Baseball Synthesis Essay

“Racial segregation plagued American society for generations, and sadly, during much of the 19th and 20th centuries, baseball was as segregated as America herself.”1 However, in 1947, baseball and America was forever changed when Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby broke the color barrier in both the American and National Leagues. While there were many factors in the society that helped push baseball to tear down the barriers, baseball played a huge role in motivating the public to remove the color barriers.2 In the beginning days of baseball, some blacks were able to play professional baseball on white teams, but Jim Crowe laws stopped them from making progress. Moses Fleetwood Walker and Bud Fowler were two of the first black people

Most people in society were not ready for the color barrier to come down, so they continued to treat African Americans badly even after baseball tried to end segregation. Jackie Robinson played against players that would try to spike him as he slid into the base and pitchers that would try to bean him. Restaurants would refuse to serve Robinson and he would have to eat his food on the bus while his teammates were eating inside.7 The Dodgers had to move their spring training from Florida to Cuba because Cuba was the only area that would allow all the members of the team to stay in the same hotel. 8 The teams also had a rule that there had to be an even number of black players so that a white player wouldn’t be forced to share a room with an African American while they were on the road. Even though Jackie Robinson and the other new black members of the MLB had to go through a lot, it was worth it in the end because they greatly impacted integration in society.9 Baseball affected desegregation greatly because as baseball became integrated, so did society. For example, in 1948, one year after Jackie Robinson signed with the Dodgers, President Truman ended racial segregation in the military. And later, segregated schools were outlawed. But even though the society was moving towards integration, many people were still racist.

For example, when the first integrated baseball game was played in Georgia, the players took the field to lots of boos from the white stands. However, the other fans, the blacks and about a third of the white ones, stood and applauded the players. There seemed to be a real softening of racial hostility. There were still some outspoken racists who yelled offensive comments. The largest body of people was the one that might not have been happy about integration, but didn’t join the blatant racists in shouting rude comments. Some of the racists might have changed, but even if they didn’t, they realized that they were in the minority and they shut their