“That’s right, he’s good, that’s fantastic, ooh boy, that’s a powerful statement,” these were some of the things I said while listening to the talk by Bob Avakian, “The NBA - Marketing the Minstrel Show and Serving the Big Gangsters.” I really appreciated hearing this talk. Everything he’s saying about sports, I lived through it.
While listening to Part 1 of the talk, I couldn’t believe how deeply and accurately Bob Avakian described everything. Anyone who listens to this talk is put in a better position to understand what really went on. It’s unbelievable how it describes what happened to Black players. It is so excellent and incredible, I can’t begin to express everything I think about it and I need to listen to it again. If you took a group of high school kids and had them sit down and listen to this, they’d never be the same again.
There’s so many aspects of what the talk takes up that need to be exposed. People have no idea what Black athletes have gone through. I went through similar experiences in breaking the color barrier. In high school I was involved in track, basketball and football and when I became a quarterback, this went up against the views of many who didn’t think Blacks had the intelligence to be a quarterback. I played on an all-white team against other all white teams where the opposing players tried to knock me out then kneed and kicked me when I was down. My brother, who was a very good football player, could have become a pro player in Baltimore, but he could not get hired as a quarterback. It just was not done in those days. When I got into college basketball, there were very few Black players. I was one of the first Black starters on my college team. Go see the movie “Glory Road” to understand what it was like.
From the talk I learned for the first time that there was a conscious shift of moving the NBA stadiums to the suburbs out of the inner cities where more Black people live. This is going on now in moving the S.F. 49’ers to the S.F. suburban Peninsula area and the Oakland A’s to Fremont, another suburb.
It describes the treatment Hank Aaron got when he was about to pass up Babe Ruth’s home run record. I have talked to Hank Aaron about what he went through. There was one game where someone jumped out of the stands and tried to shoot him. Avakian refers to the big controversy in sports about putting an asterisk after Barry Bonds’ name once he surpasses Aaron’s record. I really agree with Avakian’ s insight that there should be asterisks put next to the names of all players during the years that Black people were forbidden to play in the major leagues.
I am very pleased that Bob Avakian spoke to the Barry Bonds’ controversy. I couldn’t believe how deep his views were in examining Bonds’ story in the context of the history of the exclusion of Black people from baseball. I know enough about athletes that I know some are using drugs, yet it is Bonds who is getting vilified, while others admitted to using supplements, even though it was during a time that use of such supplements weren’t illegal, but it’s Bonds who has faced such wrath. I think they want to embarrass Bonds because he is outspoken. Avakian’s take on Barry Bonds is a very different perspective than what is being heard.
He made a good point in the story about Julius Irving where Larry Bird started a fight with Irving, yet the media manipulated what was shown on t.v. so Julius Irving was portrayed as the one who started the fight. This thing of changing the story is done all the time. A similar thing happened with the Joe Louis - Max Schmeling fight. I also agree that Larry Bird was built up as the “Great White Hope” when many Black players were as good, if not better.
Blacks were excluded from sports for years. They weren’t allowed in the Industrial League and the story of Don Barksdale (one of the first Black players in the NBA) is an example of that. I played with the Harlem Globetrotters in one of their last series and I agree that the Globetrotters were very good as serious basketball players. The existence of the Globetrotters was influenced by the lack of Blacks in pro-basketball.
In my experience as a basketball player, Avakian makes a good point that there’s a need for leadership and coaching. I don’t agree with Bobby Knight’s approach that the players don’t know anything about the game and I think the players can understand more than the coach. I highly recommend that people listen to this talk and spread the word about it.
Hal Perry, USF Dons Basketball Team, NCAA champions in 1955 and 1956, Team Captain 1956
