Jarvis Greer

Ten-year-old Jarvis Greer was at home in his Memphis bedroom, watching an episode of That Girl, in the early evening of April 4, 1968. The longtime sports director at WMC-TV Action News 5 points out the irony of that particular show and that fateful day; the star of the program was Marlo Thomas, daughter of Danny Thomas, the founder of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Greer remembers the piercing scream of a next-door neighbor when a bulletin interrupted the show, announcing Martin Luther King had been shot.

“It’s like it put everything in slow motion,” says Greer. “There was shock. Everyone in the neighborhood went outside; there was wailing. Not long after that, I remember the half-tracks rolling down South Parkway. They had mobilized the National Guard.”

Now one of the most recognizable faces in Memphis, Jarvis Greer is his hometown. Watch one of his segments on Action News 5 or listen to a single radio broadcast of Memphis Tiger football — Greer is the analyst alongside Dave Woloshin — and you recognize the sincere passion of a Memphian convinced sports exist to lift us and celebrate the best qualities of a community.

Greer’s devotion to sports began in elementary school, where a baseball bat and glove dissolved any racial boundaries among teammates. He became a star running back at Christian Brothers High School (Class of 1975) and later earned a scholarship — as a defensive back — at what was then called Memphis State University. While he confesses to a childhood affection for the USC Trojans (during O.J. Simpson’s glory days), Greer emphasizes, “I always wanted to be a Tiger.”

Greer grew up in the Lamar/Airways neighborhood, in a house still occupied by his mother. His father, J.W. Greer, fought in the Korean War and lost the use of his legs in battle. Jarvis recalls watching his dad mow the family’s yard, one hand on the mower as the other worked his wheelchair … until young Jarvis came to assist. The example Greer’s father set — starting with work ethic — has fueled him long since his dad died, when Jarvis was in the eighth grade. He describes a happy childhood, but one in which he was cognizant of the Civil Rights movement; the Greers listened to Dr. King’s weekly sermons on the radio.

“Growing up as a Black kid in this town, you knew there was a difference,” he says. “It just was. There were certain places you could go, certain things you could do. It was on the tail end of going to the zoo on Thursday, the only day you could go. I remember going with my dad to get something to eat at Park and Getwell — East Memphis back then — and I had to go in, because Dad couldn’t. And the man called me ‘boy.’ Well, I was a boy at the time, but it was the way he said it. He made me wait in the back. Subtle things. It’s just the way it was, but it got better.”

Greer had what he considers a pair of advantages not every Black child of his generation enjoyed. His parents wanted him to attend Catholic schools because the system prioritized educating Black children. And he was a good athlete. However racists might sting — and Greer heard his share of whispers at CBHS — a football field was a good equalizer.

“People didn’t mess with me too much,” says Greer. “Some kids are mean just to be mean, some don’t care, and some learn from their parents. As I got older, I recognized [how much] came from parents. I didn’t let a lot of that bother me. I internalize more now, in this climate. The older you get, you don’t have to filter yourself as much.”

Greer will celebrate his 40th anniversary at Action News 5 in 2019. Greer interned for a short while with WKNO, which broadcast replays of Tiger basketball games, before joining WMC team. “I’ve been very lucky in life,” Greer emphasizes. “The fact that I was an athlete helped [me get started] but I can’t give the U of M communications department a higher recommendation.”

Not unlike his playing days, Greer has found sports media to be a tolerant industry, one where matters of race tend to take a back seat to performance, the cold truth of a team or athlete either winning or losing. Looking back to the mid-Nineties, he does feel like racism was an underlying component in a colleague’s mean-spirited efforts to oust Larry Finch, the Tiger basketball legend who coached the team from 1986 to 1997.

Sports can also impact society at large, says Greer, and he has no problem with the likes of LeBron James speaking out on topics like gun violence. “This age of Trump,” he says, “has unleashed a lot of people’s latent feelings. As Black people, we know it’s there under the surface for a lot of people. They grew up with it. But there are a lot more people who don’t feel that way, and that’s the saving grace.”

Ever the optimist, Greer sees a bright future for what remains to be accomplished in the Civil Rights movement, and feels like Dr. King would be pleased if he could see Memphis in 2018.

“First of all, he’d be proud that the statues [of Nathan Bedford Forrest and Jefferson Davis] have finally come down, by whatever means they had to do it,” he says. “The city did a good job, exhausting every legal manner. There’s still a lot more that needs to be done, when you have almost half your population of black children living in poverty. We’re not there yet. There are still some attitudes that need to change.

“People here want the things people everywhere else want. If one half is doing well and the other half is not, you’re going to get pulled down. When progress matters to everybody, that’s when things get done.”