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Racism
The Boys of My Summers
Reggie Jackson’s interview brought back memories of hot Arkansas summers, baseball…and racism
Last December, Major League Baseball announced that it would officially elevate Negro League baseball to “Major League” status. The move incorporates the records and statistics of the thousands of Black athletes who played in the Jim Crow-era league.
Recently, I posted New York Yankee slugger Reggie Jackson’s interview during the pregame show for major league baseball’s tribute to Negro League baseball. The game also honored the late Willie Mays, one of the greatest players in MLB history, at Rockwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama. Mays had originally planned to attend but canceled a few days before he passed away.
Jackson, who played minor league ball at Rockwood in the late sixties, was asked by fellow ex-Yankee Alex Rodriguez how it felt to return to the Alabama ballpark. Jackson did not hold back.
For the next several minutes, baseball’s Mr. October recounted his experience as a young Black man in the Jim Crow South. Jackson shared the threats he received. He told of how he was repeatedly called the n-word while playing at Rockwood (Jackson’s comment begins at approximately 4:49 in the video).
As Jackson told his story, you could hear the raw emotion in his voice. The scene was a dramatic departure from the scripted programming we’ve come to expect from network television. It was also a stark example of how even one of baseball’s greatest players was not exempt from racism.
When I heard Jackson tell his story, I was reminded of moving to Pine Bluff, Arkansas in the early seventies. In many ways, the hour-long drive south from the state’s capital was like a trip back in time. In retrospect, most of the racism I experienced during my childhood occurred in the Jefferson County town.
