My Skin Was Against Me

            Jackie Robinson was not the first African American to play organized professional white baseball; nor was he the first in the 20^th century either. This earth shattering statement may be hard to comprehend but it is the truth.

            Before 1884 professional baseball was not open to Black men. Then from 1884 – 1887 Blacks were allowed to play alongside whites. In 1887 an unwritten gentlemen’s agreement was made among white baseball’s owners baring Black ballplayers from the major leagues. That four-year period marked the first time that professional baseball was fully integrated and during this time, Moses Fleetwood Walker was credited as the first Black man to play white professional baseball. Unfortunately this is also not true, in order to find the real first Black player to play alongside whites in professional baseball we have to go back a bit farther.

            In 1879 a young student at Brown University was recruited to play first base for the Providence Grays after their regular starter broke his finger.  18-year-old freshman, William Edward White stepped onto the field to take his place. Unknown to the other members of the Grays but William White in doing so became the first African American to play professional white baseball. White was able to play in this game because as far as anyone was concerned he was a white man. William White not only played that game as a white man but also lived almost his entire life passing as white American.

            One may ask how this is possible and the answer is quite simple. As far as Major League Baseball was concerned if you were not Black you could play ball. Overlooking the racism and intentional segregation that goes along with this idea, it also led to several cases of Black men trying to pass as anything but that. In 1916 Jimmy Claxton played six games with the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League claiming to be an Indian. Claxton only played six games because it only took that long for people to find out that he was not only part Indian but also part Black. His contract was quickly terminated. Those six games make Claxton the first Black man to play in the Major Leagues in the 20^th century.

            As time past the talent in the Negro Leagues became harder and harder to overlook and managers began to attempt to find ways around this decade old agreement. In the 1930’s Memphis Red Sox catcher Larry Brown was approached and asked if he would spend a couple months of the offseason in Cuba and learn Spanish. Brown’s skin was just light enough that he might be able to pass as a Cuban and play in White baseball.  Brown declined due to his principles that would not allow him to pretend to be another race.

            White, Claxton, and Brown are just three of the dozens of light skinned Black men who attempted to play professional baseball throughout this period of racial segregation.  These accounts show just how the racial discrimination throughout Major League baseball was aimed solely at preventing Blacks from playing alongside whites and not just those of color.  Since William White’s story has become more commonly known it raises questions about his role in African American history. Even though he did not live his life as one White was technically an African American, should this prevent him from being celebrated with other influential Black athletes? When February 2015 rolls around will people talk about White like they do about Joe Louis or Jackie Robinson? Or will he be forgotten by all except a select few baseball historians?

           

            “If I had not been quite so black I might have caught on as a Spaniard or                                                    something of that type. My skin was against me” Bud Fowler 1895.

Alexander Browning