8/25/2023 0 Comments Tim anderson jackie robinson 2019![]() Instead of questioning whether somebody has a right to feel a little like Jackie Robinson for breaking a racial barrier, ask why those barriers still exist. Becoming the first Black this or that should have petered out with my grandpa's generation. Yankees' Donaldson handed 1-game suspension for 'Jackie' comment to White Sox's AndersonĪnd before you berate me about comparing my 21st-century experiences to integrating baseball in the shadow of World War II, keep the how-dare-yous, and ask yourself why segregation has such a long half-life.Yankees' Donaldson apologizes to Jackie Robinson's family after 'Jackie' remark. ![]() But in certain situations, as a Black person in a largely white industry, finding a way for myself and making space for others, I get a taste of how Robinson must have felt in 1947. Now, I can hear some of you warming up your vocal chords to boo me for taking Robinson's name in vain. I had overcome obstacles past winners hadn't (see previous anecdote), and hoped my win could help inspire younger folks who grew up like I did - Black and talented, but unsure about creating space for themselves in stiflingly white Canadian institutions. My next kind-of parallel to Robinson came when I won the National Newspaper Award for Sports Writing, and became the first Black member of a previously all-white club. Similarly, I couldn't risk getting fired, and I didn't want future Black Canadian sports writers to face limited job options because I had throttled some smug old columnist. Robinson knew a fistfight would end MLB's integration experiment, and kept his cool for the sake of the Black players who would follow him. I don't know if he's a racist person, but that cheap shot was a racist act, one my colleagues at the Toronto Star interpreted, reasonably, as an invitation to punch the guy out.īut, like Robinson, who knew he couldn't retaliate against every white guy who hurled an n-bomb, or slid into second base with spikes high, I found the courage not to knock the taste out of this man's mouth. Once, which I've discussed in public before, a big-shot columnist dismissed me to his nationwide audience as a "minority reporter," pressing Anson Carter to answer questions about racism in hockey. There have been a couple of moments when I've felt sort of like the modern Jackie Robinson of sports journalism. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ. This is a column by Morgan Campbell, who writes opinion for CBC Sports.
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