Elijah Cummings: “I rise today to honor the players of the Negro Baseball Leagues. These brave Americans--barred from playing major league…”

“I rise today to honor the players of the Negro Baseball Leagues. These brave Americans--barred from playing major league baseball--organized their own professional baseball leagues that were, by all accounts, the caliber and quality of the all-white league from which they were excluded. What began in the early 1800's as informal contests became actual professional teams by 1885, and the official Negro Baseball Leagues by 1920. The leagues, which lasted until 1960 when African-American ballplayers were accepted into major league baseball, were the venue for some of the game's greatest players. Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron were giants of the game of baseball--all got their start in the Negro Baseball Leagues. More important than their impact on the game of baseball, however, was the symbolic value of the Negro Baseball Leagues. In an era where being black meant second-class status in America, the players of the Negro Baseball Leagues gave African-American children role models and helped to integrate the all-white American pastime. Mr. Speaker, the struggle from segregation to full racial integration--a struggle that continues to this day--is the story of brave men and women who broke racial barriers by challenging the social, political, and economic norms of their time. The players of the Negro Baseball Leagues were such people.”