Uncomfortable History Month: Hammer Time

Day five, and what better topic is there than the Hammer himself. On this date in 1934, the greatest player to ever wear an Atlanta Braves uniform was born in Mobile, Alabama. Henry Louis “Hank” Aaron would leave Mobile and go on to become the homerun king of Major League Baseball.

I could go on all day about his career, but we all are pretty familiar with his stats. What makes his career even more impressive is when you realize that he accomplished all he did while under constant threat to both himself and his family. Just as revisionism portrays Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr as someone who was supposedly beloved during his time on earth, Aaron wasn’t universally accepted and loved by America during his playing years.

I’ll give you just a few samples of the thousands upon thousands of hate letters he and the Braves organization received during his playing days.

Now, when you go back and watch footage of him playing, you don’t see a man with that kind of pressure on his back. I don’t pretend to think that I’d be able to do what he did under those circumstances. That’s what makes him such a great player. Swing by beautiful swing, he hammered away at the myth of white supremacy.

So, if you want to make some folks uncomfortable, remind them of what Hank Aaron endured from his fellow citizens. While he’s beloved by most of America today, that wasn’t always the case. Show them some of the hate mail he received. Better yet, share his own words about how he felt back then.

It really made me see for the first time a clear picture of what this country is about. My kids had to live like they were in prison because of kidnap threats, and I had to live like a pig in a slaughter camp. I had to duck. I had to go out the back door of the ball parks. I had to have a police escort with me all the time. I was getting threatening letters every single day. All of these things have put a bad taste in my mouth, and it won’t go away. They carved a piece of my heart away.

Happy Birthday Hank.