Showing posts with label Hank Aaron. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hank Aaron. Show all posts

Monday, April 21, 2014

Aaron Gets Racist Hate Mail For Comments About Obama Critics --Remains one of country's most respected citizens

April 21, 2014 Hank Aaron , Jackie Robinson 0 Comments
Hank Aaron
Gopthedailydose.com, Apr. 20, 2014

MLB Hall of Famer Hank Aaron recently likened President Obama‘s Republican critics to the KKK in “neckties and starched shirts.” He made this remark in an interview with USA Today, and the paper now reports that the Atlanta Braves have received quite a bit of racist hate mail in response to his remarks.

For example, one of the letters reads “Hank Aaron is a scumbag piece of (expletive) (racial slur).” The censored racial slur is used multiple times in the same piece of mail.

Ironically enough, USA Today‘s report on the racist hate mail was from Tuesday, April 15th, which was Jackie Robinson Day. And they share, sadly, more e-mails the Braves received in response to what Aaron said.

The Braves have been besieged by hundreds of letters, e-mails and phone calls deriding Aaron for comments he made to USA TODAY Sports.

Read the full story:  www.gopthedailydose.com

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Friday, April 11, 2014

The Elder Statement: Hank Aaron Fouls One Off By Larry Elder

April 11, 2014 Brendon Ayanbadejo , Hank Aaron 0 Comments
Hank Aaron
By Larry Elder, Apr. 11, 2014

Michael Sam appears to be a fine young man. But, no, he isn’t the first openly gay male U.S. athlete to play in a major sport. And “brave”? Can we please dispense with the absurd Jackie Robinson comparisons? Wake me when a black collegiate pro prospect “comes out” as a Republican.

A starting senior on the University of Missouri football team, Sam looks like a mid-round draft pick in the NFL. He recently “came out” to his teammates, many of whom said they already knew or suspected. Neither teammates nor coaches had an issue. Most normal people ask, “Who cares?” or “Can he play?”

Some, however, liken Sam’s “pioneering status” to that of Jackie Robinson, the first black man to play in the modern baseball major leagues. “Michael Sam has the opportunity to be the Jackie Robinson of the NFL,” said professor Orin Starn, chairman of Duke University’s cultural anthropology department. “Michael Sam is a Jackie Robinson Moment For NFL,” according to the editorial headline in the Boston Globe. And then there’s Fox Sports analyst Brendon Ayanbadejo who said, “We were there to celebrate his groundbreaking voyage that in many ways is similar to those of Jackie Robinson and Rosa Parks.”
Where to begin?

First, Sam isn’t even the first openly gay male athlete to play in a major American pro sport. That distinction goes to Glenn Burke, who played with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Oakland Athletics from 1976-1979. He might well have played longer and been more successful had he not clashed with management – not his teammates – over his sexual orientation.

Burke was “out” to teammates, management and sportswriters. It is not Burke’s fault that both media and management preferred to say nothing. Dodger management reportedly offered him money to go through a sham marriage. Burke refused.

Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda, whose son died of AIDS in 1991, allegedly helped engineer a trade of Burke to Oakland because of a friendship between Lasorda’s son and Burke. The trade of the popular, outgoing player stunned many Dodgers. Team captain Davey Lopes said, “No one cared about his lifestyle.”

Traded during the 1978 season to the Oakland A’s, Burke ended up managed by the openly homophobic Billy Martin. The volatile manager, according to a documentary about Burke, “baited” him with gay slurs. Frustrated, and never realizing his potential, Burke left baseball in 1980 and became a drug addict. A former Oakland teammate, Shooty Babitt, said, “They ran him straight out of the game.” Burke died of AIDS in 1995. He was 42.

Sam will encounter no Billy Martins. He enters an NFL with a written policy against discrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity and sexual orientation.

Second, let’s discuss Jackie Robinson. Many of his own teammates signed a petition stating they would not play with him. At least one petitioner was traded.

Viciously taunted, and sometimes threatened by players, fans and others, Robinson faced enormous pressure to not only play well, but to do so while restraining the desire to punch somebody in the face. Had Robinson not “succeeded,” the path for other black players would have become even more difficult, about which the former UCLA student was quite aware.

