Current:Home > FinanceHow one Chicago teacher is working to help Black kids break into baseball -AssetLink
How one Chicago teacher is working to help Black kids break into baseball
View
Date:2025-04-17 17:31:27
Monday marks Jackie Robinson Day, and 77 years after the Dodgers star broke the Major League Baseball color barrier and blazed a trail for Black players, coaches like Earnest Horton know the work is far from over.
On opening day this year, just 6% of active players in MLB were Black — the fewest in decades.
"If the grassroots are suffering and there's no baseball being played in the community, of course there's a lack of Black baseball players in the MLB," Horton told CBS News.
Horton is a public school teacher in Chicago and the founder of Black Baseball Media, an organization that gives players from predominantly underserved communities access to top-notch facilities and exposure to college scouts.
"Seeing is believing. People are drinking the Kool-Aid," he said.
At least two members of the group, high school senior Khamaree Thomas and junior Demir Heidelberg, will be playing college ball. While Heidelberg is looking to follow in the footsteps of current Black big leaguers, he said there are often barriers to success for people like him.
"Kids with my skin color, they can't get into it because they don't have the money or they don't have the exposure to it," he said.
Horton said the best way to solve that problem is through action.
"It's time for everybody to get their boots on the ground. It's time to unite," he said. "We can't just sit on the sideline and complain about it."
Charlie De MarCharlie De Mar is an Emmy Award-winning reporter for CBS2.
Twitter FacebookveryGood! (126)
Related
- Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
- Woman sentenced to 25 years after pleading guilty in case of boy found dead in suitcase in Indiana
- Thailand’s Cabinet approves a marriage equality bill to grant same-sex couples equal rights
- Most applesauce lead poisonings were in toddlers, FDA says
- Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
- South Korea’s president gets royal welcome on UK state visit before talks on trade and technology
- Judge overseeing Idaho murders case bars media cameras, citing intense focus on suspect — but the court will livestream
- 22 additional patients accuse Massachusetts pediatrician of sexual abuse. Prosecutors say cases 'could keep growing'
- Oklahoma parole board recommends governor spare the life of man on death row
- 4 injured after Walmart shooting in Beavercreek, Ohio, police say; suspected shooter dead
Ranking
- Louisiana high court temporarily removes Judge Eboni Johnson Rose from Baton Rouge bench amid probe
- US, UK and Norway urge South Sudan to pull troops from oil-rich region of Abyei amid violence
- Tracy Chapman, Blondie, Timbaland, more nominated for 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame
- Transgender women have been barred from playing in international women’s cricket
- British swimmer Adam Peaty: There are worms in the food at Paris Olympic Village
- Dogs seen nibbling on human body parts at possible clandestine burial site in Mexico
- Summer House's Lindsay Hubbard Steps Out With Johnny Bananas During Weekend of Canceled Wedding
- Brawling fans in stands delay start of Argentina-Brazil World Cup qualifying match for 27 minutes
Recommendation
'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
For some Americans, affording rent means giving up traveling home for the holidays
Savannah Chrisley shares 'amazing' update on parents Todd and Julie's appeal case
'Miracle dog' regaining weight after spending 2 months in wilderness by dead owner's side
Billy Bean was an LGBTQ advocate and one of baseball's great heroes
California can share gun owners’ personal information with researchers, appeals court rules
104 years overdue: Book last checked out in 1919 returns to Minnesota library
A fan died of heat at a Taylor Swift concert. It's a rising risk with climate change