Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Politically incorrect

Topps's inability to draw ballplayers as anything but white in its cartoons before the 1990s is well documented. Even as late as the 1988 and 1989 Big Baseball sets, black and Latino players were depicted as whites.

This led to some gems, my favorite being Hubie Brooks's grandfather apparently being a white member of the Negro leagues.

There were also some cartoons that perpetuated racial stereotypes, like the one about Japanese liking to take lots of photos.

And a cartoon like this would get Topps in heap big trouble now.

2 comments: