[James] Harris felt jolted, as if King were speaking directly to him, to his deepest, most impossible desire. In the coming month, Harris would begin his junior year at Carroll High School, returning as the starting quarterback for a team that had gone 12-0 and won a state championship the previous fall. His dream was to play professional football.
The prevailing opinion, however, was that a black man was not intelligent enough to play the position. The most promising black prospects, as Harris well knew, were routinely switched to receiver or defensive back….
Now King’s words told him change was coming, not in the hereafter, not in some distant, redeemed era, but imminently.
“I had no chance, I knew that,” Harris said. “But then I started listening to that speech.”
Read it all.
Superb NY Times profile Article on James Harris, first black starting NFL quarterback
[James] Harris felt jolted, as if King were speaking directly to him, to his deepest, most impossible desire. In the coming month, Harris would begin his junior year at Carroll High School, returning as the starting quarterback for a team that had gone 12-0 and won a state championship the previous fall. His dream was to play professional football.
The prevailing opinion, however, was that a black man was not intelligent enough to play the position. The most promising black prospects, as Harris well knew, were routinely switched to receiver or defensive back….
Now King’s words told him change was coming, not in the hereafter, not in some distant, redeemed era, but imminently.
“I had no chance, I knew that,” Harris said. “But then I started listening to that speech.”
Read it all.