Is Race Still an Issue in the United States?

When I was a kid, which was in the 1950’s, Labor Day meant the baseball season was over, and the World Series was about to begin. There were two baseball leagues in those days — the National League and the American League, and the winners of each league then played a best-of-seven series to see which team was the baseball champions for that year.

Each league had 8 teams, with the 4 better teams referred to as the ‘first division’ teams and the other 4 teams comprised the ‘second division.’ I lived in Washington, D.C. that had a major league team — the Senators — which one year actually finished in 5th place, which meant they were the best 2nd-Division team in the American League.

The Senators were referred to by the Washington Post’s sportswriter Shirley Povich (father of Maury Povich) as ‘first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League.” The year they made 5th place was as if they had won the pennant and finished in first place. The Senator players earned a World Series share for finishing in 5th place, which was, as I recall, something around $45 for each share.

The Senators played in Griffith Stadium which was located on Georgia Avenue and is now the location of Howard University Hospital. I could walk to the ballpark from my home and for 50 cents sit in the left-field bleachers which were segregated…