The Public Opinion Soapbox

Coppy · Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 2251 Location: Chambersburg

Yes, I'm done taking a back seat on this... minorities in this country deserve all of the anger they have, because quite frankly, it hasn't been enough.

I've been watching a lot of baseball lately. I watched the Civil Rights Game in Memphis on Saturday. A game meant to show the importance of both the American Civil Rights movement and minorities in baseball; not just African Americans, but Hispanics and Asians as well. It was inspiring.

And Joe Morgan seriously touched me, talking about how difficult it was, even for him in the 70's to be a black ball player. Even then this country was not integrated; on the books it was, but not in the social psyche. And it was tough. But he talked about Jackie Robinson, and how horribly harrassed he was from city to city and how he took it... without saying a word, but with his superior baseball skill, every step of the way. And when Pee Reese put his arm around Jackie in Cincinnati during the Dodgers' first road trip, I couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration.

It's so much easier to go with the status quo.

Joe Morgan then acknowledged that our very own Nellie Fox was one of his greatest mentors, in an era when many people were still harshly critical of any minority in baseball. Fox reached out to Morgan and inspired him to be the hall-of-fame baseball player and broadcaster he become. Morgan specifically indicated that it was because of Fox that his career as a black baseball player was better than it otherwise would have been in an otherwise difficult period in American civil rights history.

So I just thought I'd share that.

AnonyMouse · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 400

I didn't know that about Nellie Fox. I'm glad you wrote that. I also found this article after reading your post: http://www.nytimes.com/specials/baseball/bbo-reese-robinson.html

My son is 11 but still likes me to read him a bedtime story. We've been reading through a little history book that is full of historical stories told on two pages. Last week we read about Josh Gibson, so he was asking about the Negro Leagues. It reminded me again of the shameful way we've behaved as a nation. It's hard for my son to imagine that exceptionally talented people weren't allowed to play major league ball just because of the color of their skin. It's just totally irrational.

Of course that's how prejudice is - irrational.

So how can we be Nellie Fox and Pee Wee Reese today?