Will County Board member Steve Balich said he opposes DEI initiatives and supports the “All Lives Matter” message, asserting that Jesse Jackson was aided by the media in promoting DEI and Black Lives Matter.
Balich made the remarks following the death of a civil rights leader, Rev. Jesse Jackson, a Baptist minister, civil rights activist, and two-time Democratic presidential candidate. Jackson died Tuesday, Feb. 17, at age 84 at his home in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood, according to NBC News. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed. Jackson had been living with progressive supranuclear palsy and publicly revealed in 2017 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
“I am against DEI and believe All lives matter,” said Steve Balich to the Will County Gazette. “It is clear to me Jackson was enabled by a willing media to promote DEI and Black Lives Matter. The Media is the problem.”
Born in Greenville, South Carolina, Jackson relocated to Chicago in 1964 to attend seminary. He became a close ally of Martin Luther King Jr., participating in major civil rights campaigns, and later established Operation PUSH, which developed into the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. He sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988, winning several primaries and caucuses, and also served a term as a Washington, D.C., shadow senator.
Coverage of Jackson’s life varied across media outlets. The Chicago Sun-Times highlighted his work for social justice and his rise from a protégé of King to a national political figure. The Chicago Tribune focused on tributes from his children, portraying him as a devoted father and long-term advocate for equality. Other commentators offered more critical assessments of his career and influence.
Some critics argue that Jackson promoted political narratives of systemic racism that misrepresented underlying social and economic challenges in Black communities. His early rise to prominence has also been disputed by figures connected to the civil rights movement.
Hosea Williams, a longtime aide to Martin Luther King Jr., challenged Jackson’s claim that he was holding King’s head at the time of his 1968 assassination at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, stating that Jackson was not near King and alleging that Jackson staged a public appearance with a bloodstained shirt, an incident that Williams said permanently affected his respect for Jackson.
After Jackson’s death, pastor, author, and commentator Jesse Lee Peterson described Jackson’s legacy as divisive, linking his activism to later initiatives such as affirmative action, reparations debates, and diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. Peterson stated that Jackson’s influence had lasting effects on race relations and criticized the direction of the broader civil rights movement.
“It went from this idea that racism exists, and somehow or another, we need equal rights,” Peterson told Chicago City Wire. “Then it went from that to affirmative action. Then it went to reparations. And then they called it DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). It just never ends.”
Author Kenneth R. Timmerman, who wrote Shakedown: Exposing the Real Jesse Jackson, described Jackson as someone who used allegations of racism to pressure corporations into financial contributions for his organizations, a strategy that Timmerman said influenced later corporate diversity policies and would shape how Jackson’s political legacy is viewed.
“There are two basic approaches towards the issue of race, especially at that time and going forward,” Timmerman said. “Martin Luther King said you should judge a person on the basis of their character. Jesse Jackson said you should judge them on the basis of the color of their skin and quotas. I think that was a very destructive view.”
In a 2003 column for the New York Post, Timmerman further claimed that Jackson played a role in legitimizing Liberian President Charles Taylor and Sierra Leone rebel leader Foday Sankoh during civil conflicts in West Africa. He argued that Jackson’s involvement in the 1999 Lomé peace agreement allowed Sankoh to gain control over diamond resources that funded armed groups responsible for violence and displacement.
Jackson’s memorial events are scheduled in Chicago with public viewings at Rainbow/PUSH headquarters on February 25–26, followed by a “People’s Celebration” at the House of Hope on February 27 and a Homegoing Service at Rainbow/PUSH on February 28.
Steve Balich has served on the Will County Board since 2012, representing District 4 (R-Homer Glen), focusing on fiscal responsibility and government spending oversight.
