Jackson Jambalaya

Agreed. And he accomplished this by doing more than winning golf tournaments - he competed against the system of a white game that was not yet open to blacks and closed courses that would not allow blacks to play.

Good post KF.

I think it's very fitting that he hasn't been inducted. It is a reminder that we as a state still have a hell of a long way to go with racial equality and respect. There's a reason the state has the reputation it does and we validate that reputation nearly every day. Personally, if I were as successful as he was, I wouldn't want my name associated with this state anyway.

I had never heard of him, and I imagine a number of other golfers have not also. After some much needed exposure, I feel certain his induction will be forthcoming. Why does it always have to be "White Folks being prejudiced"? I heard these same arguments from every other sporting or political organization from Mississippi. GET OVER IT (please).

Posters will automatically assume that he has not been voted into the HOF for the sole reason of his race. I don't know that for a fact and they don't either.

The color barrier isn't as nearly as high as the religious one at the MSHOF.

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (Chris Jackson), to my knowledge, has not even managed a nomination.

What's interesting is when race is brought up, there is a group of people that says, yep, its definitely discrimination. There is another group of people that says, nope, no way get over it and stop complaining about discrimination. While I dont agree that every time people say discrimination that it truly is discrimination. However, I also have a problem with people who say cant be discrimination, no way, no how. Its time for you people to move past that. If you feel there is no possible way discrimination could exist today, you are part of the problem.

Also, if you deny the historical effects of long term institutionalized racism has been totally erased, you dont understand how economics works. The fact that Tate Reeves is the leading GOP runner for governor is a example of that. Gary Anderson was much more qualified than Tate Reaves. Tate won and his career has benefited from that fact.

I am not from Mississippi so I don't know who all the HOF worthy people are, put if you want a talk about name recognition besides Archie what great players were white. When you think about it does he belong in the same club as Payton and Rice, those guys were champions.

Overlooking Chris Jackson is probably based on his conversion to Islam and that is a shame.

Who is in the majority in the HOF?

I dont play golf. I never heard of Mr. Brown. I dont know whether or not he should be in the HOF. Does winning 2 PGA events automatically qualify you for the HOF? Are there any other MS golfers, black or white, that have won on the PGA that are not in the HOF? Does it take winning a few times or an entire body of work to be HOF material? I dont know. If you look at all the black athletes in the HOF, in multiple sports, do you really think the HOF selection committee is racist, as this story implies.

This is not racism of the present. I’m in my fifties and simply did not know of this great golfer that overcame tough obstacles. Blacks have been voted in for decades and make up more than half of the inductees. I suspect it does indicate past racism but do not know that for sure. The link below will allow you to nominate anybody you want. I’m sure Rick Cleveland will do the right thing.

https://msfame.com/hall-of-fame/nominations/

Jackson's NBA career was quite average.

It's not JUST racism. It's just that Whites really don't give a damn. I attended Jackson State back in the 70's with some of the greatest athletes in the country, period. They got little or no recognition while they performed here, not because the Whites in Mississippi media hated them, it's just that unless they played for Ole Miss, State, or some SEC school, they just didn't give a damn. Their accomplishments, records, and talents had no significance to them at that time, therefore the same people have no memory of their existence until the NFL, NBA, Major Leagues, etc. recognized their enormous talents. Lots of Black people my age and older remember Mr. Brown and his struggle against impossible odds, but our memories didn't count. As little as Black athletes were recognized in the so-called major sports, imagine the absolute obscurity a struggling Black golfer endured during the civil rights and pre-civil rights era. The Hall of Fame Is A Walk Down MEMORY LANE. For the majority of Black athletes of the segregation era, and as far as White Mississippi is concerned, it's a boulevard they didn't live on.

Mr. Brown has come close several times to being inducted. One thing hurting him is the rule that only one deceased person can be accepted per year. Not to mention golf is considered to be a somewhat minor sport compared to the big two.

2:21: I agree with much of what you write. Consider that if someone is 60 and under, he probably doesn't know who Pete Brown is.

@ 1:29 What's keeping you from nominating him???

Try to understand. Pete Brown deserves to be in the Hall of Fame as much or more than most simply because anything he accomplished was ten times more difficult because he was LEGALLY excluded from being a normal competitor. He could not simply walk on a golf course and play no matter how good he was. Despite that racist crap, he still managed to succeed. Now we question his credentials. Good God!

KF 2:29 That's why we have Halls of Fame and why people who are supposed to be knowledgeable make the selections. What happens when the "knowledgeable" selection people are just as ignorant about athletes they ignored years ago because of race as the people "60 and under" you mention. Too bad, Mr. Brown.

