To mention bigotry or not...

I echo others' comments. Couple questions: When did the league integrate? And what do black people in the community think of this guy?

 

chazp,

This is a good story. May be more than you expected, but you have something here.

Two things to consider:

1. His view was not unusual at all for the time. You need to go back and ask how he felt as things changed and integrated. Did he regret creating a whites only league? Does he remember the first black player in the league? Or he is just an unrepentant bigoted old cuss?

2. If all eight other founders also decided to do this, you are throwing them under the bus just based on this guy's word. You need to tread carefully there. This guy can hang himself, but he shouldn't hang others unless you can corroborate. It may be that some didn't agree but were voted down.

You should talk with your editor, but sounds like you could have a really good story instead of a puff piece.

 

I'm sure relatives of the other founders can give you added perspective. The founders may have done much of the initial work, but they had to have relatives around who helped. Don't take one man's word for what happened.

Find some of those first black players or their relatives to give the story balance and breadth.

Lastly, post the story or at least a link to it when it's done.

 

It would be great to read the final product. Sounds like you've got the makings of a really interesting story here.

 

1) Record everything this guy tells you. Preferably on a digital voice recorder.
2) If you have such a device, convert the files to mp3s, burn them to a disc and make several copies. Give copies to all of your superiors.
3) Tell them to listen to the interview.
4) Sit down in a collective meeting and plan the list of questions for any follow-up interview that may be required.
5) Agree on a tenor of the story.
6) Get their promises to read and approve the story and to back you up when everything hits the fan.

 

This is the best advice you've gotten.
Let the old bastard hang himself.

 

Rather than let anyone hang themselves, why not take a different tack? Ask the guy if his beliefs then have changed over time. Ask him how he came to this opinion change. There's ways of doing this to acknowledge the racial beginnings but talk about the positive changes since then.