ABSTRACT

After losing an 1898 horse race in the Bronx, New York, African-American jockey Alonzo ‘Lonnie’ Clayton, who had won the Kentucky Derby in 1892 at the age of fifteen, heard an insult from the crowd along the rail and struck a white spectator from Brooklyn across the face with his riding whip. The blow resulted in a two hundred dollar fine by the track stewards, but ultimately led to a civil trial, a financial judgment against Clayton that he ignored, and then an arrest and incarceration for non-payment of the judgment, which some writers mistakenly still claim was for race-fixing. Clayton had other financial difficulties as well that, compounded by his lack of success on the racetracks and decreasing opportunities for black jockeys, led him to sell both his large house and his commercial property in North Little Rock, Arkansas. After moving around the west and even to Vancouver, Canada, Clayton was working as a bellhop in California at the time of his death in 1917. The article also discusses the life of Henry Bolomey, the man who was assaulted by Clayton.

摘要

1898 年在纽约布朗克斯的一场赛马比赛中失利后，1892 年 15 岁赢得肯塔基德比的非裔美国骑师阿朗佐“朗尼”克莱顿听到栏杆旁人群的辱骂声并撞到了白人。来自布鲁克林的观众用他的马鞭划过脸。这一打击导致赛道管理员处以 200 美元的罚款，但最终导致了民事审判，对克莱顿的财务判决他无视，然后因未支付判决而被捕和监禁，一些作家错误地仍然索赔是为了操纵比赛。克莱顿还有其他经济困难，再加上他在赛马场上的失败和黑人骑师机会的减少，导致他卖掉了他在阿肯色州北小石城的大房子和商业地产。