The eyes of the world are on Cincinnati this weekend as Major League Baseball holds its annual Civil Rights Game in the Queen City.
Why Cincinnati? Why now?
"Baseball – Cincinnati – the civil rights movement – what else would you ask for?," said Jimmie Lee Solomon, executive vice-president of Baseball Operations for Major League Baseball.
The Cincinnati Red Stockings were the first professional baseball team and Cincinnati has a relevant place in civil rights history.
Solomon noted that the Reds organization aggressively pursued the game and played up the fact that the city has the National Underground Freedom Center and was a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Judge Nathaniel Jones, who formerly served as a Justice on the Cincinnati-based U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, said Cincinnati was the perfect place for the game.
"The parallels of baseball and Cincinnati struggling to deal with this whole issue of race and racial discrimination makes this a prime location," the judge said.
Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947 when he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers organization.
Judge Jones recalled hearing Robinson speak in Cincinnati before a 1972 World Series game.
"He acknowledged that this was a great honor, but he was looking forward to the day when he could look over at the Cincinnati dugout and see a black man managing that team," Judge Jones stated.
That dream has become reality with Dusty Baker managing the Reds in the 2009 season.
Rev. Damon Lynch, Jr., pastor of the New Jerusalem Baptist Church in Carthage and board chairman of the Freedom Center, said he thinks Major League Baseball was impressed by the fact that the city has moved beyond the riots of the 1960s and 2001.
"I think the mark of an intolerant city has pretty much left – and that’s a good thing," Rev. Lynch said. "We still have a way to go. We have fits and starts, but we keep moving."
The highlight of the weekend is the Civil Rights Game between the Reds and Chicago White Sox on Saturday night at Great American Ballpark.
On Saturday morning, Beacon Awards will be presented to former baseball great Hank Aaron, boxing legend Muhammad Ali and comedian and entertainer Bill Cosby.
A roundtable on baseball and the Civil Rights movement was held Friday afternoon at the Freedom Center.
It was hosted by Harvard Law School Professor Charles Ogletree with a panel that included Judge Jones, former Reds star Tony Perez and basketball great Oscar Robertson.
Perez recalled that in his early days as a player, team members had to stay in different hotels depending upon their race.
He said you didn’t miss the bus in those days because nobody would offer you a ride.
The weekend once again shines a bright spotlight on Cincinnati, but will the momentum toward racial equality continue once the game is over?
Yes, says MLB’s Solomon.
"We’re going to do it in such a way to look back on history – not close our eyes to it – look at it, examine it and understand what it really was," he said. "Then, look forward to what the future is going to be."
Judge Jones added that the lessons learned from baseball and the Freedom Center need to be applied in everyday life to keep the dream alive.
