite method of research and research the name of Walter Francis White, a civil rights activist who was Black and said to have had blonde hair and blue eyes, and who was one of the original founders of the NAACP who boldly infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan. Research Charles Waddell Chesnutt, an American author who wrote many essays and novels including “The Marrow of Tradition” and my favorite, “The House Behind the Cedars”. Research “The Hemingses of Monticello” by Annette Gordon-Reed about Thomas Jefferson’s family. Research “The Grimkes, The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family” by Kerri K. Greenidge and research “The Illuminated Life, Bella da Costa Greene’s Journey from Prejudice to Privilege” by Heidi Ardizzone. And while you’re at it, locate a copy and read through the April 2018 issue of The National Geographic magazine properly named “The Race Issue”. Those who are courageous enough to embark upon reading one or all of these recommendations just may re-think the word “race” especially when inserting the word “White” before it.

I am so thankful that God enabled Jesse Louis Jackson to walk this earth. I am equally thankful that I sat through his “Homegoing Service” where echoes of his 1984 Democratic National Convention “Rainbow Coalition Speech” reverberated in my head, “…red, yellow brown, black and white we’re all precious in God’s sight.” Thank your Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. I wonder who will have the courage to continue your legacy and your fighting spirit. Who will step up for human rights like Black James Chaney, Roy Wilkins and James Farmer? Who will step up for human rights like Jewish Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and Rabbi Abraham Heschel? Who will step up for human rights like Quaker Lucretia Mott and Levi Coffin? To quote a once famous female Jewish writer, Emma Lazarus, “Until we are all free, we are none of us free”. I believe she and Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr. would agree.