Why were black people segregated from baseball? Today many of the legends and greats we think of were African Americans, and it’s crazy to think they were excluded from the MLB just sixty years ago. They were segregated from anything you can think of at the time, and sports weren’t excluded. No matter if you were an Olympian athlete or a baseball all star chances are you’d end up with a dirty low pay job. So rather than give up the sport they loved and performed well at, they created the Negro Leagues. A number of teams ran by and compiled of African Americans. The center of the Negro Leagues was none other than Kansas City. This where Negro Leagues would be created and for the most part where Negro Leagues would die. Kansas City was home to
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Although teams consisting of only blacks can be traced back to the Civil War days, these teams were officially started started in 1920 in the center of diversity, Kansas City. "No African-American achievement of the Jim Crow ears was more swiftly rushed by the good news of integration than the black baseball leagues of America. There may be no black owner of a major league baseball team today, but for nearly a half century, African Americans owned and operated professional baseball leagues. Less famous than the ballplayers--"Cool Papa" Bell, Josh Gibson, "Buck" Leonard, "Pop" Lloyd and so many more--are the black men who owned the teams that built the leagues that showcased the stars. Those teams now largely are forgotten: the Kansas City Monarchs, the Homestead Grays, the Chicago American Giants, the Baltimore Black Sox, the Pittsburgh Crawfords."(Giancaterino) Along with Kansas City these were areas of great racial diversity and segregation. The best part of the Negro Leagues was that even though they were separated from MLB players, most would say they were better. This would be displayed when the MLB started integrating the African Americans into the leauge."Now, for contrast, consider the warmth with which the Negro ballplayer was welcomed into the American League. When 1 owned the Cleveland Indians, we signed Larry Doby, a Negro, in 1947. A year later, we won the pennant and World Series—and broke all attendance records—with Doby and Negro pitcher Satchel Paige.”(Veeck) The African Americans proved to me much better and efficient then what white people originally thought they would be. They finally might have made their claim as acceptable to those of other races. But sadly, racism was still very alive and well in the leagues. The color barrier still existed even though they they were in the same locker
Although teams consisting of only blacks can be traced back to the Civil War days, these teams were officially started started in 1920 in the center of diversity, Kansas City. "No African-American achievement of the Jim Crow ears was more swiftly rushed by the good news of integration than the black baseball leagues of America. There may be no black owner of a major league baseball team today, but for nearly a half century, African Americans owned and operated professional baseball leagues. Less famous than the ballplayers--"Cool Papa" Bell, Josh Gibson, "Buck" Leonard, "Pop" Lloyd and so many more--are the black men who owned the teams that built the leagues that showcased the stars. Those teams now largely are forgotten: the Kansas City Monarchs, the Homestead Grays, the Chicago American Giants, the Baltimore Black Sox, the Pittsburgh Crawfords."(Giancaterino) Along with Kansas City these were areas of great racial diversity and segregation. The best part of the Negro Leagues was that even though they were separated from MLB players, most would say they were better. This would be displayed when the MLB started integrating the African Americans into the leauge."Now, for contrast, consider the warmth with which the Negro ballplayer was welcomed into the American League. When 1 owned the Cleveland Indians, we signed Larry Doby, a Negro, in 1947. A year later, we won the pennant and World Series—and broke all attendance records—with Doby and Negro pitcher Satchel Paige.”(Veeck) The African Americans proved to me much better and efficient then what white people originally thought they would be. They finally might have made their claim as acceptable to those of other races. But sadly, racism was still very alive and well in the leagues. The color barrier still existed even though they they were in the same locker