Second largest crowd and largest sporting event crowd in the history of the state was a Alcorn Mississippi Valley State game. I was there and it was close to 50/50 b/w. It was awesome featuring Willie” the satellite “ Totten and Jerry “ the world “ Rice. I sold drinks at all Memorial Stadium games sec and Swac- there were tons of whites at these games. Bill Walker and the Payton brothers also sponsored hundreds of youth teams’ tickets and would pre-pay for their hand delivered drinks. The number of future pro athletes at the JSU-grambling- alcorn- Mvsu far exceeded all sec games. It was certainly a different brand of football but awesome and definitely a precursor to the exact offenses in emerging today.

Mississippi gonna always Mississippi.........

I'm 41. I have never heard of this guy.

But that changed thanks to JJ.

Hopefully this man will be inducted and his family will have some satisfaction. He accomplished more than enough to be included.

Maybe some kid on a field trip will read about his accomplishments and be inspired.

That's why I posted all the newspaper articles Monday. It's one thing to read a column about the guy, another to see the articles reporting his accomplishments at the time.

Black, white or green. Making the PGA cut 365 times after overcoming polio deserves Mississippi sports HOF membership.

2.21 has a good point. There are very few people in 2019 that would not vote for someone solely based on their skin color but Mr. Brown was probably overlooked and did not get the recognition he deserved. Winning two PGA events is a lot more than most on this list did from a pure golf accomplishment.

There is more to this than meets the eye. I'm white and I started a campaign to get a black guy elected to the Ms Sports HOF. When I approached blacks who held influence they turned me down flat. "We have a list of guys who we think should be elected. If someone is not on the list they aren't getting the black support, even if the nominee is black." The black guy who told me this is a good friend of the black guy I nominated.

I wouldn't have known anything about Pete Brown but for the fact that I spent my 10th grade year at Brinkley 10th Grade Attendance Center during the 70/71 school year after schools desegregated here. Our carpool passed Grove Park every morning, and there was a sign there briefly extolling some of his accomplishments and his role at Grove Park. I started asking some questions and learned lots more about him. Obviously deserving. Truth is, there are lots of folks in our sports HOF who aren't as deserving as some who aren't there. Mr. Brown is among them.

Chris Jackson had a great first year at LSU. However, his production went down the second year. That happens when you have Shaq and Stanley Robert on the same team. The ball hog didn't like it so he went pro. He stayed in the pros for awhile but he was never great or productive as in his freshman year.

Don't think his post-high school career qualifies him for the MSHOF.

KF
Why is it any list that is mostly white needs to have "color" added to it, yet NO problem with the BLACK rodeo, BLACK miss usa, BLACK awards, BLACK history month, etc, etc.....

Oh, good grief!
The members of the MS Sports Hall of damn well do know who Pete Brown was and what he accomplished.
You " never heard of him" idiots, likely never heard of many of the ones who did get in!
And,8:46 pm look at the list of those in the MS Sports Hall of Fame and see those who NEVER had a pro-career at all!
And, you wonder why some think you are racists????

Aside from the comments on race (which I really don't give a shit about either way) do you have to already be famous to be inducted into the hall of fame, or do you become famous by being inducted? If nobody's ever heard of you or knows of your accomplishments, why should/would you be considered?

Isn't Michael Rubenstein in the MSHOF? He never even played T-Ball.

Stop it Kingfish, the ball hog slight was uncalled for and says it all....Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf or Chris Jackson was automatic and deserved to have the ball in his hands as much as Eli. Your bias is quite obvious



NBA All-Rookie Second Team (1991)
NBA Most Improved Player (1993)
2× Consensus first-team All-American (1989, 1990)
USBWA National Freshman of the Year (1989)
2× SEC Player of the Year (1989, 1990)

I recall pulling for Pete Brown way back in the day, and was so happy for him when he won a PGA event. Yes, he should have been elected years ago to the MSHF. I do have a problem with his replacing Sonny Guy as the name for Muni. Sonny Guy toiled for many years trying to hold that goat run together and deserves a better fate.

It might have been different if he had golfed while attending a segregation academy with a scholarship.

5:56 - People don't send their children to academies in order to segregate them. They send them there for an education.

Expectations + Order + Behavior + Desire = Education

You need to hump that dog on another leg.

Hey Jethro, I can't say as I'm surprised you totally missed the point.

He couldn't have attended a segregation academy because it hadn't been necessary to invent them yet.

You either attempt to divert or possibly totally miss the point by attempting to explain why parents send their children to segregation academies today.

I have to admit I am surprised you managed to get from defending segregation academies to suggesting anyone who doesn't buy your historical revisionism should engage in some man dog sex in three short properly punctuated sentences.

Good post KF

A lot of good comments and some great insight on this thread.