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Across the Line: Profiles In Basketball Courage: Tales Of The First Black Players In The ACC and SEC
Across the Line recounts the experiences of the pioneering African-American basketball players at 18 schools in the Atlantic Coast and Southeastern conferences, the South's most prominent, historically white intercollegiate leagues.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 22, 2008
This took me a long time to get through, though not because it was bad -- in fact, exactly the opposite. This was a meticulously researched, well-written, fascinating and heartbreaking view into race relations in the U.S. South as seen through the integration of the basketball programs of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeastern Conference, and it just about broke my heart.
I am, of course, a die-hard lifelong ACC fan, and I knew the history of Dean Smith, Charlie Scott and Carolina, but I knew almost nothing else about the process of integration at the other seven ACC schools and absolutely nothing about integration at the then-10 SEC schools. Jacobs presents an account that isn't unbiased, but is as objective as I think a book like this -- written by a white man -- could possibly be. Carolina comes off well, as do NC State and, surprisingly, at least to me, Alabama and then-coach C.M. Newton (and Bear Bryant, too, actually). Duke and Wake Forest look as good as they possibly could have, given the charged racial atmospheres of Durham and Winston-Salem at the time, something that relatively liberal Chapel Hill didn't have to cope with. Clarence "Big House" Gaines, who was then at Winston-Salem State, is someone that I'd like to know more about, after reading this book, because he was a real hero. (And Charlie Scott, of course, was also helped immensely by the fact that he was, of all these players profiled, the single best player, a three time All-Conference pick and in his senior year, both an All-American and an Academic All-American. It was, Scott notes, easier to survive if you were visibly great.)
But I learned things that made me sick to my stomach, too: Perry Wallace, the first African American to play at Vanderbilt, spoke out about his poor treatment after graduation and was shunned by teammates and the university. Henry Harris killed himself two years after leaving Auburn. Tom Payne, who, to the state of Kentucky, really represented nothing more than Adolph Rupp's grudging resignation about the 1966 championship game, has spent most of his adult life in and out of prison.
This book made me cry; I take African American athletes on the basketball court for granted, I really do, and my sudden awareness of the fact that I do appalls me. But I've grown up with them, with Michael Jordan wearing Carolina blue one of my earliest memories. I knew it was bad, I knew it was tough -- I've read interviews with Charlie Scott and he even admits that he had it relatively easy at Carolina, comparatively, even when it was awful. I know a lot about the Civil Rights Movement. But I really had no idea how bad it was, no concrete idea, until I read this.
Quite possibly the best book about sports I've ever read. Moving, brutal, and spectacular.
I am, of course, a die-hard lifelong ACC fan, and I knew the history of Dean Smith, Charlie Scott and Carolina, but I knew almost nothing else about the process of integration at the other seven ACC schools and absolutely nothing about integration at the then-10 SEC schools. Jacobs presents an account that isn't unbiased, but is as objective as I think a book like this -- written by a white man -- could possibly be. Carolina comes off well, as do NC State and, surprisingly, at least to me, Alabama and then-coach C.M. Newton (and Bear Bryant, too, actually). Duke and Wake Forest look as good as they possibly could have, given the charged racial atmospheres of Durham and Winston-Salem at the time, something that relatively liberal Chapel Hill didn't have to cope with. Clarence "Big House" Gaines, who was then at Winston-Salem State, is someone that I'd like to know more about, after reading this book, because he was a real hero. (And Charlie Scott, of course, was also helped immensely by the fact that he was, of all these players profiled, the single best player, a three time All-Conference pick and in his senior year, both an All-American and an Academic All-American. It was, Scott notes, easier to survive if you were visibly great.)
But I learned things that made me sick to my stomach, too: Perry Wallace, the first African American to play at Vanderbilt, spoke out about his poor treatment after graduation and was shunned by teammates and the university. Henry Harris killed himself two years after leaving Auburn. Tom Payne, who, to the state of Kentucky, really represented nothing more than Adolph Rupp's grudging resignation about the 1966 championship game, has spent most of his adult life in and out of prison.
