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RACISM: OLD BOYS AND THE OLD BALL GAME
by Michael Carlson and Michael Goldfarb
Recently, while clearing out files in my office, I discovered an aged xerox copy of the article which follows, which was written in collaboration with my friend Michael Goldfarb — and submitted to the brand-new and sadly short-lived Sunday Correspondent. Their sports editor was the American Dudley Doust, best known for his cricket coverage and as co-author of books with the former England cricket captain Mike Brearley. He was a fine writer, and he left us far too soon in 2008.
I barely remembered the piece; but I recognise in it the discussions Goldfarb and I used to have regularly. I can also tell in some places who wrote what (I take credit/blame for much of the snark), and internal evidence suggests he typed it up and submitted it by fax. I think we both misjudged Dudley’s willingness to be critical of England; his acuity about cricket should have been more of a pointer to his, shall we say, trusty status, and I am not sure that he even replied to the submission.
It may seem dated, but it is remarkably timely given the current soccer World Cup taking place in Canada, Mexico, and of course Donald Trump’s United States. This isn’t the place to go into today’s coverage of the event itself, but it is particularly intriguing the way the immigrant diaspora has risen to the occasion of…
