Did Rube Foster Go Mad Because He Pushed the Limits of White Major League Baseball?
This week, Major League Baseball integrated the record books from the segregated era of American history. The commissioner declared the exploits of Josh Gibson, Leroy Satchel Paige, Double Duty Radcliff, and others on even par with George Herman “Babe” Ruth, Walter Johnson, and Cy Young. Cliques abound: It’s about time, a long time coming, and what kept you so long, MLB?
This year marks the 100th anniversary of an organized major league for Negro baseball players. In 1920, as with other facets of American society, sports followed the Plessy v Ferguson decision. There was a white version of reality and a Black version.
In 100 years, a lot of water has floated under the dam. While this acknowledgment by MLB makes up for some of the harm done to Black professional athletes, it does not excuse the wayward thinking of the era that prohibited Black people from patronizing businesses, social clubs, banks, theaters, night clubs, and sporting events with dignity.
Since this was the rule of the day, Black people formed a parallel society with all-white life accouterments in America. It made the Black version of America no less equal than that of the white view. The primary difference is that one was white and the other Negro. One deemed the ultimate experience in…
