In the period following World War II, the United States underwent dramatic social change. During this time, civil rights organizations experienced a great increase in their popularity among the black population, as the NAACP increased its membership from 18,000 before the war to 500,000 after it (www.naacp.org). In addition, African Americans were finally permitted to join the American Federation of Labor and other labor unions. The rise of these organizations allowed for great pressure to be exerted on institutions and the population as a whole to give blacks equal citizenship. At the same time, similar pressure was being put on sporting organizations to integrate their teams. Therefore, the desegregation of sports accurately depicts the continuing struggle for blacks to gain complete equality.
In the late 1940’s, organizations, overwhelmed by mounting pressure from society, began signing black players. While the signing of Jackie Robinson by the Brooklyn Dodgers is widely viewed as the beginning of integrated American sport, several black players, such as Kenny Washington and Woody Strode, signed contracts to play in the NFL two years earlier. All of these guys became established players and enjoyed great careers with their respective teams, thereby opening up the doors for generations of black athletes. Players are judged most importantly on their production on the field, and while these first black players, demonstrated great skills, the most important thing they did was the way in which they conducted themselves off the field. To justify their place among white athletes, they not only had to beat white players in competition, but they had to live just as perfect personal lives. And they did so to a t. What if Jackie Robinson was in constant trouble with the law or if Kenny Washington had a publicized drug problem? It would have casted a shadow over all black athletes, as many whites would have been quick to generalize all black athletes poorly. Instead, because of the exemplary behavior most early black athletes exhibited, there was a slight decrease in prejudices and African Americans moved closer to equality.
Even though black athletes were allowed to play with white players, they were still not seen as equal. In the years following desegregation, black players were treated much differently, specifically regarding the positions they were allowed to play. Many of the NFL elite believed that black quarterbacks did not have the intelligence or leadership to command the position and were often moved to other positions that highlighted pure athletic ability such as wide receiver. In response, black quarterbacks, including Warren Moon, Jimmy Jones, and Karl Douglas, went to Canada to play quarterback in the CFL. This prejudice in sports demonstrated the racial stigmas that were still present in society as late as the 1980’s.
While there remain common threads that link today’s athletes to athletes of the past, there are glaring differences that illustrate our progress. Black athletes are still often viewed as physically superior due to their biological makeup. They are still role models and leaders in the community. However, now they are not just role models for the black community but they are looked up to by an entire generation of young Americans. There are more Michael Jordan posters hanging from children’s walls than there are any other athlete. Think we would have seen a picture of Fran Robinson hanging in white little Jimmy’s room back in the 50’s. Probably not. Also, now, we do not stereotype an entire race based one or two individuals, as illustrated by the transgressions of Tiger Woods and Michael Vick. Both players committed atrocious acts in their personal lives, whether it was beating dogs or committing infidelity. However, there actions only impact how America sees them as individuals. There was a time when the actions of these two athletes would represent the entire black population not just themselves. So Vick and Woods better thank Frank Robinson and other black players who led desegregation because if Michael Vick and Tiger Woods were the first to integrate sports, it probably have taken a much longer time to rid society of many racial stigmas.
BY FARRELL DILIBERTO
I’ve always found integration in professional sports, specifically Major League Baseball, to be incredibly interesting subject matter. Specifically, American History’s recognition of Jackie Robinson as the first African American professional baseball player raises a glaring question in my mind – What about Moses Fleetwood Walker?
ReplyDeleteWalker became the first black player in the Major Leagues 30 YEARS before Robinson. He was met with the same racially driven hatred as Robinson, he was just as well educated (graduate of the University of Michigan) as Robinson, and he was a pretty damn good ball-player. To give you an idea of both his struggle and ability, this quote by Walker’s teammate (and one of the most successful pitchers of that era) Tony Mullane – “ (Walker) was the best catcher I ever worked with, but I disliked a Negro and whenever I had to pitch to him I used to pitch anything I wanted without looking at his signals.” Imagine a baseball coming at you between 85 and 90 MPH without a glove…and no idea which direction its going to go.
This isn’t meant to downplay the racial struggle that Robinson persevered, but more so to raise the question of, “Why Jackie Robinson?” There’s no information out there to discredit Walker’s off-field life, so the whole idea of “Why Rosa Parks and not Claudette Colvin?” is taken off the table. They were both top-tier players in Major League Baseball at the peaks of their respective careers (though Robinson did turn out to become one of the greatest of all-time). They both broke into the white establishment of “America’s Pastime” as black men. Is Jackie Robinson considered the man who broke the “color-line” in Major League Baseball simply because he did so at a more important point in history?