The St. Louis Cardinals organization is competing in its fourth straight NLCS, and a chance to return to the World Series for a second consecutive season. Inside Busch Stadium, the best baseball fans in America (as we love to boast) scream, high-five and rally around every pitch. Black fans and white fans cheer side-by-side. Jackie Robinson’s retired No. 42 is displayed prominently in front of the stadium scoreboard. Yet a segment of Cardinals fans are providing painful reminders of darker days in Cardinals history.
In 1947, when Robinson broke the color barrier as the first black player in the major leagues, the Cardinals landed on the wrong side of history. Players Enos Slaughter and Terry Moore were reportedly so disgusted with the idea of a black man playing in the majors that they attempted to organize a team boycott against the Brooklyn Dodgers. It took the threat of an immediate lifetime ban from Commissioner Ford Frick to keep Slaughter, Moore and other like-minded individuals across the league from boycotting Robinson’s blackness. Unfortunately it didn’t stop Slaughter from intentionally spiking Robinson or save him from years of taunting, discrimination and racist remarks by opposing players and fans.
Outside Busch Stadium, peaceful protesters continue to cry out for justice for the killing of unarmed teenager Mike Brown at the hands of Ferguson Police officer Darren Wilson. Protesters at Ballpark Village have been met with some of the same vitriol and bitterness Robinson surely faced back in the day. Apparently, for a segment of Cardinal Nation, doing things the ‘Cardinal way’ has gone retro.
Argus Streaming News captured a 25-minute video during the NLDS showing white Cardinals fans channeling their inner-Enos and proving the next professional team in our city should be called the St. Louis Segregation. Classy Cards fans yelled things such as: “Let’s Go Darren [Wilson],” “Africa! Africa!,” and “We’re the ones who gave all y’all the freedoms that you have!”
Over and over Cardinals fans respond angrily to peaceful protesters, suggesting that they do not belong here. The piercing prejudice and irony to those remarks fall upon deaf ears. They claim protests should not disrupt America’s pastime, but wear jerseys altered to read “I am Darren Wilson.”
It’s not just Cardinals fans who are disgusted by those demanding justice for Brown, Kajieme Powell, Vonderrit Myers and others during sacred sports and entertainment events. The staggering amount of vicious, blatantly racist comments left on The St. Louis American’s video of the protest at the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra has made me truly question my faith in humanity. The fact that the organizer initially tried to protest at a Cardinals game, only to be met with mocking chants of “Hands up, Don’t Loot” by angry fans, doesn’t help. Also, stories about the protest banners hung in support of Brown at the St. Louis Rams Monday Night Football game are littered with disparaging comments about protesters and black Americans. In their view, protests should be only held outside, away from the public, down barrel from militarized police weapons.
It’s sad that the sports world has been largely silent on the issue. Aside from a hands-up display by the Washington Redskins secondary, active athletes and sports organizations have generally avoided the discussion. Surely there is prodding from execs, agents and PR-specialists not to remain silent considering the polarizing nature of the issue. They don’t want players to tarnish their brand, marketability or earning potential.
Yet all it takes is a look back to 1947 when Dodgers GM Branch Rickey took upon the scorn of the Cardinals and nearly the entire major leagues by taking a stand. His decision wasn’t popular outside of blacks and progressive whites, yet it was extremely important and a catalyst of cultural change in America.
The Cardinals organization has a chance to make amends for its past failures by coming out in support for justice. The team can and should publically repudiate the idiot fans that spew racist remarks at protesters while decked out head-to-toe in Cardinals merchandise. A no-tolerance policy regarding racist comments should also be instituted at Busch Stadium and at Ballpark Village. Sadly, I don’t believe Redbirds management will take those steps. Here’s hoping that somewhere in the MLB, NBA, NFL or NHL, the next Branch Rickey and/or Ford Frick exist. Like Jackie Robinson and integration in baseball, our calls for justice and fairness at the hands of law enforcement officials are not going away. To Cardinals players, executives and fans: which side are you on?
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