By 1865, African Americans were no longer enslaved persons.
However, they still weren’t allowed to do everything that white Americans could do.
In the late 1800s, many southern states passed laws that kept the races apart. African Americans had to go to separate schools. They had to eat in separate restaurants, and stay in separate hotels. They also had to use separate water fountains and train cars, and sit at the back of buses.
Up North, segregation wasn’t the law, but African Americans still lived in separate neighborhoods. That meant they went to separate schools. Most African Americans could only get the lowest-paying jobs, and they couldn’t get promoted. American society was split between white and black, and baseball reflected that.
