Like any other sector in society, the black community has had its share of racial slurs and segregation, and sports and the Olympics have not been any different. People of color have endured inhuman treatment across different sporting events, denied their fair share of competitive rights, as well as have had their abilities underrated (Ruck, 2021). Moses Fleetwood Walker, Charlie Sifford, Alice Coachman, Ora Washington, and Jackie Robinson are great pioneers of Black Americans in sports, breaking the barriers and advocating for policy changes in civil rights inclusion. Jackie Robinson, an icon in this sport, was the first of the Blacks to be called to the MLB. This major segregation breakthrough opened up the sport and the way for many Blacks and other racially segregated communities (Cantrell, 2023). Therefore, this paper will examine the significant contributions of Baseball in civil rights advocacy changes since 1947, reflecting the critical contributions of Jackie Roosevelt Robinson’s Contribution to the course.
Background of Baseball and its contribution to Civil Rights Policy Changes
Baseball was adopted in the US and carried there by British immigrants. As it was formerly known, America’s Pastime has remained one of the iconic and dominant sports, deeply ingrained into the American culture and with which a majority identify. Baseball came from the children’s book A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, a John Newbery’s creation in 1744 and populated in England (DiCesare, 2021). New York Knickerbockers Base Ball Club was the first club to formulate the rules of the baseball game, which were quickly adopted by other minor baseball teams in NYC, further increasing the game’s popularity. The sport later spread to other parts of Asia and Latin South America. Baseball was, hence, professionalized. Through decades, America has remained predominant in MLB sports, through which iconic players like Jackie V. Robinson and Hank Aaron, amongst others, have evolved to achieve iconic status (DiCesare, 2021). This way, the sport has led to civil rights changes that have seen the segregated community achieve social inclusion, economic benefit, and sportsmanship through the recession of the unfair team contractual bindings such as the reserve clause (DiCesare, 2021).
Civil Rights Contributions of Baseball Since 1947
The conversation of civil rights movements and policy changes in the sports industry in the aftermath of 1947 needs to be completed with the contributions of Jackie Roosevelt Robinson. One of the notable breakthroughs and policy changes contributed to by the baseball sport was Breaking the Racial Color line: In 1947, the sport broke the Jim Crow policies and the long-standing 1884 ban on Black involvement in Baseball, among other sports activities, by signing Jackie Roosevelt Robinson to the major league from the Negro League’s Kansas City Monarchs (Library of Congress, 2024), with recognition to Branch Ricky (1881-1965), Brooklyn Dodger’s general manager. A defeat to the Jim Crow policies. Baseball contributed to social and racial integration. After Jackie Robinson had signed into the major league, many other African American players were signed up for the MLB. This promoted a change in attitude towards the black players, encouraging racial integration in the sports (Cantrell, 2023).
Baseball also provided a platform for Civil Rights Advocacy: Many human rights advocates and activists like the press, Activists of civil-right, and the Communist party affiliates and political champions of civil rights carried out repeated protests and demonstrations for the integration of the sport of Baseball alongside other sporting activities to dismantle the color line ideologies, following the Jesse Owns and Mack Robinsons’ Olympic triumph over Hitler’s men in Germany (Library of Congress, 2024). Moreover, blacks and whites unanimously supported Joe Luis’s knockout over German Max Schmeling in the first round in a match attended by about 70,043 in 1938 held at the famous Yankee Stadium, showing social relativity and recognition of blacks in sports (Library of Congress, 2024). Activism against lynching, housing, and transportation alienation; Baseball provided a significant platform for civil rights advocacy both in society and Baseball against lynching, racial segregation in sports, aggression, tyranny, democratic rights, and economic integration. Moreover, Jackie Robinson used his position and power provided by the sport to reach out to influential politicians and leaders, including the White House, President Dwight Eisenhower, and his Vice Richard Nixon, among others, urging them to tighten the fight against lynching and to enact and legislate inclusive and fair civil rights policies, openly criticizing and calling out the authorities and leaders like President Kennedy for failing to legislate policies that protected civil rights (Cantrell, 2023).
Another civil rights contribution of Baseball was the player rights and labor relations through Curt Flood’s court case Flood V. Khun, which challenged the inherent unfavorable treatment of players due to the unfair reserve clause subjecting players to unfair contract offers favoring the teams, forcing players to play for the team their entire sporting lives or retire from the profession (Pannullo, 2019). This case eventually led to the contract law and free agency policy that granted players autonomy and freedom to move or change teams at the expiry of their contracts, liberating and giving them autonomy and decision-making freedom over their professional baseball lives (Pannullo, 2019). Robinson also used his star power to participate in civil rights marches, such as the Youth March for Integrated Schools in 1958, Meant to create awareness of the need for a better and quality education system through racial inclusion in schools, and the Freedom Day Demonstration, meant to protest for civil rights (Library of Congress, 2024)
Conclusion
The conversation on civil rights movements and their achievements in the aftermath of 1947 is complete, with the mention of Jackie Roosevelt Robinson as a critical contributor to the fight for and advocacy for civil rights in the United States. Moreover, the sport provided a crucial platform for championing legislative policies for African Americans and other minorities in the US’s sports and social and economic sectors. Being a cultural sport in the US, Baseball was and remains a trailblazer and a critical vehicle in the fight for a just and equitable society.
References
Cantrell, A. E. (2023). “A Freedom Rider Before Freedom Rides:” Jackie Robinson Beyond Baseball. Gettysburg College Headquarters, 2(1), 3.https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1039&context=gchq
DiCesare, E. (2021). Major league baseball’s move from model minority to social activist players. Americana, 20(1), 1-11.https://www.americanpopularculture.com/journal/articles/spring_2021/dicesare.htm
Library of Congress. (2024). Breaking the Color Line: 1940 to 1946 | Baseball, the Color Line, and Jackie Robinson | Articles and essays | By popular demand: Jackie Robinson and other baseball highlights, 1860s-1960s | Digital collections | Library of Congress. The Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/collections/jackie-robinson-baseball/articles-and-essays/baseball-the-color-line-and-jackie-robinson/1940-to-1946/
Pannullo, R. (2019). The Struggle for Labor Equality in Minor League Baseball: Exploring Unionization. ABAJ Lab. & Emp. L., 34, 443. https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/aba_journal_of_labor_employment_law/v34/number-3/struggle-for-labor-equality.pdf
Ruck, R. (2021). Reflections on African Americans in Baseball: No longer the vanguard of change. Race and social problems, 13, 172–181. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-021-09333-4
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