The other day, I woke up at 5 am to get my husband ready for work. There isn’t much on that early in the morning – mostly paid television programming. But I did manage to find the movie Glory on one channel. If you haven’t seen it, you really should. It is a magnificent movie that invokes many emotions, but don’t expect to walk away from it with the warm fuzzies. It is about the first black Union regiment that fought in the Civil War. Sometimes it is hard to see how this regiment was treated, but to see their determination to fight for their country (against both the Union and Confederate soldiers) fills my heart with admiration and respect for those brave souls. Oh and if you think that was a fictional account of what happened, check out Robert Gould Shaw’s bio.
Of course, I watched this incredible film just a few days after Don Imus was on the air calling the mostly African American Rutgers girl’s basketball team “nappy headed hos.” Being born in 1963, I remember a bit of the Civil Rights movement of the Sixties. Sometimes it seems like so much has changed in my lifetime, then a bonehead like Imus comes along and reminds me that maybe things haven’t changed as much as I’d like to think.
Today, I read another racist news item that was upsetting. There was a video aired on German television that showed a German Army instructor telling his soldiers to think of African Americans in the Bronx of New York City when firing their machine guns. The Defense Ministry said the video comes from 2006 and the incident will be investigated.
So as to not leave this blog on a sour note, there was some news in today’s headlines that was nice to read. Baseball is once again honoring an African American pioneer – Jackie Robinson. Sixty years ago, on April 15, 1947, this valiant athlete was the first African American to play on a major league baseball team. At that time, much of the country was still following the “separate but equal” standards. His playing major league baseball was not an easy road. When he played minor-league ball for the Expos, many teams cancelled games against them and he constantly received death threats. He had become such an icon, not only in baseball, but also in the Civil Rights fight itself, that ten years ago, baseball retired his number, 42. That means no one on any major league team can wear it ever again. But, this weekend, to honor him and his ground breaking heroism, dozens of players will wear his number this weekend.