Back in March, Cleveland Indians pitcher C.C. Sabathia made a big deal of lamenting the lack of African American players in professional baseball. ESPN and others picked up on it, in part because Sabathia was very deliberately trying to draw attention to the North Vallejo Little League that he sponsors, as well as the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities and Urban Youth Academy programs, which are aimed at young black American boys. Explains Sabathia: "I want to show them. I came from there. These are the fields I played on. There is a way out, and it could be baseball."
But the issue is a slippery one, and there are major problems with the discussion in the way that Sabathia and ESPN framed and continue to frame it. They use African American and black interchangeably and synonymously; so not only are all African Americans black, but it seems that all blacks are African American. Having set a sort of syllogism thusly, Sabathia seems to reach the conclusion that ballplayers of African descent but who are not American (ie. black Hispanic players from the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela, etc.) are not black, and begins to problematically demarcate the difference between black and, I suppose, black-but-not-really-black.
To this point, Sabathia makes some interesting references to sight and the visibility of black (and black-but-not-black) ballplayers, and I want to quickly tease out how complex they are. He suggests that it's important that black bodies be visible on the field, since, he suggests, black American kids aren't playing because they don't see themselves represented:
"They don't see us playing," Sabathia said. "When I grew up, I was a pitcher and I liked the Oakland A's. I liked Dave Stewart. I was a big left-handed hitter, so I liked Dave Parker. You had Barry Bonds playing in San Francisco, guys like that. There were a lot of guys to look up to."
This is all well and good, except that the number of black bodies is actually increasing - it's just that those bodies are, within Sabathia's logic, black-but-not-black. But for Sabathia, this is a problem - these bodies are misrecognized/mistaken by kids for black bodies. So even if kids do appear to see themselves represented, it isn't actually bringing them to the game because it's a false recognition:
"I don't think people understand that there is a problem. They see players like Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado and just assume that they're black."
How black American kids intuit that Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado aren't actually 'black', I don't know. For Sabathia's logic to work, we have to assume that something about Reyes' and Delgado's inauthenticity explains how they fail to attract African Americans to play ball, that the misrecognition at work is either eventually defeated or is itself self-defeating. It's a very white project, though, to participate in this sort of game aimed at drawing a line between those inside and those outside of a well-defined category of the proper citizen, or proper player. It's obviously xenophobic, yes, but I suppose that it seems somehow less obviously racist when this sort of disturbing nationalist rhetoric comes out of a black man's mouth.
14 comments:
Man, for a guy with a PhD, you sure are one dumb fuck.
Man, for such an insightful person, you sure don't know how to read the very first line of my bio. Jeez.
Unfortunately, to many people black, white and Hispanic, there is a difference. Reggie Jackson is black, Jose Ryeyes is Hispanic. He is dark but not black. It's very complex and definitely has it's roots in a slave mentality but the issue exists big time. I know many black hispanics who become offended if they are mistaken (yes mistaken) for by being black. I'm surprised you are not aware of this phenomenon.
Well, I'm aware of it - I wouldn't have written about it if I *wasn't* aware of it - but what I wanted to draw out is how the logic that seems to underlie the distinction is the same that's been historically used by white guys. Because when Sabathia is saying that he's 'really' black, he's also saying that he's 'really' American, and that he's somehow of a purer breed than the Hispanic players, who are nearer and more beholden to their colonial history (note the emphasis on 'Hispanic' and not 'Caribbean').
I'll admit, though, that it's not a distinction that I grew up knowing anything about. I'm from a mostly white community (where anyone who looked black was simply black) and I've lived for the past decade in Toronto, where ethnic divisions are a whole hell of a lot more complicated than Hispanic and not-Hispanic.
Hmmm. You're kind-of missing the point. Sabathia is 'really' black. Being American has nothing to do with it because Caribbean's are 'really' black too. And maybe that makes him a 'purer black person' but Hispanics are happy to not be 'pure black' or 'really black.' So there is no elitism in his remarks.
Sabathia is just saying he'd like to see more black people who are admitedly black (which usually means black Africans, black Americans and black Caribbeans) play ball.
I don't think the Hispanics are/were offended at all. If anything it's offensive to a Hispanic to say he is a descendant of slaves or of Africans.
Nor do I think he was trying to offend others or be elitist in his comments. Being black is just a construct anyway.
I think Fijians and people from Papua New Guinea are black too. But I'm not sure if the rest of the world or the inhabitabts of those islands think so.
Anon wrote: "Sabathia is 'really' black. Being American has nothing to do with it because Caribbean's are 'really' black too."
Not according to Sabathia, though. He specifically singled out non-Caribbean players as being 'really' black and Caribbean players as not-black. And this is perhaps most obvious when you look at Grady Sizemore, who has one black and one white parent - and Sabathia considers him 'really' black. So the logic is clearly operating along lines of language and geographic origin, and has very little to do with skin color.
Anon wrote: "Being black is just a construct anyway."
Sure. But not in Sabathia's mind.
When you say Caribbean do you mean or does Sabathia mean the Latino Caribbean (Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico?) Or was he including Jamacians, Bajans etc.? There's a difference.
I guess what I am trying to say is that he is thinking no differently than any other American so why is he being denigrated? Blacks and whites in America see the President as Black when he's actually biracial.
