Week 9 Post

“Democracy on the Field – The Black Press Takes on White Baseball”

            In this article, authors, Chris Lamb and Glen Bleske, discuss how the press treated the first integration within baseball. Known as one of the “first institutions in American society to become desegregated” and “most widely commented on episode in American race relations of its time,” baseball brought about the discussion and push toward a more equal society. Specifically within this article, Lamb and Bleske discuss the two perspectives of the press’ treatment of this integration—“the advocacy role of the black press and the status quo role of the white mainstream press.” The authors highlight player Jackie Robinson and his try-out for the Montreal Royals in 1946 to be a critical moment within the beginning of integration within baseball and sports, in general. At this point in time, black sportswriters used this event to spread the idea of integration within society and reported on it far more than the white press. White sportswriters reported little about the event. The authors point out that the white sportswriters were “unsure and afraid of how their readers would react to the story.” With the mainstream press consisting mostly of white writers, the story about Robinson gave little “social or cultural context”, which according to the authors, it deserved. The black press presented coverage on the Robinson story that expressed the signing of a black player on the team to be historically significant. It was obvious that the event meant more to the black press, as they were known as the “fighting press.” According to the authors, the “black press made no attempt to be objective in its reporting.” These black journalists helped to make the progress of civil rights possible. Opposite of the black press, white mainstream press provided little content to its readers of the significance and importance of this historic event. The authors explain that most white sportswriters “either criticized integration, ignored the issue completely or said that no good would come from raising the race issue.” The story appeared on the front page of black newspapers including the emotional and historical context of Robinson’s signing compared to the white newspapers that reported the story as if it were just another sports story, giving it little significance.

“Wendell Smith, the Pittsburgh Courier-Journal and the Campaign to Include Blacks in Organized Baseball, 1933-1945”

            In this article, author David Wiggins discusses the significant role that sports editor Wendell Smith and the Pittsburgh Courier-Journal had in lifting the racial barrier within American baseball. This ability to break down the racial barrier was due to the newspaper having the largest circulation out of all Black newspapers in the country. Along with the large circulation and readership, which increased almost by 100,000 more when Robinson was signed, the paper was “effective because it refused to relent in its call for complete equality in baseball.” According to Wiggins, the newspaper “continued to remonstrate against discrimination in the game despite the efforts of friend and foe alike to restrain its protests.” Finally, Wendell Smith made the papers initiatives effective through his dedication to the equality within baseball and the paper. Although Smith and the Pittsburgh Courier-Journal were both essential in the push toward desegregation in baseball, Smith began his advocacy for this type of equality long before the signing of Jackie Robinson. Smith as well as other journalists would attempt to discuss and bring out the idea of desegregation within their writing, trying to convince readers, society, and important figures to promote this idea as well. Smith also played a major role in the signing of Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers; when approached by Branch Rickey, Smith gave him Robinson’s name. This led to the turning point within baseball and segregation. Robinson was signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers, leaving Smith to be known as the person helped to make desegregation possible within American baseball.