Death of a Legend
I do not follow any sports and rarely ever notice sports headlines but this morning I could not help but notice that baseball legend Ernie Banks had died. This was important to me because my father had once played baseball with Ernie Banks.
Growing up in the slums of Pittsburgh, my dad's goal in life was to play baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was a pitcher and he tried out for the team a few times but never made the cut. Then his baseball dreams were cut short when he was drafted into the army and sent to Europe to be part of the war against Hitler.
Ernie Banks grew up in a poor family in Dallas and he also dreamed of playing baseball in the Major Leagues. But back then black people were not allowed in Major League Baseball. He still pursued his love and was eventually signed to play for the Kansas City team of the old Negro League. But after two years his baseball career was cut short when he was drafted into the army and sent to Europe to help with the army's role of helping to rebuild Europe after the big war.
While it would still be years before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball that baseball color barrier had already been broken in the army. To boost morale and give the troops a taste of home, the army formed their own little baseball league. A lot of baseball players had been drafted so the army had a pool of talent to draw from. My dad played in that army league and so did Ernie Banks (briefly). And that is how they met. Of course Ernie Banks was not even remotely famous yet at the time.
After his stint in the army (and a brief stint with the Harlem Globetrotters) Banks eventually became the very first black man to play for the Chicago Cubs. He became part of civil rights history. He went on to have an illustrious 19-year career with the Cubs and landed in the Hall of Fame.
Like so many white males from that era, my father was a racist (though not nearly as racist as my mother). Back then racism was tolerated and practically considered normal. But as a child it was obvious to me that he was also a hypocrite. He was always saying denigrating things about black people but when it came to the army or to baseball his racism seemed to evaporate. He had black army buddies and when it came to baseball his two favorite players--Ernie Banks and Roberto Clemente--were both black. Sometimes I wondered if he pretended to be more racist than he was in order to appease his wife.
"I struck out Ernie Banks!" I heard my father say that countless times when I was growing up. He told and retold the story of how he met (and struck out) the famous Ernie Banks. He was very proud of that. Of course, Banks was not famous at the time but once he got into the Major Leagues my father followed his career very closely.
As my dad grew older and older his racial slurs became far less frequent. Watching this, I could see his racism slowly heal over time and I think the army and baseball were two major factors in pushing him to release his racism. Growing up with two racist parents, none of us four kids picked that racism up. Our parents' racism might be a big part of why none of us kids became racist. We saw how ugly it was.
As for the next generation, my daughter does not have a racist bone in her body and I am proud of that. It seems racism is something that takes a few generations to be fully released. As a society we have made tremendous progress in overcoming racism but it is also obvious that we still have a ways to go. Hopefully in a couple more generations racism will no longer exist at all. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
So learning of Ernie Banks' death, I thought about my father and all the people like Ernie Banks involved in the beginning of the trend of releasing racism. They had the most to overcome. They were the way-showers, each in their own way that began the societal transformation that is leading us to a more equitable and loving world. They give me hope that we will eventually get there.
I do not own any baseball caps but if I had one on my head right now I would take it off and put it over my heart and say a prayer of thanks to Ernie Banks. And I would also say, "Miss you, Dad."
Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved.
Growing up in the slums of Pittsburgh, my dad's goal in life was to play baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was a pitcher and he tried out for the team a few times but never made the cut. Then his baseball dreams were cut short when he was drafted into the army and sent to Europe to be part of the war against Hitler.
Ernie Banks grew up in a poor family in Dallas and he also dreamed of playing baseball in the Major Leagues. But back then black people were not allowed in Major League Baseball. He still pursued his love and was eventually signed to play for the Kansas City team of the old Negro League. But after two years his baseball career was cut short when he was drafted into the army and sent to Europe to help with the army's role of helping to rebuild Europe after the big war.
While it would still be years before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball that baseball color barrier had already been broken in the army. To boost morale and give the troops a taste of home, the army formed their own little baseball league. A lot of baseball players had been drafted so the army had a pool of talent to draw from. My dad played in that army league and so did Ernie Banks (briefly). And that is how they met. Of course Ernie Banks was not even remotely famous yet at the time.
After his stint in the army (and a brief stint with the Harlem Globetrotters) Banks eventually became the very first black man to play for the Chicago Cubs. He became part of civil rights history. He went on to have an illustrious 19-year career with the Cubs and landed in the Hall of Fame.
Like so many white males from that era, my father was a racist (though not nearly as racist as my mother). Back then racism was tolerated and practically considered normal. But as a child it was obvious to me that he was also a hypocrite. He was always saying denigrating things about black people but when it came to the army or to baseball his racism seemed to evaporate. He had black army buddies and when it came to baseball his two favorite players--Ernie Banks and Roberto Clemente--were both black. Sometimes I wondered if he pretended to be more racist than he was in order to appease his wife.
"I struck out Ernie Banks!" I heard my father say that countless times when I was growing up. He told and retold the story of how he met (and struck out) the famous Ernie Banks. He was very proud of that. Of course, Banks was not famous at the time but once he got into the Major Leagues my father followed his career very closely.
As my dad grew older and older his racial slurs became far less frequent. Watching this, I could see his racism slowly heal over time and I think the army and baseball were two major factors in pushing him to release his racism. Growing up with two racist parents, none of us four kids picked that racism up. Our parents' racism might be a big part of why none of us kids became racist. We saw how ugly it was.
As for the next generation, my daughter does not have a racist bone in her body and I am proud of that. It seems racism is something that takes a few generations to be fully released. As a society we have made tremendous progress in overcoming racism but it is also obvious that we still have a ways to go. Hopefully in a couple more generations racism will no longer exist at all. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
So learning of Ernie Banks' death, I thought about my father and all the people like Ernie Banks involved in the beginning of the trend of releasing racism. They had the most to overcome. They were the way-showers, each in their own way that began the societal transformation that is leading us to a more equitable and loving world. They give me hope that we will eventually get there.
I do not own any baseball caps but if I had one on my head right now I would take it off and put it over my heart and say a prayer of thanks to Ernie Banks. And I would also say, "Miss you, Dad."
Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved.