Negro League Baseball in Virginia

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the racial situation in Tidewater, Virginia, through a discussion of the Negro League Baseball. The paper describes this team as, like all the black teams, a reflection of black life in the United States. The separate but unequal status they enjoyed appeared as a ghost of the white teams. The paper explores the financial challenges that faced the league, claiming them to be no different than those of other black enterprises, from stage entertainment to boxing. The financial challenges, arguably more than skin color, are what kept them in the background, shadowing the growth of the American ball club. Like a shadow on a wall, Negro League Baseball in Virginia, as everywhere else, would disappear when the bright light of national fame finally shone on one of its members, Jackie Robinson.

From the Paper:

"A report in the Norfolk Journal and Guide in 1917 paints a picture of racial harmony in Tidewater, Virginia, that would almost make one wonder why there needed to be Negro League Baseball. The banner headlines almost said it all: "Big Labor Day Celebration," "Thousands of White and Colored Laborers Paraded Streets of City." "Harmony Between Races" As that report told it, the celebration was a landmark of many sorts. In a relatively lengthy preface to the description of the baseball game that was the culmination of the day, it noted that "If carrying the stars and stripes is a demonstrative evidence of patriotism and loyalty to the United States, the Norfolk colored labor organizations can be styled as true friends to their country. The organizations were out very strong on Labor day [sic]. Several thousands together with the white Labor unions marched the streets of Norfolk in celebration of the day designated as their day throughout the country.""

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