Baseball As My Teachable Moment

Over the weekend, while riots and protests rocked LA to the core,  my husband and I decided to watch a movie called "42" with our 13 year old son to help us start the dialogue of social inequality.  We correctly surmised it was high time in our relatively white washed lives of West LA, that Christopher know exactly why the country is suffering such a painful and outrageous upheaval .

What a better way to get a message through to a first year teenager than sports?  And if you can learn it through the All American sport of baseball, loved since the dawn of team sports in this country, all the better.

Christopher sat mesmerized by the movie; wide eyed and dumbfounded by the realities of racism in our country.  "Hey mom?"  "Yes, Chris?" "Why are they acting like that?  He's a great player.  We would never do that out on the field, momma.  Never."  "Well Christopher, we're going to talk.  Just watch the movie and think about the game and remember that these events really happened."   We finished the movie and went to bed in thoughtful silence.  We started reading the bible, as is our habit as a family every night, but I could tell that Christopher's mind was elsewhere.   

The next day, Christopher was in the hammock finishing up reading the racially-based book, The Help after Language Arts Zoom class.  Sirens now a constant in the background, Los Angeles still under curfew and Christopher innocently swinging in the hammock might have otherwise been kind of a lazy looking day, but there was a lot brewing on that hammock yesterday morning. 

Today, when I finally sat down and explained to Christopher what racism means, I had forgotten he was reading The Help as he begged me to watch the adaptation for film tonight.  Combined with the brilliant film, 42 about a brave white owner, Branch Riley, of the then Brooklyn Dodgers and an even braver black player, Jackie Robison, it turned out that media serves as a the perfect learning tool for a child in such a bittersweet and watershed time in our nation's history.  

During our discussion, Christopher said he was appalled (I told him good use of the word, he retorted he knows it well as I apparently direct the word toward him quite a bit) that what happened in America's beloved game of baseball ever occurred and was doubly stunned that part of what defines the history of baseball is not only relevant, but prevalent today.

He watched the news last night and for the first time paid attention and asked poignant questions, with deep concern.  I'm not certain I've ever seen his brow furrowed like I saw it last night when I witnessed his epiphanic moment surrounding the words, I Can't Breath.

Education surrounding these social issues needs to become and remain a strong top priority in our families' discourses and schools' curriculums.   I particularly hope coaches of organized sports can also provide solid mentorship on this issue.

I myself was raised in the heated political environment of DC Capitol Hill, doing my homework in an office in the House of Representatives. But many kids may be a bit removed in the social cushion of West LA and many other similar communities across the country, and might not have the benefit of the geopolitical education that marches and demonstrations provide every weekend in their own backyards.   

I know we already know that it's up to us, parents, educators and coaches to teach the kids the real - real so they can recognize it and slay it like the evil it is.  

Enlightenment begins with the younger generations.  The younger the better.  

PS to parents! I also found that the 1950 classic Al Green movie The Jackie Robinson Story starring Jackie Robinson himself 😲😍 is part of the American free domain film project! Let your kids see a real American Hero playing himself and see where Harrison Ford got some ideas about how to play Branch Rickey from actor Minor Watson!