Boston’s Racist Legacy in the Spotlight Again - “A Flea Market of Racism”
Sunday, July 17, 2022
Boston's racist legacy is in the spotlight again after NBA great LeBron James called the city "racist as f**k."
James is a business partner with John Henry in the ownership group that owns a number of sports interests, including the Boston Red Sox. The team has one of the most infamous legacies of racism. Henry also owns the Boston Globe.
But Boston and its sports teams' reputation goes back decades and includes numerous incidents and condemnation from even its greatest players.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTArguably, Boston’s greatest athlete, Bill Russell, called Boston a “flea market of racism."
Legacy
The legacy of Tom Yawkey, the former owner of the Boston Red Sox, who passed away in 1976, is often pointed to as the genesis of the tangled web of Boston sports and racism. But many will argue, that he was just the best known and highest profile, with racism in the stands and core to the fan base.
The Red Sox tried out Jackie Robinson at Fenway Park in 1945 and rejected him.
Under Yawkey, the Red Sox were the last team in baseball to integrate. They had a chance to sign Willie Mays. A Boston scout, George Digby, arranged to buy Mays from the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues for $4,500. Yawkey and the Red Sox general manager, Joe Cronin, refused.
In 2018, Yawkey Way was renamed outside of Fenway Park -- followed by the Yawkey commuter rail station in 2019.
Jokes and Fans
Saturday Night Live’s Michael Che called Boston “the most racist city I’ve ever been to.”
The one sports team that piled up firsts was the Boston Celtics. First to start five black players and first to hire a Black coach - Russell. But the Celtics did not become a fan favorite until the team drafted Larry Bird, Danny Ainge and Kevin McHale.
The sellouts at the Garden did not come until the Bird-era.
Incidents Across Sports and the Commonwealth
Celtics Dee Brown
In September of 1990, Boston Celtics then-rookie Dee Brown was forced from a car by police and ordered to lie on the ground at gunpoint in a case of "mistaken identity."
Wellesley police converged on Brown and his fiancee, who is white, as they sat in a parked car across from a bank that had been robbed of about $1,700 a few days before.
Brown was the Celtic’s first-round draft pick. ″When you think of towns up North and you think of racism, you think of Boston,″ Brown said after the incident.
Subban Scores Winning Goal
In 2014, P. K. Subban, the then-star defenseman of the Montreal Canadians, beat the Boston Bruins with an overtime goal.
Some Bruins fans took to Twitter and tweeted racist comments
— That stupid n***** doesn’t belong in hockey #whitesonly
— F*** YOU N***** SUBBAN YOU BELONG IN A F****** HOLE NOT AN ICE RINK
— PK Subban = F****** N*****
— F*** PK Subban. F****** n*****. Wish he got sold
— subban is the definition of a n*****
— Someone needs to smack PK subban across his big n***** lips. #scumbag
— SUBBAN IS A F****** PORCH M*****
Bag of Peanuts Thrown at Orioles Outfielder
The legacy continued in 2017 when a Red Sox fan threw a bag of peanuts at Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones, and then the fan berated him with racial slurs from the stands.
Only in Boston Do you Hear the N-Word
In 2018, New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia said, “I’ve never been called the “N-word,’ except in Boston. We all know. When you go to Boston, expect it.’’
Former Red Sox starter David Price has said that he received racially-motivated taunts at Fenway, as has retired Minnesota Twins outfielder Torii Hunter.
Harper Cites Decades of Racism
Tommy Harper was one of the few Black Red Sox stars in the 1970s and then had a series of roles with the Club.
Boston NBC Sports reported: Harper was fired by the Red Sox for pointing out the team’s bad acts. He then coached the Expos for several years. Then he returned in 1999, as his boss in Montreal — Dan Duquette — took over in Boston:
“I was told that everything about the Red Sox organization had gotten better,’’ Harper recalled. “I discovered it had not.’’
That same year, the Sox paid a financial settlement to a former manager of Fenway’s 600 Club who alleged he had been racially harassed by his coworkers and the team had failed to properly investigate his complaints.
For his part, Harper was particularly offended by the Sox hiring a former player, Mike Stanley, in 2002 at a coaching salary more than $50,000 greater than his, even though Harper had 15 years of major league coaching experience and Stanley none."
Back in the Forefront
With James' comments, the legacy and the reality are back in the forefront.
Stay-tuned.
Related Articles
- MINDSETTERS ™ Cardeiro & McLoone: Ginsburg, PC Students Opinions of Kaepernick - Colorblind Racism
- Seven Examples - Racism in New England
- Head of Providence Teachers Union Issues Apology for Social Media Post Alleging Racism
- Former Top URI Administrator Joins Professor in Alleging Racism at University in New Federal Lawsuit
- Rep. Williams Calls Out Lack of Diversity in RI Judiciary and “Systemic Racism” in State
- Former Brown Basketball Coach Robinson - Obama’s Brother-in-Law - Sues Kids’ School Alleging Racism
- Questioning Validity of the Concept of “Race” But Not Suggesting That “Racism” Doesn’t Exist
- Federal Judge Rejects Attempts by URI to Dismiss Black Professor’s Lawsuit Claiming Racism
- URI Professor Who Accused University of Racism Files Federal Lawsuit Following Firing - UPDATED