The attention and pressure on Robinson makes Sam’s future career look like a coronation. Robinson’s was a pre-television, pre-Internet, Jim Crow America, where sports fans really paid keen attention to only three sports – boxing, horse racing and America’s pastime, baseball. Most everybody was watching, many hoping and expecting him to fail. Robinson played Major League Baseball for 10 years and died early. His death certificate described the official cause as a heart attack. But it might as well have said pressure and stress killed him. He was 53.

Yes, Sam will have some challenges. But tell that to Hank Aaron.

In his autobiography, “I Had A Hammer,” Aaron writes about when he and others were the first black players to play the South Atlantic League – a minor league affiliated with the majors – five years after Robinson entered the major league. Southern newspapers, covering the “Sally League,” refused to print pictures of the black players. Taxi drivers in places like Florida refused to pick them up. Players, Aaron said, could be arrested simply for being on the street at night.

Robin Roberts, the Hall of Fame Philadelphia Phillies pitcher, broke into the major leagues the year after Robinson. Roberts recalled a double-header in Philadelphia when Robinson tore the cover off the ball while playing dazzling defense. The next day, Roberts’ manager, Ben Chapman, approached Robinson. “Robinson,” he said, “you’re one hell of a ballplayer, but you’re still a n–ger.” Robinson, according to Roberts, just smiled and walked by. Chapman was fired not long after. Robinson is in the Hall of Fame.

To forget Burke wastes an opportunity to remind us of how far we have come. To liken Sam’s challenges – and there will be some – to those faced by Robinson diminishes the legacy of number 42.


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Thursday, April 10, 2014

Hank Aaron Compares Republicans And Other Obama Opponents To KKK --Names would be helpful

April 10, 2014 Babe Ruth , Democrats 0 Comments
By Andy Clayton, Apr. 9, 2014, Nydailynews.com

Hammerin' Hank can still swing for the fences.

Hank Aaron, who was celebrated Tuesday night in Atlanta on the 40th anniversary of breaking Babe Ruth's all-time home run record, compared Obama critics to the KKK as he opened up about the state of race relations in an interview with USA Today.

The Braves legend, who told the newspaper he still has the bigoted letters and death threats he received during his pursuit of one of baseball's most cherished records, said that little has changed despite the decades that have passed.

"The biggest difference is that back then they had hoods," Aaron said. "Now they have neckties and starched shirts."

Aaron said he keeps the hate mail to remind himself that not everything has changed.

"We can talk about baseball. Talk about politics," said the Hall of Famer who finished with 755 career homers. "Sure, this country has a black president, but when you look at a black president, President Obama is left with his foot stuck in the mud from all of the Republicans with the way he's treated."

"We still have a long ways to go in the country," Aaron added.

 Read the full story:  www.nydailynews.com


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Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Hank Aaron Compares Republicans That Oppose Obama To KKK --So sad, so misled--and such a great man--Aaron, that is.

April 09, 2014 Atlanta , CBS News 0 Comments
Apr. 9 , 2014, CBS Atlanta/AP

Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron compared Republicans that oppose President Barack Obama to the Ku Klux Klan.

Speaking to USA Today Tuesday on the 40th anniversary of his then record-breaking 715th home run, the 80-year-old Aaron said that Republicans are hindering Obama’s job performance.  “Sure, this country has a black president, but when you look at a black president, President Obama is left with his foot stuck in the mud from all of the Republicans with the way he’s treated,” Aaron told USA Today Sports.

Aaron continued: “The bigger difference is that back then they had hoods. Now they have neckties and starched shirts.”  Aaron stated that there is still room for improvement for race relations in the U.S.  “We have moved in the right direction, and there have been improvements, but we still have a long ways to go in the country,” Aaron told USA Today Sports.

Aaron goes on to describe the racist letters he has kept for decades as he was chasing Babe Ruth’s home run record.  “To remind myself that we are not that far removed from when I was chasing the record,” Aaron explained to USA Today Sports. “If you think that, you are fooling yourself. A lot of things have happened in this country, but we have so far to go. There’s not a whole lot that has changed.”

Read the full story:  www.atlanta.cbslocal.com


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