There’s a group of famous Black men whom Americans, mostly white people, believe have “transcended” race.
Ernie Banks.
Michael Jordan.
Tiger Woods.
Jackie Robinson.
Muhammad Ali.
Barack Obama.
With the recent passing of Hank Aaron, some are attempting to add him to this list. Despite years of facing racist fans, now the Hall of Famer is catching strays from people who pretend to know how Black folks are supposed to carry themselves in white spaces.
All of the aforementioned icons handled the brunt of racism in their own way. Some of them knew they couldn’t mess up the bag for Black folks who would follow behind them.
Imagine if Obama had cut up as Trump does? Or how former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson did?
These cautionary tales often have their meanings misconstrued.
ESPN reporter Jeff Passan, in a now-deleted tweet, said that Aaron “ignored” hatred as he conquered baseball.
Braves legend Chipper Jones followed suit by tweeting, in part: “I can’t imagine what Hank Aaron went through in his lifetime. He had every right to be angry or militant…..but never was!”
These are a few of the culturally-oblivious statements made by people who believe that Aaron was the right type of Black man who should be rewarded, in death, for not making white people feel uncomfortable about his Blackness.
But here’s where manufactured nostalgia and Black history don’t jibe.
The silent fight against racism
Aaron, in his own words, called bulls**t when it came to the racism he faced.
“It really made me see for the first time a clear picture of what this country is about,” he told New York Times reporter William C. Rhoden leading up to the 20th anniversary of breaking MLB’s all-time home run record. “My kids had to live like they were in prison because of kidnap threats, and I had to live like a pig in a slaughter camp. I had to duck. I had to go out the back door of the ballparks. I had to have a police escort with me all the time. I was getting threatening letters every single day. All of these things have put a bad taste in my mouth, and it won’t go away. They carved a piece of my heart away.”
Contrary to the feelings of some, Aaron NEVER ignored racism and how it made him feel.
Since his retirement from the game, Aaron continued his fight against racism in Major League Baseball. Its treatment of Black players over the years, the decrease of Black players, and how the pipelines to managerial and front office positions have much smaller openings for Black candidates.
His fight also extended beyond the diamond. When asked about visiting the White House during Trump’s administration, he replied “There’s nobody there I want to see.”
The Hall of Famer is from an era when Black America kept their disdain for racism being a pervasive presence in their lives to a minimum. Black folks like Aaron and Jackie Robinson knew they had to carry the weight by muting their feelings in white spaces. Knowing how “Respectability Politics” is constructed, everything these men did was a reflection of the entire diaspora.
For Black ballplayers, living up to a legacy like Aaron’s is difficult. Some focus, some fold. Players like Jason Heyward experienced racism as a minor leaguer, and again when he left the Cardinals for the Cubs in free agency.
Remember how Heyward, now a Chicago Cubs outfielder, was tasked with speaking out on 2020’s racial unrest when one of his white teammates could have spoken up instead? One of those teammates, Kyle Schwarber, wore a Chicago police cap AND a Black Lives Matter t-shirt.
Maybe Heyward saw Aaron’s story as a Northstar saying if Hank can shake off the haters, so can I. But it’s not easy.
Aaron fought for the diaspora all the way to the end of his life.
He got many of us to believe in the power of perseverance. Some may have wanted him to speak out more forcefully against racism. In some cases, Aaron seemed to know he was taking the hits for the Black ballplayers who came up after him.
Decades after chasing Babe Ruth, Aaron, once again, utilized his platform to address another scrouge in society: the COVID-19 pandemic. He took the COVID-19 vaccination in January while encouraging Black folks, longtime skeptics of government-administred medicine, to do the same.
“I don’t have any qualms about it at all, you know,” Aaron told Associated Press. “I feel quite proud of myself for doing something like this. … It’s just a small thing that can help zillions of people in this country.”
In his memory, let’s continue to fight the good fight. This is what he would want after he gave so much.
Rest well, Hank.
You’ll live forever.