Unfortunately, Sabathia, like most people, don't see titles such as black, white, Asian etc. as constructs because we are culturally taught not to. He is a product of his environment. As we all are and the vast majority of us adhere to these racial types.
I think there is a lot of truth to what he is saying. Nor do I think his statement is meant to offend or dismiss Latino players. Blacks and Latinos knew exactly where he was coming from.
Assuredly, I haven't heard or read all the backlash pertaining to his statement but all the negative criticisms I have read came from white people.
Pele's Brazilian. I remember him saying he wasn't black. I thought that was crazy but maybe in Brazil he's not.
I've never hear A-Rod, K-Rod, Jose Reyes or even Bernie Williams say they were Black, though at least to me, clearly, they are of African descent.
If anything, I would have appreciated a blog that wrote of the racial & yes, even cultural similarities between black & Latino players as opposed to one alluding that to be openly and admittedly black is somehow being racist, elitist or denigrating to Latino players.
Neilshyminsky wrote: but what I wanted to draw out is how the logic that seems to underlie the distinction is the same that's been historically used by white guys. Because when Sabathia is saying that he's 'really' black, he's also saying that he's 'really' American, and that he's somehow of a purer breed than the Hispanic players, who are nearer and more beholden to their colonial history (note the emphasis on 'Hispanic' and not 'Caribbean').
This statement really gets me and I think you are wrong on numerous levels.
1: logic that seems to underlie the distinction is the same that's been historically used by white guys.
The usage is the same (black & not really black) but the reason for the usage is NOT THE SAME. Historically white people have used this to keep the minorities in place (anywhere below whites) & fighting amongst each other. All Sabathia did was call himself what, historically, white guys have been calling people like him for hundreds of years that he is.
2: 'Because when Sabathia is saying that he's 'really' black, he's also saying that he's 'really' American, and that he's somehow of a purer breed than the Hispanic players, who are nearer and more beholden to their colonial history (note the emphasis on 'Hispanic' and not 'Caribbean').'
How you gleaned the whole 'he thinks he's better than another minority group' thing is amazing.
But is also goes to how white guys have consistently throughout modern and postmodern history caused minorities to fight like crabs in a barrel.
Just look at The Indians and natives in the Fiji Islands. The Indians, Chinese and blacks in the carribean. The Indians and the blacks in Africa.
And now you are attempting (under the guise of social thought and cultural criticism) to cause the same division between black and Lationo baseball players. Shame on you, man. Truly
Anon wrote: "All Sabathia did was call himself what, historically, white guys have been calling people like him for hundreds of years that he is."
Yes. And that's what i said he was doing. :/
Anon wrote: "How you gleaned the whole 'he thinks he's better than another minority group' thing is amazing."
He calls it, and I quote, a "problem" that latino baseball players are 'mistaken' for being black. He looked up to Dave Stewart and Dave Parker and decries the fact that Afro-Americans have no black players to look up to anymore - and, again, says it's a "problem" that they look up to Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado.
Anon wrote: "And now you are attempting (under the guise of social thought and cultural criticism) to cause the same division between black and Lationo baseball players. Shame on you, man."
Did you actually read the original post? No, Sabathia is the one doing that - I am writing about the divisions that he's drawn. (Or, I should say, continuing that, since it's hardly a process that began with him. My critique has only ever been that he's in a position of authority to collapse those walls, and he reinforces them instead.)
Anon wrote: "I guess what I am trying to say is that he is thinking no differently than any other American so why is he being denigrated?"
Fairly or not, I guess that I'm hoping he can elevate the discourse on race, rather than entrench pre-existing attitudes.
Anon wrote: "Assuredly, I haven't heard or read all the backlash pertaining to his statement but all the negative criticisms I have read came from white people."
I haven't actually heard any other remotely negative or critical responses to these comments. Can you link me to it?
Anon wrote: "If anything, I would have appreciated a blog that wrote of the racial & yes, even cultural similarities between black & Latino players as opposed to one alluding that to be openly and admittedly black is somehow being racist, elitist or denigrating to Latino players."
Your first point is probably fair - it's just not what I wanted to write about, and I admit in the very subtitle of my blog that I'm not going to delve as deeply as possible into every topic. But the second point is a strawman. I'm not criticizing Sabathia for being 'openly and admittedly black', but for implying that his blackness is somehow more 'real' than other kinds of blackness.
Hispanic is not a race!!!!!!!!
You can be Hispanic and simultaneously be of any race!
Anonymous wrote: "Hispanic is not a race!!!!!!!!"
Yes and no. Race isn't actually a real thing, so it's boundaries and definition are changing all the time. And it's also highly relative. I would think that most people agree that it language and culture play a huge role in defining one's race, and it's certainly coming into play in the quote that I was referring to back when I wrote this. But there's certainly room to argue the point - race is like that.
Wow you must have not heard of the transatlantic slave trade most afro latinos hate being of African desent and have self hate for themselves. They want to be Spanish so bad and can never be them. They love their slave masters!! It's the reason why white supremacy dominates Latin American through everything!! For the record, blacks are not afro Americans they are human beings and blacks are the original people of this planet direct from God . Don't accept what the white man has labeled you!!!
"There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)
The above is a quote from the Christian St. Paul, writing in the Bible. He is writing to other Christian believers, and shows us all the ideal, ie. where we should all be headed in matters of race and ethnicity.
Post a Comment