Affirming Equality – with Raynard Jackson – [Ep. 176]

Linda J. Hansen: Welcome. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Prosperity 101 Breakroom Economics Podcast. My name is Linda J. Hansen, your host and the author of Prosperity 101- Job Security Through Business Prosperity: The Essential Guide to Understanding How Policy Affects Your Paycheck, and the creator of the Breakroom Economics Online course, the book, the course and the entire podcast library can be found on Prosperity101.Com. I seek to connect boardroom to break room and policy to paycheck by empowering and encouraging employers to educate employees about the public policy issues that affect their jobs. My goal is to help people understand the foundations of prosperity, the policies of prosperity, and how to protect their prosperity by becoming informed, involved, and impactful. I believe this will lead to greater employee loyalty, engagement and retention, and to an increased awareness of the blessings and responsibilities of living in a free society. Listen each week to hear from exciting guests and be sure to visit Prosperity 101.Com.

Thank you for joining with me today. Today we'll be discussing the June 29, 2023 ruling from the Supreme Court regarding affirmative action. What does it mean for you, for your business, for your family? My guest today is Rayner Jackson. He is a friend and a previous podcast guest. But more importantly than that, even he is the head of Black Americans for a Better Future. He is the founder and chairman of that organization, and he is also the president and CEO of Raynard Jackson and Associates, LLC. So Raynard, thank you so much for joining with me again in this episode of the podcast, and I look forward to your insights regarding this Supreme Court ruling.

Raynard Jackson: Thank you so much, Linda. Always good to be on your show.

Linda j. Hansen: Well, it's just a pleasure and you bring great insights and experience. So tell me your initial thoughts when you heard that the ruling came down from the Supreme Court recently.

Raynard Jackson: Well, yeah, I was very supportive of it. Matter of fact, just for your audience that may not be aware of who I am, my godfather actually wrote the affirmative action law. President Lyndon Johnson made an executive order creating affirmative action, but it was under the Nixon administration that codified it into law. And my godfather was Arthur Fletcher, who was the Assistant Secretary for labor under the Nixon administration, the highest ranking black in the Nixon administration. It started out as the Philadelphia plan that morphed into what we now know is affirmative action. And what's curious, interesting, Linda, about this law. See, Linda, unlike a lot of your other guests and maybe members of your audience, I didn't read about affirmative action in a history book. I sat at the feet of affirmative action from the author of the law for over 30 years of my life, listening to him tell me how the law came into existence, what was his rationale, and he predicted on his dying bed that this ruling by the Supreme Court would actually happen.

But what's interesting, one of his underlying rationales for formative action as we know it today, he said, and I quote, skilled blacks were prohibited from participating in the construction industry in Philadelphia, thus the Philadelphia plan, and strictly because of the color of their skin. That's what his affirmative action bill was meant to address. That the presumption, Linda, was blacks already had the skill set, so we weren't asking for a charity case or a favor. Blacks had all the skills and requirements that any white person had in Philadelphia in the construction trade for the electrician, carpenters, bricklayers, brick mason they met all the qualifications of any white person strictly on the basis of their race, Linda. They were denied the opportunity to enter into the construction trades. And so, unlike today's version of affirmative action, or what I call perversion of affirmative action, remember Biden said during the 2020 campaign, you put me in the White House, I get an opening on the Supreme Court. I am going to pick a black female. He didn't say he was going to pick the best jurist, black or white. He denigrated and stigmatized Kintandi Brown Jackson by making a statement that race and gender were his overwhelming qualification and criteria to be picked by him. He could have said, I'm going to pick the best jurors, even if he had in the back of his mind, but it's going to be a black and a female. He was pandering to the black community, thus undercutting and undermining her appointment. Now, everyone admits that Justice Jackson is imminently qualified. Now, I think, Linda, you and I disagree vehemently with her on a lot of her judicial opinions, but no one ever says she's not qualified to be on the bench. The presumption when my godfather wrote the law was, blacks are imminently qualified today. You get into Harvard not because you got the best GPA, but we need X number of blacks or we need X number of females or Hispanic. That's the problem I have with today's perversion of affirmative action.

