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BroughtonRulesRefuge wrote: ↑11 Apr 2018, 11:43 - Perno, if a raciest cries out racism, does it really matter?

If we live in an idealistic world where we are all equal, aren't we all equally guilty and complicit?

When the great Broughton first opened up his amphitheater for exhibitions in 1743, one of the card's headliners was Buckhorse against a giggle of unnamed probably drawn from the crowd as a Battle Royal, so if the posters of the day used language in wide use, the term easily goes back to the 16th Century or beyond. If not racist then, then when did Battle Royals become racist?

We used to have some wild ones as kids. We weren't allowed to fight, but we could throw down. This one snooty kid moved into our working class neighborhood, so his mom kept him on a tight leash. One day we has just started one when he came running over asking if he could join us. We were in the 8-9 year old stage, and sure and he had a blast tossing us around, but then I got him thrown in his first downing, OK, no problem as he got up, but then he put his fingers to his face and pulled out the dog mess he landed in. Oh to see the look of horror as he slowly melted into bawling tears to run back to his mommy. We never saw him again and presumably they moved to a more gentile neighborhood.

Here's the tale of baseball HOFer Ty Cobb often cited as racist. He started the most recorded fights on the field than anyone in history, were they racist? Off field he probably had as many, but most weren't recorded. On the field he was fighting fellow whites, and off the field he was fighting, say 98% whites and none called him out for his racism, however the few fights he had with blacks, the eastern press made it a racial matter. Why was that? Because he was a southerner who believed in white supremacy?

He played an exhibition against a black team in Cuba as a player with no incidences, and then refused to play any more against black players in spite of dozens of barnstorming MLB teams making good money against barnstorming black teams as they packed in the fans everywhere they went. The most battle prone black player was Oscar Charleston, built like the human stump Hack Wilson of the Cubs, but called the black TY Cobb by his people because his fisticuffs reminded them of Cobb. Was that racist of them?

In 1930, Cobb throw out the ceremonial first pitch to dedicate the new park built for the Detroit black league, so do you really think the black league would have invited Cobb to such a high profile affair as their guest of honor if he was really racist?

The whole concept of racism is completely modern, so just when did this racism thing begin and when is it going to end and whats the official name of the committee that started it and will stop it?

APerno wrote: ↑11 Apr 2018, 17:25 That is great one wouldn't think that Battle Royals had its own experienced fighters let alone veteran strategies..

Caractacus wrote: ↑11 Apr 2018, 20:19

APerno wrote: ↑11 Apr 2018, 17:25 That is great one wouldn't think that Battle Royals had its own experienced fighters let alone veteran strategies..

Are you referring to the one held at the Blackfriars Club in 1900 ?
I think the American involved was a ringer placed there by his manager.
Middleweight Frank Craig aka The Harlem Cofee Cooler"