The movie "42"

[gingi79]

Re: The movie "42"

My wife and I saw 42 earlier in the day today and we both loved it. A great balance of on-field, off-field and personal life activity for the Robinsons, and also a balance of ups and downs. SEE THIS IF YOU LOVE BASEBALL!!

My one question (not about the movie itself) is the reaction of the descendants of Ben Chapman, Fritz Ostermueller, Kirby Higbe, Dixie Walker, etc as to the portrayals of those players as out-and-out racists. History may well support those portrayals, but I have yet to hear one son, daughter, granchild, etc. of any of these players react to the image that their ancestor was portrayed as.

Dave Miedema

Holy Improbable Outcomes Batman. Dave saw a MOVIE?

[coxfan]

Re: The movie "42"

Kirby Higbe later published his autobiography. In it, he affirmed his opposition to Robinson, and the desegregation of baseball in general, because it went against the way he was "raised." Higbe was a native and resident of Columbia, SC, where I met him briefly in his later years, only walking distance from my home.

I'm 64 and a lifelong southerner, and I recall segregation at its worst in my childhood. I'm proud my family didn't support racism and readily accepted integration when it started to come in, though we were whites living in a small Georgia town. In the early 60's, about half my white high-school classmates accepted integration and civil-rights; though probably 90% of the older whites objected to the changes at first. By the mid-70's a majority of older whites had accepted the changes, but the minority who didn't could still be quite vicious. It was a long process in all areas of society; and not just in the South.

But I recall one case of defiance from my childhood: One store in Macon, Ga had a "colored only" sign in front. Even as a child, I understood it was his way of responding to the indignities of all the "White only" rules.

[ChrisCavalier]

Re: The movie "42"

But I recall one case of defiance from my childhood: One store in Macon, Ga had a "colored only" sign in front. Even as a child, I understood it was his way of responding to the indignities of all the "White only" rules.

Wow! That's awesome. I would have liked to meet that store owner!

-Chris

[trsent]

Re: The movie "42"

My one question (not about the movie itself) is the reaction of the descendants of Ben Chapman, Fritz Ostermueller, Kirby Higbe, Dixie Walker, etc as to the portrayals of those players as out-and-out racists. History may well support those portrayals, but I have yet to hear one son, daughter, granchild, etc. of any of these players react to the image that their ancestor was portrayed as.

As Jimmy Piersall used to say - The truth hurts.