Somehow this post never got posted - ugh, Blogger. Anyway, good to see the Globe run an obit for Earl Wilson that covers the racism that he faced:
The subtext of the Red Sox scouting report on Mr. Wilson when he was signed was an indication of the bias in the organization at the time and what Mr. Wilson had to overcome to make it to the major leagues.
It read in part, ‘‘well-mannered colored boy, not too black, pleasant to talk to, well-educated, very good appearance."
The Sox of the 50s had enough troubles with talent evaluation without limiting the pool they had to select from.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that the Sox still had race issues as late as the 80s (with the Tommy Harper case) - then you realise how much bias there was in the organisation.