J.J. Clarke's Nickname

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by packs

No offense but I think you guys are missing the point. His name is J.J. Clarke. The card says J.J. Clarke. If it said Nig Clarke that would be one thing. But it doesn't. You have to go an extra step to put Nig on there.

It is obvious to me that the nickname Nig isn't some subtlety of the time. They called him Nig to diminish him and make him feel less than. It's not some antiquated nickname. It was meant to do him harm by insinuating he was a little too dark for comfort. To say the card should be identified as J.J. Clarke is not revisionist history or political correctness, the card says J.J. Clarke.

For that matter, J.J. isn't mentioned either. Last names are all that are displayed on T206 cards. Only a few first initials were included.

INHO, the grading companies only add first names to assist in identification and nick-names for the same reason.

I believe a lot more folks would recognize him has Nig Clarke than as J.J. Clarke and certainly more than just Clarke.

Fred Clarke was included in the set but was only F.Clarke on one card and just Clarke on the other.

[trdcrdkid]

Originally Posted by clydepepper

For that matter, J.J. isn't mentioned either. Last names are all that are displayed on T206 cards.

You're just flat-out wrong about this. While it's true that most T206 cards just have last names, the name on this card is "J. J. Clarke" -- see the scans just above your post in this thread.

[nolemmings]

No offense but I think you guys are missing the point. His name is J.J. Clarke. The card says J.J. Clarke. If it said Nig Clarke that would be one thing. But it doesn't. You have to go an extra step to put Nig on there.

You have to take the extra step when dealing with most cards of Chief Bender and Chief Meyers, among other Native Americans, many of whom were not fond of the moniker. Dummy Hoy and Dummy Taylor were also known by insensitive nicknames, and both their cards and the players are remembered as such. It is historically accurate. So too with many players disparagingly called Rube. There is nothing wrong nor disrespectful with wanting to know and identify them by their names of the time. If anything, IMO, it serves to remind us of what things were like in those times.

[nolemmings]

Apparently Mr. Clarke did not mind his nickname so much that he refused to acknowledge it when signing: (on ebay now)

[packs]

If you look at the graded T205s of Bender and Meyers you will see that they are often designated as Chas Bender and J.T. Meyers on the flips. That is because the card says Chas Bender and J.T. Meyers. On occasion there is a "Chief" label but it seems to me that the cards are labeled that way because that's what appears on the card. The C46 Taylor is listed simply as Taylor on the PSA flip as well. I can't speak for their T206s. There seems to be a difference when it comes to the T206s.

[bmarlowe1]

SABR and Baseball-Reference use "Nig Clarke" (and Nig Cuppy and others), etc.

Note also the term "Negro" Leagues - is still always used for historical reasons. Also there is a Negro League Museum in KC, and a Negro League committee within SABR. These have not been changed to "African American" League.

This all is very important as it constantly reminds us about the way things were. This usage will not likely be changed.

[nolemmings]

Many, many of the cards for Meyers and Bender are last-name only and yet are slabbed with their nicknames. SGC even labels T205 Meyers as Chief, when his card carries a faux auto and back name of J.T. Meyers. They label him as Chief and not J.T. "Chief" Meyers or John "Chief" Meyers even when Chief is nowhere to be found on the card. Same for Cracker Jack Bender.

As for C46, while I don't collect them, I believe they label all cards in that set by last name only, so uniformity might dictate why he is not labeled Dummy Taylor.

[tiger8mush]

the cruelty ...

[Joshchisox08]

Originally Posted by tiger8mush

the cruelty ...

What's so bad about Deacon ? I'm 28 so maybe this is an older term I'm unfamiliar with ?