I was really interested in today’s topic on Negro Leagues Baseball, in part because it is one of the topics I am looking at with my individual research and I find in it interesting ties to the themes of the New Negro Renaissance. Although the focus (or common knowledge) of the New Negro Renaissance tends toward artistic, literary, and political ideas, I think many of the same goals are attempted and at times achieved through athletics.
Much of the leadership in the athletics I have looked at, Rube Foster in baseball and Bob Douglas in basketball to name the two I have read about, had many similarities with our more well known Renaissance leaders like Du Bois or Garvey. These leaders saw athletics as a way to prove black equality that would then expand beyond the court or field, much like Renaissance figures saw the potential in high art to “prove” humanity. These leaders were also acutely aware of the race pride other African Americans would feel seeing professional, successful African Americans, which today’s speaker addressed with evidence of the attendance of East/West All-star games and the attire of fans. One other thread, more in line with Garvey, that some of these leaders in black athletics shared was black entrepreneurial ownership. That teams, stadiums, leagues, etc. should be owned and operated by African Americans to remove dependence on white patrons and keep financial benefits in the African American community.
As a sports fan and a firm believer in the benefits of sports for entertainment, empowerment, sense of community, and teamwork, I have enjoyed seeing scholars (as well as popular works) that show the themes and strategies we have typically associated with the Renaissance were also goals, debates, possibly byproducts, of athletics.
-- Whitney Coonradt
