Week 9

Troy Maychuk

Sports Journalism Blog

Week 9

Branch Rickey stood as the cusp of change for African American athletes in the early 1900s. Jackie Robinson stood as a shining example of the future, a black man set to emerge into the major leagues who with the help of Wendell Smith’s recommendation made this dream a reality, blowing open the doors which had been locked for so long- a new era of athletics in America. Smith edited the sports section for the Pittsburg Courier- Journal, a controversial publication because of its open support of black people, especially within the realm of emerging black athletes. Jackie Robinson said within his autobiography that he ‘’would be forever indebted to Wendell Smith” for his support. Smith experienced racial segregation first hand and heavily sympathized with civil rights and the black condition, sparking endless controversy for both his own career and The Pittsburg Courier-Journal. Equality is what these men stood for, and despite open opposition from the public and other publications they did not waver in their stance. Wiggin’s article paints a vivid picture of the plight of turn of the century athletes that often gets washed under the bridge.

Something I found progressive and daring was how Wendell compared his fellow American’s segregation and mistreatment of blacks to the way that Hitler treated Jewish populations. It seems so obvious to us how wrong people were now in 2013 but guys like Smith were of a very small minority of enlightened thinkers. Baseball really played a critical role in desegregation in our country. In Lambs article this becomes perfectly obvious. Baseball served as a ‘test model’ for racial integration- first the game and then real life. Sports that integrated black athletes like baseball helped to show Americans that integration was not only possible but ideal. Lamb identified just how apprehensive many reporters were to interview black athletes, tensions were high and drama very frequent. Although one can argue after reading these two articles that racial integration in sports got off to a bit of a rough start, but without brave activists like Wendell Smith and bold athletes like Jackie Robinson, the face of today’s sports would certainly bear shocking differences. Black athletes undoubtedly helped the course of civil rights and equality, inspiring generations of young athletes and thinkers alike.