The Segregation Of Baseball In The 1930s And 1940s

In the 1940s Americans were in the middle of a world war and depression. Americans were dealing with the challenges of living through a war and depression; people of color were dealing with additional hardships. The biggest problem they faced was Jim Crow laws or legal segregation. Through the hard times, baseball became America’s favorite pastime. Baseball was a passion for a large percent of the population no matter the race but the color line in American baseball excluded players of black African descent from major league baseball and is affiliated minor leagues. In the 1880s and 1890s there were written rules excluding black players bit in the 1940s there were no written rules. The segregation was called a gentleman’s agreement. It was between owners at the highest level of baseball, they had an understanding that blacks were not to be signed. With the color line in place black clubs began to be established. There were several Negro leagues. At this time when blacks were excluded some Hispanic, Native Americans, and Hawaiian players were able to play in the Major leagues.
The problem was that a large portion of white America did not know much about the harsh color line because mainstream media was not discussing the color barrier and definitely did not cover the efforts to end it. Most people today credit Branch Rickey for ending segregation in baseball because he signed Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers. The credit should not lie solely with Rickey, but also with all the work by black and left leaning Journalist who for decades worked to desegregate the game. Black newspapers published hundreds of articles and editorials calling for an end to baseball’s color