Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Houston Do You Have A Problem?
In fact, I feel bad that I watched most of the first two games and the fact that the Astros don't have any black players didn't register with me.
Hall of Famer Joe Morgan is worried about it. Should he be -- assuming that African Americans are choosing to go into different sports?
This is the first time that a World Series team has no black players (which is not to say that it is all-white) since the 1953 Yankees, who finally integrated in 1955.
1955, the same year that Rosa Parks chose to stay in her seat on the bus.
There's an ironic sort of symmetry for you.
UPDATE (10/26/05, 10:00 a.m.): An e-mailer makes a point that came to mind after I posted: "Well, at the risk of sounding like a bigot, when did"black" only mean African-American? I have the MLB channel and have been watching Willie Taveras be the Astros MVP table-setter all season. The guy should be Rookie of the Year. Is Taveras not "black" because he is from the Domincan Republic? I don't get it."
Excellent point. Everyone has been looking at the increased visibility and role of Hispanics in American culture and politics. Yet, as the census tells us, "Hispanics can be of any race." If anything, this Astros "story" (to the extent it is one) must force a realization among both traditional black leadership and the commentariat that "black" and "African American" are no longer synonyms.
