“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” – William Faulkner
The Faulkner phrase was on my mind this morning as I sat down to eat breakfast with my three-year-old daughter. As she munched happily away, I snuck a glance at the newspaper and yesterday’s mail. The paper carried a story about the likeness of the new Vanderbilt football coach that a local muralist had painted on the side of a building near campus. In the mail was a copy of the Vanderbilt athletic department newsletter, which included an interesting story on the make-up of the Commodore baseball team. And over on the counter next to us sat my Strong Inside manuscript, with final copy edits due back to the publisher by tonight. The book, of course, deals with the racism, stereotypes and insensitivities Perry Wallace confronted as the SEC’s first African-American basketball player. I’ve wondered how young readers today will react to the story, as accustomed as they are to black athletes. Other readers may wonder why a book about the tumultuous events of the 1960s is relevant – “Aren’t we past all that?” they might say.
But the Tennessean and Commodore Nation articles demonstrated just how much race still remains a part of the daily discourse in the sports world. In the case of the mural, observers were quick to note that the artist’s depiction of VU football coach Derek Mason looked uncomfortably like an old minstrel show depiction of an African-American, with overly dark skin and white lips. Vanderbilt’s NAACP chapter led an effort to call for a “re-do” on the painting, and as of today it appears the artist will alter it.
Better news could be found in the newsletter article on the Vanderbilt baseball team, in which Commodore head coach Tim Corbin, universally regarded as one of the best in his profession, talked about his intentional work to build a team of players from diverse ethnic backgrounds. “It is done purposely to match the university and really to match our country,” Corbin told Jerome Boettcher. “It is a dynamic that goes hand in hand with educating kids … It is really good for perspective. What I think it does is widen their focus … That typically equals success if they buy into it.”