Bishop E.W. Jackson Speaks Out on the Margaret Sanger Bust, Racism and Planned Parenthood
Bishop Jackson is the founder of S.T.A.N.D., a group of pastors and religious leaders that sent the first letter to the Smithsonian protesting the presence of a Margaret Sanger bust in a prominent exhibit.
Bishop E.W. Jackson is a prominent spokesman for Christians of all backgrounds, but has risen to national prominence as a leader of black pastors who are unafraid to confront the critical issues in American culture and politics. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts and Harvard Law School, Jackson practiced law for a number of years. He also studied theology at Harvard Divinity School. In 2013, Jackson was narrowly defeated as the Republican Party nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in the 2013 general election. He also ministers to the church in Chesapeake, Virginia.
His group, STAND, recently sent a letter to the Smithsonian Institute protesting the presence of the bust of Margaret Sanger in the National Portrait Gallery as part of an exhibit next to one of Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.
Yesterday, he spoke at the Watchman on the Wall Summit in Texas, and agreed to a short interview afterwards. I asked him about Sanger and the bust, why the group protested, what the response was, and what is happening next.
You can listen to his impassioned remarks below.
Some highlights:
On Sanger
“She made it clear that she thought there were certain people who were defective or feeble-minded and therefore not worthy of life and who should not be allowed to have children — among these people, of course, were black people.”
On the museum response
“The museum is not responding appropriately so we’re going to take it to the streets — so to speak. We’re going to do a press conference on Thursday. In a matter of days, a week now, we’ve gotten 13,000 signatures on a petition. We’re going to submit the petition to them and say: ‘It’s time for you to act!'”
On the historical push to get Planned Parenthood into many predominately black communities
“Margaret Sanger did real damage to real people. 285,000 black babies a year are dying through Planned Parenthood. That’s REAL racism! — If the confederate flag ought to come down, Margaret Sanger’s bust ought to come out!”
On the reason so many pro-choice opponents of racism don’t see the problems with Sanger
“… Because Planned Parenthood is part of their coalition and frankly they’re going to defend Planned Parenthood no matter what they find out about Margaret Sanger — they just don’t care — it’s sad but it is part of the ‘death of truth’ — a part of moral relativism.”