Linda j. Hansen: Not all blacks or Hispanics or anybody in any race, they do not necessarily want to be chosen based on the color of their skin. They want to be chosen on their merit. And you had mentioned that President Biden had pandered to the black community, and my immediate thought was not all of them, because a lot of them realize the ridiculousness or actually the inequality of what he was doing. And like you said, he had basically denigrated the Supreme Court justice because she was picked, because she was black and a woman. It just denied her abilities, in a sense, for why she was chosen. So I would say none of us want to be chosen just because we have a certain skin color. We have things to bring to the table, and we have talents and abilities and special skill sets, and we've worked hard, and I think that is great. So we've had different experiences, but I recently heard you speak about this and your godfather and the whole history of this on an episode of War Room Battleground. And I thought, oh, my goodness, I need to have you back on, because the history of this versus what it is now or what it became are two different things. Its apples and oranges. So what originally started out to be a very helpful thing. And like so often, things progress into something that is more big government. Big government control fewer opportunities for individuals and things. So I appreciate your input and especially the fact that you have this history regarding this.

Raynard Jackson: Right. Well, not only that, Linda, but here's the other interesting thing. Study after study after study have shown no one liberal or conservative even argues this point. Blacks are not even the primary beneficiary anymore, Linda, of affirmative action. It's white, suburban, middle class women I e. White women who are married to the CEOs of Coca Cola Delta Airline, the women that needed the least. So when I see and hear liberals, especially in the black community, go around last week saying, the sky is falling, this ruling by the Supreme Court is going to devastate the black community, my rebuttal, and I've done several TV shows about this, Linda. Okay. If everyone concedes that blacks are not the primary beneficiary of affirmative action, so how is it that it will devastate the black community if we're not the primary beneficiary anymore?

Linda j. Hansen: Good point.

Raynard Jackson: And so that puts them in an intellectual box, and they cannot rebut what I just said. And so you got a guy, Linda, that from Nigeria becomes an American citizen, and he qualifies for affirmative vacuum. He had not one waterhole sick on him in the 60s. Not one dog was released on him in the got a homosexual. And now even transsexual who are American citizen, they qualify for affirmative action. No. By the time it gets down to blacks, Linda, we're this big of the pie versus being 100% in the pie when my godfather initiated the law through Richard Nixon. And so we have watered it down so much that it's an affront to the legacy of my godfather.

Linda j. Hansen: I understand. And when you were on the podcast before, I know we discussed some of the history of the welfare state and how much our government has actually hurt the black community, even though they come through and say, we're here to help. And like Ronald Reagan said, the most dangerous words are, I'm from the government, and I'm here to help. And so the black community has been hurt so much. Black families, the family breakdown. I mean, there's family breakdown all across the board. Of course, we see in our culture now, but it's been especially damaging to black families over the years as the welfare state grew. And could you address that a little bit for the listeners who maybe didn't hear you the first time that you were on the podcast, but we can just tie that all together with what's happening now.

Raynard Jackson: Yeah, back in the course, Linda, you were not even born then. You had this insidious policy propagated by radical liberals like John Kennedy and Lyndon Baines. Johnson basically said to black families or black mothers particular, that, okay, you're unmarried and you're pregnant. We will give you food stamps and welfare and other government assistance as long as there is no male figure in the household. Whether you're married or shacking up, in order to get these benefits, you cannot have a male presence in the house. And literally, Linda, the government sent social workers knocking on people's doors who were on welfare, checking to see if they saw a male clothing in the closet. If they did, they concluded that you had a male living there and they would immediately take away your benefits. That's how insidious this is. And so even today, Linda, if you look at our tax code, we give tax incentives for single parenthood the child tax credit. Wouldn't it be better, Linda, make more sense if we gave tax credits to those who got married first and then had kids? That would make more sense.

So we're subsidizing devious behavior. And is it any wonder that 80% of black kids today, Linda, are born out of wedlock? I think it's 60% in the white community born out of wedlock. Asians have the lowest percentage of out of birth, out of wedlock birth rate. And so is it any wonder that their community as a whole is perfectly intact and they are the least community, least group in the US. To access government benefits because they have an intact family culture in their mind and in that community, and they are the people that need government assistance the least. So therefore, what Harvard and Yale and all these other folks have said, let's penalize them for living a conservative lifestyle and let's reward those who live a liberal lifestyle. That's in essence what the Supreme Court said in their ruling, that you cannot penalize the Asian community because they come from a two parent household who put a premium on studying and education.

