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Racial Racism

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Jackie Robinson, Joe Louis, and Hank Greenberg all faced some sort of racism during their lives and their professional careers. Racism was found in every sport between the 1930s and the 1950s. Some sports hid the racism better than the others did. The role of racism and ethnicity in American sport did not change significantly between the 1930s and the 1950s. Jackie Robinson faced severe racism before his major league baseball career even began. Jackie Robinson went to school at UCLA and became the first ever man to letter in four sports. Not only was he the first man to letter in four sports but, he was also the first African American to do so. After two years at UCLA Jackie Robinson decided that college was not for him. Jackie Robinson said, “I was convinced that no amount of education would help a black man get a job” (11). Instead, Jackie Robinson wanted to be an athletic director. However, he knew that in those days no big time football or basketball program would hire a black man. Before and during the 1940s blacks who wanted to play baseball, had to sign up on black teams only. None of the white major league teams would allow a black player on their team and they also would not play against them during this time period. The exclusively black teams were poorly financed and their management was left much to be longed for. After a long day of traveling they would settle into their hotel and try to find a place to eat. However, some of the hotels for blacks had no

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