A withering look at the institutionalized racism of the Boston Red
Sox, painted against the larger backdrop of citywide racism, from
Bergen Record journalist Bryant. Everyone knows that the Bosox
traded away Babe Ruth, but less well known is that they passed on
the opportunities to snare Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays. In this
scorching and well-documented history of the team's racial
attitudes, Bryant describes how the bigotry of the Yawkey family,
owners of the club, and such important front-office and managerial
figures as Eddie Collins, Joe Cronin, and Pinky Higgins resulted in
the Red Sox being the last team-this in a city that cast itself as
a bastion of tolerance-to cross the color line. But Boston's image
of liberalism, as Bryant neatly sketches, was smoke and mirrors,
showing its true face in the busing crisis of the 1970s, and, more
insidiously, through "its hidden presuppositions of how black
people should act, especially around whites." Kicking and
screaming, Boston signed its first black player in 1959, but that
was not to be the end of it. From 1979 to 1984, the team had only
two active black players, and even the team greats-Reggie Smith,
Jim Rice, Ellis Burks-never felt at home in racially tense Boston;
black players often referred to their stint with the team as a
"jail sentence." Even in the '80s, there was a country-club
attitude that allowed the racist Elks Club to entertain Bosox
players-whites only. Bryant uses a number of lenses to gain a wide
perspective on the situation: those of reporters like Dave Egan,
Wendell Smith, and Peter Gammons; players from other sports, like
Bill Russell of the Celtics; the ebb and flow of Boston politics;
and the racial atmosphere that keeps Boston at a simmer, ready to
corral the black community, as it did in the Charles Stuart case. A
taut story, lucidly told. That the Bosox haven't won a World Series
in umpteen years is embarrassing; the legacy of racism, though, is
poisonous. (16 b&w photographs) (Kirkus Reviews)
Out at Home is the compelling story of Boston's racial divide viewed through the lens of one of the city's greatest institutions - its baseball team, and told from the perspective of Boston native and noted sports writer Howard Bryant. This well written and poignant work contains striking interviews in which blacks who played for the Red Sox speak for the first time about their experiences in Boston, as well as groundbreaking chapter that details Jackie Robinson's ill-fated tryout with the Boston Red Sox and the humiliation that followed.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
