'I didn't know I was Black': February has extra meaning for former Blue Jay discovering his roots
CBC
Former Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Paul Hodgson has a couple of reasons to celebrate Family Day — and Black History Month, for that matter.
Hodgson grew up in the 1960s in Fredericton, where only a handful of Black families lived.
He made it onto the Jays in September 1980, only the second Canadian to play for the team.
That was around when his adoptive father took him aside, letting him in on a family secret.
"He says, 'Your mother doesn't know I'm doing this, but I feel that I have to tell you. You're getting married and there's a chance you could have a Black child.' I didn't know I was Black, I didn't know I was anything."
Living in the small town of Marysville, later part of Fredericton, Hodgson had always known he was adopted but hadn't asked many questions.
He had a darker complexion, and he'd get taunted.
"There were a bunch of kids in elementary school who were always calling me (the N-word). I thought they were just stupid, because I had a darker skin. My dad used to say to me that I had a dark complexion."
As far as he and almost everyone else thought, he was white.
"I grew up watching sports on TV, and watching Black players, I always thought, 'Wow, it would be cool to grow up with those genes.'"
Hodgson was signed by the Blue Jays in 1977, at 17.
The next three years in the minors, he'd meet and befriend Black and Latino players, including future Jays stars Lloyd Moseby and Jesse Barfield.
"I always got along fine with them, I didn't have a problem. Did I look Black? I dunno, maybe, some. [Former Jay] Boomer Wells said he wasn't sure what I was, he just knew I wasn't a pure white guy.
"Jesse, Lloyd, it didn't matter to those guys, they didn't care what you were."
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