Political Quotes

“in the last few moments, we adopted a resolution which is historic in nature. It relates to the Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues baseball in America. Anyone who loves baseball as I do and followed the great documentary prepared by Ken Burns on the history of baseball must have been struck by how much the history of baseball is associated with the resolution of the issue of race in America. For too long, baseball, similar to much of America, was segregated. Now that it has become an integrated sport, we have seen some tremendous athletes--Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, White Americans, those from other countries--coming together to make it a more exciting sport than it has ever been. I think we realize now what was lost for so many decades, while those who labored in Black baseball, the Negro Leagues, were relegated to second-class status despite the fact their talents were as good or sometimes better than those who played on all White baseball teams. Jerry Izenberg, a sports writer for the Newark Star Ledger, wrote of the stars of Negro Leagues Baseball: They took America's game and weaved a kind of magic with it that most of America never bothered to see--not for lack of talent and surely not because of the way they played it--with a fire in the belly and joy in the skills that motivated them. America loved baseball, but segregation turned America blind.…”