Birmingham is a much different place in 2024 than it was in 1967. But that doesn't make it easy to come back for 14-time Major League Baseball All-Star Reggie Jackson.
Thursday at MLB's tribute to the Negro League hosted by Birmingham's Rickwood Field, Jackson discussed his 1967 season with the then-Kansas City A's double-A affiliate Birmingham A's of the Southern League.
Jackson played at Rickwood Field for the A's as Birmingham was experiencing racial turmoil.
“Coming back here is not easy,” Jackson said during the pregame broadcast on Fox. “The racism that I faced here when I played here, the difficulty of going through different places where we traveled. … I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. … I would never want to do it again. I walked into restaurants and they would point at me and say, ‘the n—-r can’t eat here.’ I would walk into a hotel and they would say, ‘the n—-r can’t stay here.'”
Watch:
Despite the difficulties, Jackson led the 1967 Birmingham A's to the Southern League pennant.
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