TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 Separate But Equal 4 CHAPTER 2 Competitive From the Start 10 CHAPTER 3 The Great Experiment 14 CHAPTER 4 The Test of a Lifetime 18 CHAPTER 5 Continuing to Pave the Way 24 THINK ABOUT IT 30 LEARN MORE 31 GLOSSARY 32 INDEX 32
chapter 1 Separate But Equal Baseball is a game played on a diamond-shaped field made of dirt and grass Players hit a small ball with a bat The team who scores the most runs wins A run is scored when the batter runs around the three bases and crosses home Baseball is known as America’s national pastime The first professional baseball league in the United States was started in 1871 In 1883 a team called the Dodgers was formed in Brooklyn New York Sixty-four years later the Dodgers made history They signed a player named Jackie Robinson This decision changed not only baseball but also the hearts and minds of American baseball fans In the 1940s America was a segregated country White people had many civil rights that black people did not 4 21st century skills library
Because of Jim Crow laws African Americans were forced to use separate theaters swimming pools public restrooms and many other public areas for many years have African Americans had to follow rules called Jim Crow laws Jim Crow laws began in the 1890s 30 years after slavery ended They were meant to give African Americans rights but keep them separate from white people African Americans were expected to follow the Jim Crow laws They were treated badly if they didn’t Black people faced racial discrimination every day White people would call African Americans names or spit on them Many white people did not believe African Americans deserved the same rights that they had 5 Sports Unite Us
