Money Motivates

After successfully breaking the color line, Branch Rickey and the Brooklyn Dodgers decided to extend the noble experiment to the deeply segregated South. In January of 1949, the Dodgers announced that during spring training they would travel to Atlanta and Macon, Georgia. The team would be featuring Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella. After the announcement was made, an individual named Dr. Samuel Green, also known as the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, stated “there is no law against the game. But we have an unwritten law in the South – the Jim Crow law “(Tygiel 265). He predicted large amount of money lost due to whites boycotting the games. His prediction was erroneous (Tygiel 265).

[...] In reality, the south was motivated to integrate baseball by the potential sums of money that could be earned. Black players drew huge crowds along with huge amounts of money. Court rulings and ordinances helped the process, but money was the ultimate factor in shrinking the Jim Crow barriers within the South (Tygiel 268). Although black players drew huge crowds, they did not have it easy in the South. Fans didn’t always welcome the black players with open arms. The South was full of hatred and racial prejudices. [...]

[...] Money Motivates After successfully breaking the color line, Branch Rickey and the Brooklyn Dodgers decided to extend the noble experiment to the deeply segregated South. In January of 1949, the Dodgers announced that during spring training they would travel to Atlanta and Macon, Georgia. The team would be featuring Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella. After the announcement was made, an individual named Dr. Samuel Green, also known as the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, stated “there is no law against the game. [...]