by maligned » Sat Oct 24, 2009 6:00 pm
[quote:28e48fd23c="LMBombers"][quote:28e48fd23c="maligned"][ It's a sad, sad part of baseball history (and others sports' histories) that teams were segregated for so long.
[/quote:28e48fd23c]
I disagree. It was society in general that had segregation, not just baseball or sports. I also don't think you can judge history based on today's standards. Are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, etc, etc bad people now just because they owned slaves? No way, it was just how things were back then.
I'm very glad things have changed but you have to consider historical events in context with the times as they were.[/quote:28e48fd23c]
Since my comment was the one that LM responded to in the first place, I'd like to respond to what he said. Very simply, segregation in baseball is a sad, sad part of our history. Yes, it was a result of the circumstances surrounding it, but that doesn't make it any less sad or unfortunate. I wasn't trying to explore whether or not baseball could have done things differently, I was merely lamenting the fact that it all happened.
rmilter, I too am uncomfortable with parts of what LM said in his posts, but I agree with others that have suggested you're overreacting. Just because we don't agree doesn't mean he doesn't have the right to speak his mind.
To be clear, I've been around too many friends that are still affected directly and indirectly by current and past sins of white people to take the time to fashion an argument in defense of those who carried out slavery. I'm not saying I know for sure I would have done anything any differently that Thomas Jefferson in his shoes--but my actions, like his, would have had no justification whatsoever had I followed in his footsteps.
Still, though, unless someone is malicious, I can't go along with censoring people. Little by little, the past ignorance of this country is being stripped away. We just have to be patient and continue dialoguing.