BRONX, NY – 1968: Reggie Jackson of the Oakland Athletics poses an action portrait at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York in 1968. (Photo by Louis Requena/MLB via Getty Images)
(Photo by Louis Requena/MLB via Getty Images)
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(Photo by Louis Requena/MLB via Getty Images)
Baseball legend and Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson returned to Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, this week and opened up about the horrors of racist abuse he endured over there during his time in the leagues.
Jackson, 78, was just 21 years old when he joined the Birmingham A's as one of the few black players on the minor league team and at the height of violent racial conflict in the American South.
“Luckily I had a manager and players on the team that helped me get through it, but I wouldn't wish it on anyone,” Jackson said on the Fox Sports panel Thursday during the Negro Leagues tribute game.
When Jackson arrived in Alabama in the 1960s, the city of Birmingham was making headlines for its public abuse of black Americans.
Under the leadership of Bull Connor, Birmingham's infamous city commissioner, racial tensions reached a fever pitch, culminating in the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, which killed four young black girls.
“I'd walk into restaurants and they'd point at me and say, 'the n***** can't eat here.' I went to a hotel and they said, 'the n***** can't stay here,'” Jackson said.
Alex Rodriguez asked a question. Reggie Jackson replied.
(Shouts out to the producer and the rest of the agency for staying away from Reggie and just letting him talk. I doubt they expected this response. But it's a great few minutes of television.)pic.twitter.com/7WqjlppvF8
— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) June 21, 2024
“We went to Charlie Finley's country club for a welcome dinner, and they pointed at me with the N-word. “He can't come in here.” Finley marched out with the whole team,” Jackson recalled, referring to Alabama native and Major League Baseball franchisee Charles Finley.
Jackson admitted that he had white friends and allies at his side who stood up for him and prevented him from doing anything that would have jeopardized his career or his life in the deeply segregated era.
“I would never have made it. I was too physically violent. I was ready to physically fight – I would have been killed here,” he said.
Jackson, who goes by the nickname “Mr. October', due to his ability to outperform in the postseason, would eventually play 21 seasons in the Majors, taking home five World Series victories.
He retired after the 1987 season and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993.
