I recently spent part of Martin Luther King Day at the Kennedy Library attending a forum on June 11, 1963 and its significance to the Civil Rights Movement.

On that date, James Hood and Vivian Malone achieved a historic victory in the struggle for equality in this country by becoming the first two African American students to enroll at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. In doing so, Hood and Malone also prevailed over the likes of George Wallace, the then-governor of Alabama and a defiant segregationist, who stood in the doorway of Foster Auditorium for several hours that day in an attempt to thwart the two students from registering for classes.

Their matriculation did not represent a complete and unequivocal victory however. While Malone became the first African American to graduate from the University of Alabama in 1965, Hood left the university after only two months. He later returned in 1995 to earn his doctorate degree.

As I listened to Hood and other key actors in this historic drama discuss the event, I was struck by the parallels that existed between the desegregation of the University of Alabama and the integration of the Boston Red Sox.

The Red Sox' history of de facto segregation and racial intolerance is well documented and stretches more than half a century. In April 1945, Sox management held a charade tryout for Jackie Robinson and two other Negro Leaguers, Sam Jethroe and Marvin Williams. According to a reporter who was at Fenway Park that day and observed the audition, someone yelled "Get those niggers off the field!" during the tryout. Not surprisingly, the players never heard from the Sox again after that day.

Boston again did not take the bat off its shoulder four years later when presented with an opportunity to sign Willie Mays. Reportedly, a Sox scout determined that it wasn't worthwhile to endure a stretch of rainy weather "to scout any black player."

The Red Sox finally integrated their roster in 1959, shamefully the last Major League team to do so, when Pumpsie Green was brought up from the minors. However, similar to Hood and Malone's entry into the University of Alabama, Green's ascension to the Major League team proved to be a reminder that changing the embedded culture of racism would be challenging and would happen only gradually.

Howard Bryant, a Boston native and veteran sports writer for the Boston Herald, wrote a book entitled Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball in Boston. One of the anecdotes recounted by Bryant in his text involves Jim Rice counseling Ellis Burks to fulfill the requirement of six seasons of Major League service time needed to achieve free agency and then "get the hell out of Boston." Remember, Burks first arrived in Boston in 1987, nearly thirty years after Green made his Major League debut. Also according to Bryant's book, the Sox didn't sign a black free agent until 1993.

Thankfully, the current Red Sox owners have proactively taken steps to end the team's history of discrimination and exclusion. Since taking over the team in February 2002, they've begun a wide array of initiatives aimed at improving relations with minority communities and demonstrating leadership on the issue of racial and social diversity.

Last night, on the first day of Black History Month, I attended the Sox' sixth annual tribute to the life and legacy of Jackie Robinson. Held at Fenway Park and supported, organized and attended by the highest levels of Red Sox management, a distinguished panel including Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree and Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell engaged in an open and inclusive discussion on race and its role in both sports and society.

With this achievement, the Red Sox ownership group, led by John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino, have added to their growing legacy. Red Sox fans now have an organization to support that is representative of Boston's heritage. And that's something we can all be immensely proud of.

This column was written on February 2, 2008.