Source: Stacy Revere/Getty
Baseball legend Reggie Jackson recalls shocking instances of racism he suffered Alabama during an interview.
On Thursday (June 20), Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson was interviewed by the Fox Sports broadcast crew covering the game between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals at historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama in honor of Negro League Baseball. Alex Rodriguez, the former New York Yankees shortstop, asked Jackson what it was like to be back there. Jackson, who would go on to be great as a power hitter for the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees, got his start with the minor-league Birmingham A's playing at Rickwood in 1967.
“Alex, when people ask me a question like that, it's like it's not easy to come back here,” Jackson he answered. “The racism that I was playing here, when I was playing here, the difficulty of going through different places where we were traveling – luckily, I had a coach and I had players in the team that helped me overcome it. But I wouldn't wish that on anyone.” The crew fell silent
as Jackson continued, “People said to me today — I spoke up and they said, 'Do you think you're a better person, do you think you won when you played here and you won?' I said, you know, I'd never want to do it again.”
“I went into restaurants and they would point at me and say, the n—– can't eat here. I was going to a hotel and they say, n—– can't stay here,” the legend known as “Mr. October,” he said, the emotions from that time vivid on his face. “I went into restaurants and they would point at me and say, the n—– can't eat here. I'd go to a hotel and they tell me, the f—– can't stay here. We went to Charlie Finley's country club for a welcome home dinner and I was tagged with the N word. “He can't come in here.” Finley ushered the whole team out, they finally let me in, he said, “We're going to dinner and we're going to have hamburgers. We will go wherever we want.” Reggie Jackson will go on to thank his Birmingham A's manager Johnny McNamara and teammates Rollie Fingers, Dave Duncan and Joe Rudy who and his wife Sharon gave Jackson a place to stay – until racists threatened to “ they're going to burn down our apartment complex unless I get out.”
