Raceball · How the Major Leagues Colonized the Black and Latin Game
- Authors
- Ruck, Rob
- Publisher
- Beacon Press
- Tags
- social aspects , caribbean area - social conditions , hispanic american baseball players , major league baseball (organization) - history , history , discrimination in sports , discrimination in sports - united states - history , baseball , social science , sociology , baseball - united states - history , united states , general , ethnic studies , discrimination & race relations , minority studies , african american baseball players , baseball - social aspects - united states , latin america - social conditions , library , united states - social conditions
- ISBN
- 9780807048054
- Date
- 2011-03-01T00:00:00+00:00
- Size
- 2.05 MB
- Lang
- en
The colliding histories of black and Latin ballplayers in the major leagues have traditionally been told as a story of their shameful segregation and redemptive integration. Jackie Robinson jumped baseball’s color line to much fanfare, but integration was painful as well as triumphal. It gutted the once-vibrant Negro Leagues and often subjected Latin players to Jim Crow racism.
Today, Major League Baseball tightens its grasp around the Caribbean’s burgeoning baseball academies, while at home it embraces—and exploits—the legacy of the Negro Leagues. Award-winning historian Rob Ruck explains the catalyst for this sea change while breaking down the consequences that cut across society. By looking at this history from the vantage point of black America and the Caribbean, *Raceball* unveils a fresh and stunning truth: baseball has never been stronger as a business, never weaker as a game.