Linda j. Hansen: Absolutely. For the listeners. If you're not familiar with this case, you can look it up. Actually, it was on two separate cases, and the decisions were six two and six three, basically, to outlaw discriminatory admissions policies at US. Colleges and universities. It involved Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. The Students for Fair Admissions. It was that group that basically came against Harvard and the University of North Carolina. And it's interesting, and I knew you'd bring some good history to that, and now we can see so many things that have come through. And I was alive in the 60’s remember? So to correct you from your previous statement, I was alive. And I do remember the race riots and things like that, but also the racial unrest or the division of the races. I mean, that is also something that racism has existed in human history all along. Right? But I would say more recently, they've really been pushing it in the United States to divide us. Divided we fall, united we stand. So whether it's division by racial markers and boundaries, our skin color, or whether it's through the transgender movement or some of the things happening in the schools trying to divide parents and children, basically, government saying that children belong to the government, and the parents are not in charge of the children and things. So it's really dividing families, dividing races. There's a lot of people in the United States that wouldn't agree with any of that. But united we stand, divided we fall.

Raynard Jackson: Yeah, and what's interesting about that, Linda, is, for example, I think you saw my column two or three weeks ago on Vivek Ramaswami, and I had to chew a new one in him because he had this perverted notion of a colorblind America, which I think is totally farcical and totally unrealistic. And a lot of times, people like him and other uninformed people want to say, well, that's what Martin Luther King died for, to be judged not by the color, but the content of your character, not the color of your skin. Bullcrap. Martin Luther King wanted folks to be treated fairly. He did not fight for equality. He wanted people to all have a fair opportunity to live their truest sense of the American dream based on how willing you are to sacrifice. Work your butt off, I think America said, where if you're willing to sacrifice whatever your dreams are, they can become reality in America. But if you walk into a room, Linda, a boardroom in your company, your organization, and you don't notice that there's not one black at the table, I have a problem with that. So the liberals see racism behind everything. The conservatives see racism behind nothing, and the answer is in the middle.

Linda j. Hansen: Well, and this is the thing so many different perspectives, and it's good. But I know I'd like you to talk also about your work with Black Americans for a Better Future. That's a pack, and it's something you founded and your work to bring blacks into the political realm and be able to bring policies forward that benefit not just blacks, but everyone. And I think this is so important, especially as this is a podcast that everyone could listen to. But I really have a base of employers, employees that listen, business people that listen, and these policies that you promote through Black Americans for a Better Future, I mean, they're great for business. They're great for families, they're great for our nation. And if they're not partisan, they end up sometimes being one side of the aisle or another just because of how the parties go. But the actual policies are not partisan. They're common sense policies that lift people up help people. And so I'd like you to talk a little bit about that. Like black Americans for a better future.

Raynard Jackson: Yeah. Thank you, Linda. Yeah, we founded it ten years ago. I can't believe it's been that long. And we're going to revive everything now that people are getting back to normal post COVID, because we shut down for almost three years now, and we set up Black Americans for a Better Future to get more blacks involved in the Republican part and the conservative movement. But we focus strictly on the entrepreneur, Linda. And that means what we do is introduce these entrepreneurs, because I have some of the top entrepreneurs in the country, Linda, and they're doing anywhere from a few million in revenue the year all the way up to $17 billion. Black companies, I got Hispanic companies that's doing as much as $500 million a year, and Indian companies. So every year before the virus, we had the largest gathering lender of conservative entrepreneurs from the black, Asian, Hispanic, and Indian communities. And so we're going to revive our minority economic summit real soon. And these guys are leaders in their respective communities, Linda. They're very conservative and they're successful businessmen. Why the party and the conservative movement, Linda? And you and I have talked about this at Infinitum Offline, why the conservative movement doesn't engage with them.

Linda j. Hansen: Well, it's really interesting what you're saying, too. And there's a couple of things I just want to add to this one. Your conference. I know the one in 2018 or 2019, I know. Thank you so much for including me as a panelist there. That was great. It was a fantastic conference. And I know our mutual friend who's now passed away, but Herman Kane was one of the keynote speakers, too. It was just an excellent conference, and I was honored to be part of a panel there. And it was just great. I think I was on two panels, actually, but such a wonderful group of people, men and women. So I know you were mentioning businessmen, but there's business women, too, so I'll say that. So listeners make sure you know that that's open for business women as well. And he also knows the difference between men and women and things.

