Books > History > American history
|
Buy Now
When Baseball Went White - Reconstruction, Reconciliation, and Dreams of a National Pastime (Paperback)
Loot Price: R473
Discovery Miles 4 730
You Save: R89
(16%)
|
|
When Baseball Went White - Reconstruction, Reconciliation, and Dreams of a National Pastime (Paperback)
(sign in to rate)
List price R562
Loot Price R473
Discovery Miles 4 730
You Save R89 (16%)
Expected to ship within 10 - 15 working days
|
The story of Jackie Robinson valiantly breaking baseball's color
barrier in 1947 is one most Americans know. But less recognized is
the fact that some seventy years earlier, following the Civil War,
baseball was tenuously biracial and had the potential for a truly
open game. How, then, did the game become so firmly segregated that
it required a trailblazer like Robinson? The answer, Ryan A.
Swanson suggests, has everything to do with the politics of
"reconciliation" and a wish to avoid the issues of race that an
integrated game necessarily raised. The history of baseball during
Reconstruction, as Swanson tells it, is a story of lost
opportunities. Thomas Fitzgerald and Octavius Catto (a Philadelphia
baseball tandem), for example, were poised to emerge as pioneers of
integration in the 1860s. Instead, the desire to create a "national
game"-professional and appealing to white northerners and
southerners alike-trumped any movement toward civil rights.
Focusing on Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Richmond-three cities
with large Black populations and thriving baseball clubs-Swanson
uncovers the origins of baseball's segregation and the mechanics of
its implementation. An important piece of sports history, his work
also offers a better understanding of Reconstruction, race, and
segregation in America.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
|
|
Email address subscribed successfully.
A activation email has been sent to you.
Please click the link in that email to activate your subscription.