the ideology of Jim Crow, had poweredthe United States' citizens frame of mind. At this time, Violence in the African Americancommunity was excessively in occurrence. In fact, at a desegregation campaign that was led byDr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963, "images of police dogs and fired hoses turned ondemonstrators, including woman and children," still haunt those that had lived throughout thattime. (Rampersad, pg. 374) Moreover, peaceful marches led by Dr. King, were often broken upby police officers with the aide of tear gas, whips, and clubs. Not to mention the fact that at thistime, church bombings were ramped. African American churches were often bombed, along withhomes and other places they claimed for themselves. But "in July1964after the shooting of a15 - year - old Harlem boy, James Powellby an off - duty police officereruptedin the worstriots there since 1943" and all because he whistled at a white women. (Conrads, pg. 9) Moreimportantly, struggles in the household had to be endured by African Americans along with theirproblems in the community. "I saw Josh Gibson's daughter yesterday. She was walking around with raggedy shoes on herfeet. Now I bet you Selkirk's daughter ain't walking around with raggedy shoes on her feet." (Wilson, pg.9)This quotation from the story, Fences, conveys a lot of information. Basically, it displaysthe Negro players inadequate payments, the harsh conditions in which they lived, and societiesmeans of throwing them to the side. Josh Gibson was said to be the premier power hitter inbaseball history. While he played for the Negro Leagues, he knocked in " a career 962homeruns," which was more than any baseball player in history had ever accomplished. (WhatAreLeagues: Internet) On the contrary, Selkirk played right - field for the Yankees, and onlyhit a mere .263, but still got paid more than the powerful catcher Josh Gibson. A social life for players in the Negro Leagues was a difficu...