Raynard Jackson: I was thinking that, Linda.

Linda j. Hansen: And I'm sure our listeners were probably thinking that, too, anyway. But it's such a great conference, so I can't wait for it to be back up and running and being something that we can have you back on the podcast and invite people to attend and tell them all about it because it was such a great group of people and so many interesting businesses and experiences among the people that they shared. People come from all walks of life, all backgrounds, many times different countries, to be able to rise and that's you mentioned about in America, being able to have opportunity. Well, we have equity, which is what the liberals want, and we have equality. So what we're working towards is basically saying everybody has an opportunity, an equal opportunity. In a sense, that what we want to be able to do is have everyone have a level playing field where, like you mentioned, you work your butt off, you study, you work hard. You've got that? There shouldn't be anything else in your way. There should be no government policies. There should be nothing in your way of achieving your American dream. And that's what would be great for all people, men and women, every color, every race, every background. It'd be amazing to be able to just consistently have that equal opportunity. We can't guarantee equal outcome because everybody's different, right? Everybody's different.

Raynard Jackson: Yeah. One nuance I would inject on that equality and equity. Equity, as you rightfully said, means equal outcome. Equality means as opposed to equality. I was using fair, for example. No one's ever accused the NFL and the NBA of being discriminatory. Why? Because everybody plays by the same set of rules. You know what the rules are going into the game, so there are no surprises. You have the referee that referees based on one rulebook. They don't have a rule book for whites or blacks or women. They have one rule book. You violate any of the rules, the referee blows the whistle. I like the word fairness, because, again, when you go into a corporate interview for a job possibility, you want to know what the rules of engagement are. So if they're looking for an accountant, you want every candidate to have a degree in accounting from an accredited four year school. You want them to. That's fairness. Everyone that's applying for the job has the same background academically. Now, where you get into the subjective stuff, Linda, is for example, you got two great candidates, great GPAs, great colleges, but one person is an extrovert, the other person is the introvert. Maybe your corporate culture is more geared towards that extrovert versus the introvert. So you will defer and probably tip your head to the extrovert if he's a benefit for your corporate culture. So the guy that did get the job, you can't say it was racism that kept him from the job. He was just not a personality fit based on the corporate culture of that company. And too oftentimes, Linda, in today's society, if you don't get something, its racism, its sexism, it's homophobic. It's always a reason other than maybe the guy that interviewed you, maybe he connected better with your opponents for the job. It has nothing to do with race, economic income or whatever. Maybe there was just a better connection. And we got to stop being so quick, Linda, to blame everything on racism and this system and that system. Sometimes another person would just better qualify for the job, not necessarily academically. He was just a better fit for that corporate culture.

Linda j. Hansen: That is a really great point, and it reminds me of a story that Herman Kane would say. I remember he talked about one of his early jobs that he was passed over for a promotion, and he thought it was because of race. And so he went to speak to his boss and said, was, I passed over because of my race? And the boss said, no, the other guy had a master's degree. I'm sure you can still hear Herman Cain saying this. Well, what did I do? I went and got me a master's degree.

Raynard Jackson: That sounds like you.

Linda j. Hansen: Yeah, it was so great. And he just said he wasn't going to let anything hold him back. I mean, oh, he needed a master's degree. Okay. He went and got one, and then he went back and got the job. It's great. And we want everyone to be able to go get that master's degree or be able to go into that office and ask that question or whatever it is that opens the pathway for them to be able to reach their fullest potential and have the most freedom. So before we close, what would you say to employers now, especially in light of this affirmative action ruling from the Supreme Court, what would you say that they should or could say to their employees about how these policies now affect the workplace?

