I have been reading a book about the 1948 Cleveland Indians, the first baseball team in the American League to be racially integrated. In 1947, the Indians drafted a power-hitting African American outfielder named Larry Doby.
When Doby first joined the team, the welcome was anything but warm. Not only was Doby ignored by his teammates, but he was also forced to sleep in separate hotels and eat at separate restaurants. In many stadiums, Doby had to enter the field through a separate entrance at the ballpark. Although he was degraded and dehumanized, Larry Doby ended up hitting more than 20 home-runs every season that he played and batted as high as .326. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998. Today, there is a statue honoring him at the Cleveland ballpark.
I thought about the kind of world that Larry Doby had to navigate as I read through the many disturbing comments on Facebook regarding transgender students and their families during the recent Clarkstown school board election. The very same fears and bigotries that were a reality in our past were on full display right here in our own neighborhood.
We are living in a time of great social change – a time in which there is hope for those who have too long been forced to deny their own reality. Unfortunately, along with that hope comes a tremendous amount of fear from those stuck in the past – fear about what change means to their own myopic views of the world.
This is not new – we have seen this story before. We have witnessed furious reactions to social change by those used to their defined way of life. We have seen obstinate people try and justify their fear and outrage – somehow making a case that their reaction is rational and even moral.
But as we’ve learned time and again, the winds of change and progress have continually proven the obstinate ones wrong. After all, not only was major league baseball fully integrated within a few years of Larry Doby’s draft, but the Cleveland Indians eventually gave up their racially-charged team name and mascot. Yes, it took too much time, but change and progress occurred.
Temple Beth Sholom is a proud advocate and supporter of equal rights for our friends and family in the transgender community. We are a home for you—we are here for you—and we want you to know that despite certain bumps and yes even a few massive potholes on the road, there is hope.
Please join us on Friday, June 21st for our annual Pride Shabbat in which we will celebrate and inspire one another, where we will appreciate our diversity and where we will advocate for equality and justice.
Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof. Justice, justice we shall pursue.
