Today, Major League Baseball celebrates Jackie Robinson, who debuted for my Dodgers as the squared off against the Boston Braves. But, see, for several years there has been a Big Concern, and USA Today makes sure you know that baseball is raaaaacist. The article starts out by describing a vile letter sent the Atlanta Braves front office regarding Hank Aaron, with hardcore racist (not raaaaacist) language. Hey, there are jackasses of all stripes in the world. That’s not defending the letter, but just noting. Then we move to
On a day where Major League Baseball celebrates Robinson, who broke the color barrier on April 15, 1947 in one of the most momentous achievements of the Civil Rights movement, we have these letters to remind us of the racial hatred that still exists in this society.
As for the sport itself, the evidence mounts that Robinson’s game, for a myriad of complicated reasons, is not the game of choice for African-Americans.
Major League Baseball, which will honor Robinson once again today by having every player wear No. 42, has the lowest percentage of African-Americans in uniform since 1958.
The African-American population in baseball is virtually unchanged from a year ago at 7.8%, according to USA TODAY Sport’s survey of opening-day rosters and disabled lists.
There are 67 black players in the major leagues, with three teams not represented by a single African-American player – the San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinals. It’s a dramatic change from 1972-1996, when African Americans represented at least 16% of the game’s players, according to Mark Armour of the Society of Baseball Research (SABR) – with a high of 18.7% in 1981.
Could it be that Black youth isn’t interested in playing baseball? Supposedly, 78% of NBA players are Black, with only 17% white, 4% Latino, and 1% Asian. Is it racist that there are no white cornerbacks in the NFL? How about that hockey is primarily a white man’s game? No. You can’t force people to play a game. MLB is attempting to increase the numbers by hitting the urban areas, but, perhaps Black youth are more interested in playing basketball and football.
There are other things to consider: for opening day 2013, over 28% of MLB players were foreign born. 27.3% were of Latino background. The percent of Asians is increasing. Yet, less than 4% are Canadian, Asian, or European. Perhaps they aren’t that interested in playing baseball? Interestingly, many of the players being considered Latino are of African descent, but not counted as Black.
Perhaps it is because baseball has “become a bastion of the rich“? Who knows? It’s not racism, because no one is stopping Black players from playing because of their skin color. That would be racism. Blacks not playing baseball themselves is a personal choice, not racism.
“To make the game as diverse as it is,” Manuel said, “we kind of strayed a bit (at) home. We’ve got to get it back home. We did not take advantage of what we did in my generation. We did not see it as a serious issue until it was too late.
“Now, we’re staying with this thing, I think you’ll see a turnaround. I really believe change is coming.”
You can’t force kids to play, just like you can’t force Americans to love soccer. When Hank Aaron trotted out his theory that every Republican opposes Obama because they’re racists, that was guaranteed to bring out the real racists. But Aaron’s statement was itself racist.
Anyhow, there are lots of reasons why Blacks might not play baseball. But, it is not racism. The race-hustlers can’t help themselves in ginning up a kerfuffle, though.
Crossed at Right Wing News.
In an urban park, you can put up a dozen basketball half-courts in the space it takes to put in one baseball diamond. It makes economic sense for parks departments dealing with limited space to concentrate more on basketball courts.
Most Americans, but not all, will judge Hank Aaron by his complete life. Others will choose to judge him by only a portion.
Hank Aaron is now 80 years old. He grew up when lynching was still common (the last being 1981)
Teach how will you to choose?
I judge him by the content of his character and his accomplishments. Unlike libetlas, who only see a means to throw down the race card.
John-so we should judge Aaron for “his whole life”, as you say. Ok. But is Hank Aaron judging the whites he calls racist for not liking Obama for their whole lives? So why aren’t you criticizing Aaron? You really don’t think these things through, do you?
Does anyone know exactly what Hank Aaron said about Obama and Republicans?
Tracking through Teach and some guy named Levine, I found what may be the original quote from USA Today:
When discussing why he kept the letters calling him a nigger and a jungle bunny and threatening to shoot him as he approached Babe Ruth’s HR record he said:
“To remind myself,” Aaron tells USA TODAY Sports, “that we are not that far removed from when I was chasing the record. If you think that, you are fooling yourself. A lot of things have happened in this country, but we have so far to go. There’s not a whole lot that has changed.
“We can talk about baseball. Talk about politics. Sure, this country has a black president, but when you look at a black president, President Obama is left with his foot stuck in the mud from all of the Republicans with the way he’s treated.
“We have moved in the right direction, and there have been improvements, but we still have a long ways to go in the country.
The bigger difference is that back then they had hoods. Now they have neckties and starched shirts.”
Then Levine says: “So, you see: All Republicans treat Obama this way, all Republicans who oppose Obama, oppose him because they’re racists.” and is so outraged that he wants to sell (but not throw away, lol) his valuable Hank Aaron baseball card.
Maybe Mr. Aaron finds it hard to believe that all the rabid racists in 1974 died off. Maybe he thinks they went underground because of “political correctness” – since society no longer tolerates frank racism. Perhaps he sees the unemployment, poverty, low pay, and general lack of opportunities still plaguing the black community and wonders why. Perhaps his point is that even though the KKK is out of business, and it’s no longer “politically correct” to call a black man a nigger, even with a black man as President, it’s still tougher on blacks than whites in America.
American Blacks have voted with their feet, abandoning the Republic party, and with good reason. It has become the party of white, Christian, conservatives with two constituencies – working class, racially aggrieved whites (the voters) and the business, capital, donor class (the donors). Perhaps what Mr. Aaron was saying it really doesn’t matter if those opposing their progress wear hoods or coats and ties. And perhaps Mr. Aaron is a bit wiser than you give him credit for.