Raynard Jackson: Well, number one, stop being terrified and afraid to deal head on with a racial issue. Be willing to go toe to toe with Al Sharpton, other radical individuals and group. If there is no racism being demonstrated in your company or organization, you shouldn't have to feel like you have to cave into them. Number one. So classic example along that line. So Al Sharpton goes into hypothetically, let's say Google and say you only have 2% black engineers that work for Google, and we're blacks or 13% of the US. Population. Well, isn't that special? Linda? Isn't it amazing that every year of blacks who get college degrees in engineering, I think they're under 2%? So if Google has 2% black and the blacks who get engineering degrees nationally are under 2%, blacks are overrepresented at Google as engineers if we're going to play the statistical game. So I don't support diversity for the sake of diversity. I think the way corporate America could insulate themselves from these liberal charges is they should put out ads in historically black colleges newspapers. They should go to black college campuses and recruit, and you can't make a student apply to your job. So what happens then? It's same the Google example, let's say they went to all these black schools and talked to their engineering department, took our ads in black college student newspapers. And what happens if zero blacks applied for engineering position at Google? Google should be man enough or corporate enough to say to the public, we went to all these schools, not one student applied. So I don't believe that Google should then be forced to go out and beat the bushes to get blacks to apply. You made yourself available. You made it known to interested parties that you had job opening if people from that group didn't apply for the job. I see nothing racist about that. Nothing. So corporate America needs to stand up against these false charges of racism.

Linda j. Hansen: Good point. And I think the employers listening will appreciate that. Stand up against the false narratives, and you don't have to wear the label. You don't have to cowto to the liberal agenda or narrative, and you can authentically, honestly, truthfully, run your companies and do it with integrity. And I think that's great. That was great advice. So do you have any other closing comments before we give your contact information and close out this interview?

Raynard Jackson: I encourage your audience, Linda, to support you and your podcast. You're great at it. You put out great content. And I think people need to subscribe to your podcast and just tell them Jackson sent them. And so that you know that I do worship and adore you and I do realize that the highest place on Earth, Linda, is at your feet.

Linda j. Hansen: And he is full of a little bit of sarcasm, listeners. Just a little bit. But that does give me a perfect opportunity to remind listeners like, this is not free to do so. If you can support the work of Prosperity 101, please go to the Prosperity Partner spot on the website. It's down toward the bottom of the website, and you can go to the Prosperity Partner link. You can decide to support with a one time contribution, or you can support monthly, whatever it is. Maybe you'd like to sponsor the podcast. We'd love that. And so I just feel like it's important to continue to get information out to people. A lot of times this podcast reaches people around the world, actually. And we actually have climbing rankings here in the US. And it's exciting, but we reach people that maybe don't dive into politics at the level, say, that you and I do, Raynard, and I'm able to just give people a taste. And then if there's an issue that kind of lights their fire, they can always get more information. They can contact me, they can contact our guests. There's always a way to get more information.

But I truly try to help connect the dots, because all of these issues are connected. They're connected to an agenda that is constantly trying to break down our nation, break down our system of government power and corruption and power corrupts. And so I try to help connect the dots. And I really believe that employers are kind of the last frontier for helping to re educate a lot of the people that have come through these public school systems where they have not been taught the same civics, the same history, the same basic economics that we learned growing up. And it's hurting our nation. And so if we don't turn this around and bring them information that is relevant to them as they're making decisions about their lives, their families, their job opportunities, how they're going to vote. Our country is in big trouble, so I just try to really help connect the dots. So thank you for your kind words of support and the icing on the cake, some things you said, but also, again, listeners, please support the podcast by going to the Prosperity Partner link at the bottom of the website. And I'd love to hear your feedback as well, listeners. So thank you. And Raynard, how can people get a hold of you either at Raynard Jackson and Associates or at Black Americans for a Better Future? What's the best way for them to reach you?

Raynard Jackson: They can send me an email at reynard@reynardjackson.com reynard@reynardjackson.com. All my social media. Just my first and last name. Reynardjackson, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter getter just Google me. I'm all over the Internet so you'll find me. Or worst case scenario, call this beautiful, sharp entrepreneur called Linda Hansen and she will be able to put you in touch with me.

Linda j. Hansen: I will. So. Thank you, Raynard. I appreciate your time so much. Thank you.

Raynard Jackson: Thank you.

Linda J. Hansen: Thank you again for listening to the Prosperity 101 Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share, and leave a great review. Don't forget to visit Prosperity101.com to access the entire podcast library to order my newest book, Job Security Through Business Prosperity: The Essential Guide to Understanding How Policy Affects Your Paycheck or to enroll you or your employees in the Breakroom Economics online course. You can also receive the free e-book, 10 Tips for Helping Employees Understand How Public Policy Affects Their Paychecks. Freedom is never free. Understanding the foundations of prosperity and the policies of prosperity will help you to protect prosperity as you become informed, involved, and impactful. Please contact us today at Prosperity101.com to let us know how we can serve you. Thank you.