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
Even water fountains and vending machines were segregated because of the racial divide There were white schools and black schools Black people had to sit in the very back seats of buses Black people and white people were separated into different cars on trains There were even separate bathrooms swimming pools parks restaurants and water fountains for African Americans The public facilities black people were allowed to use were often broken and not maintained African American schools and libraries were usually shabby and had fewer supplies Professional sports were also segregated The National Football League NFL was not officially integrated until 1946 6 21st century skills library
President Franklin D Roosevelt’s Executive Order 8802 was the first U S government action against racial discrimination in the workplace African Americans played basketball in a league called the Black Fives before the National Basketball Association NBA was integrated Professional baseball in the United States became segregated in 1877 A man named Rube Foster formed an African American baseball league in 1920 It was called the Negro National League It was very popular in African American communities for almost 30 years In 1941 President Franklin D Roosevelt signed an order It stated that the government and factories that made supplies for World War II 1939 1945 could not turn someone down for a job 7 Sports Unite Us
