Baseball legend Reggie Jackson delivered a poignant reflection on Thursday, recounting the stark racism endured by Black players in the segregated South during the 1960s. Speaking on a live Fox Sports telecast before a game between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals at Birmingham’s historic Rickwood Field, Jackson, 78, shared his personal experiences of discrimination.
“I walked into restaurants and they would point at me and say, ‘The nigger can’t eat here.’ I would go to a hotel and they would say, ‘The nigger can’t stay here,'” Jackson recalled, emphasizing the harsh realities faced by Black athletes of his era. “I wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” he added solemnly.
The game in Birmingham was a part of baseball’s tribute to African American history, held one day after Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery. The event took on added significance as the sport mourned the recent passing of Willie Mays at age 93, a legend who played in Birmingham during the Negro Leagues era before baseball’s integration in 1947.
Jackson, joined by retired stars Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, and Derek Jeter, expressed the pain of returning to Birmingham, where he began his career as a minor leaguer in 1967 before achieving Major League success with the Oakland A’s and New York Yankees.
Acknowledging the support he received from white teammates during his career, Jackson praised individuals like Manager John McNamara, Rollie Fingers, Joe Rudi, Dave Duncan, and Lee Meyers. He credited them for their refusal to accept segregation by refusing to patronize establishments that barred Black players and for restraining him from confronting racists, recognizing the danger such actions posed in the racially charged South.
Reflecting on the potential consequences of retaliating against racism, Jackson remarked, “I’d have got killed here because I’d have beat somebody’s ass, and you’d have saw me in an oak tree somewhere,” alluding to the historical context of lynching prevalent in the region.
Jackson’s candid recollections served as a sobering reminder of the challenges faced by Black athletes in their pursuit of equality within the sport of baseball and beyond.