This book made me cry; I take African American athletes on the basketball court for granted, I really do, and my sudden awareness of the fact that I do appalls me. But I've grown up with them, with Michael Jordan wearing Carolina blue one of my earliest memories. I knew it was bad, I knew it was tough -- I've read interviews with Charlie Scott and he even admits that he had it relatively easy at Carolina, comparatively, even when it was awful. I know a lot about the Civil Rights Movement. But I really had no idea how bad it was, no concrete idea, until I read this.
Quite possibly the best book about sports I've ever read. Moving, brutal, and spectacular.
January 14, 2009
As a fan of the ACC and the SEC I really enjoyed reading this book. Being the first black player at a school was a very lonely life. Even if they were accepted on the team they were often not socially accepted. I was really pleased that Dean Smith came out well due to his sensitivity to what his player was going through and tried to avoid putting him in situations where he would face racist taunts. This wasn't the case at some other schools and, as a consequence, the players failed socially rather than athletically. Duke recruited a black player fairly early but then when they held the end of season team banquet at an all-white country club. (Bless their hearts they don't get it!)
The reaction of the black restaurant staff in a New Orleans restaurant when the University of Maryland players became the first black people to eat in the restaurant was moving. They came out of the kitchen to applaud. I finished this book several months ago but I forgot to write my comments. Reflecting on the election of our first Black president I am appreciating the book all over again.
The reaction of the black restaurant staff in a New Orleans restaurant when the University of Maryland players became the first black people to eat in the restaurant was moving. They came out of the kitchen to applaud. I finished this book several months ago but I forgot to write my comments. Reflecting on the election of our first Black president I am appreciating the book all over again.
January 18, 2010
An excellent review of the civil rights era in the southeastern US through a basketball lens. I was most impressed with the bravery of the young men who were the first black basketball players in the various ACC and SEC colleges. There were plenty of similarities in experience, especially among the earliest players, but also fascinating differences among the coaches, the schools and the players themselves. An array of player backgrounds from the NY projects to son of educators to son of sharecroppers. An array of coaches from oblivious to sensitive. An array of experiences from intolerable to a great time. Jacobs does a nice job setting the scene in the US, the various states, individual colleges, and the specific sports programs. And it wasn't that long ago - many of the coaches and players are still contemporaries. A compelling read for anyone who is a basketball fan or anyone who lives (or has lived) in the southeast.
October 8, 2009
I am a huge fan of basketball, so I enjoyed reading this book. It gave a lot of historical facts about the first black players in the ACC and SEC. Billy Jones and Pete Johnson were the first African-American basetball players in the ACC or SEC. Some of the racial situations they had to put up with were extremely horrible.
As a fellow basketball player, I don't know how I would have coped with these trials. It takes a lot to stay strong in through all that they went through. However, they did, and I commend them for that. When I think about it, I do no understand why people couldn't just accept them as the great basketball players they were. They were letting race play a role in their acceptance of them.
As a fellow basketball player, I don't know how I would have coped with these trials. It takes a lot to stay strong in through all that they went through. However, they did, and I commend them for that. When I think about it, I do no understand why people couldn't just accept them as the great basketball players they were. They were letting race play a role in their acceptance of them.
February 23, 2011
Across the Line: Profiles In Basketball Courage: Tales of the First Black Players in the ACC and the SEC, by Barry Jacobs (Lyons Press 2008) 796.323 is a nice mix of summaries both heroic (Charles Scott at UNC and Wendell Hudson at the University of Alabama) and tragic (Henry Harris Jr. at Auburn and Tom Payne at the University of Kentucky). I was glad to see a chapter on two players I grew up watching at the University of Tennessee, teammates Larry Robinson and Wilbert Cherry. In hindsight, they were pioneers. To my then 12 year old eyes in 1971, they were simply heroes. I had no idea then that they were the first black basketball players at Tennessee; I simply knew that I wanted to be just like them when I grew up! My rating: 5/10. Finished 2/23/11.
September 8, 2008
Thoroughly researched stories of the first black players in the ACC & SEC. At turns heartbreaking and beautiful. Essential reading for all sports fans.
August 20, 2008
Lots of research went into this book, and the stories are compelling (for the most part).
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews