Red Sox celebrate Juneteenth
A group of black community leaders and Red Sox employees fanned out behind him, all wearing special commemorative T-shirts with Haith’s creation on the back.
“I feel like I’m living a miracle,” Haith said before throwing out a ceremonial first pitch as part of baseball’s commemoration of Juneteenth, which marks the date news of the end of slavery reached Texas, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.
“It wasn’t always comfortable for me to come to Fenway Park, because sometimes I would hear people being insulted,” said Haith, who designed the red and blue Juneteenth flag with the exploding white star that was first raised in Roxbury, a Boston neighborhood, in 1979. “But things have changed and it’s like a miracle.”
The latest Major League Baseball team to make its roster, the Red Sox, was among the teams celebrating the Juneteenth holiday this weekend.
WWE broadcaster Samantha Irvin performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” known as the Black National Anthem, as well as the “Star-Spangled Banner.” On Monday, a Negro Leagues Baseball Museum exhibit, “Barrier Breakers: From Jackie to Pumpsie,” will open at nearby Emerson College.
“Lift Every Voice” also played in Oakland before the Oakland Athletics’ game against the Philadelphia Phillies and at Friday’s game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Cleveland Guardians. The Diamondbacks marked the occasion by hosting a workshop, featuring former Arizona outfielder Scott Hairston, pitcher Steve Randolph and infielder Junior Spivey, for 34 high school baseball players. The Buffalo Soldiers, an African-American Army unit formed after the Civil War at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, presented the colors.
The Seattle Mariners celebrated Valentine’s Day on Saturday with the “Salute to the Negro Leagues,” wearing 1940 Seattle Steelheads jerseys. The Chicago Cubs honored the holiday with pre-game ceremonies, including Grammy-nominated producer and poet Malik Yusef throwing out a ceremonial first pitch.
In Washington, the Washington Nationals will celebrate the occasion Monday afternoon in their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals. Fans who purchased a special ticket package received a Nationals jersey, and $5 from each of those sales will be donated to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The occasion was especially poignant for Haith, who learned about Juneteenth while growing up in Virginia. (His aunt’s husband was named June, “the name stuck with me,” Haith said.) He lived for a time in Connecticut and followed the Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, and after moving to Boston never felt the influence of the Red Sox.
Haith had heard the stories about how the Red Sox gave Jackie Robinson a fake tryout and also opted not to sign Willie Mays. The club did not field a black player until Pumpsie Green in 1959, more than twelve years after Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier.
Former Boston Mayor Kim Janey, who was the first woman and the first person of color to hold the office, said the team has come a long way since then.
“I’m very impressed with the Red Sox organization and everything they’re trying to do to ensure the healing of our city, to ensure that we’re righting the wrongs of the past,” said Janey, who also participated in the pregame ceremony. “It’s wonderful to see, and we need to do more.”
