Conspiracy of Silence

Sportswriters and the Long Campaign to Desegregate Baseball

Conspiracy of Silence
Chris Lamb
RRP:
NZ$ 72.99
Our Price:
NZ$ 60.22
Paperback
h229 x 152mm - 416pg
1 Oct 2021 US
International import eta 7-19 days
9781496229373
Out Of Stock
Currently no stock in-store, stock is sourced to your order
Named a top 50 baseball book of all time by the Huffington Post Named 2013 Best Book on Journalism and Mass Communication History by the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Named a top book for 2012 by Choice The campaign to desegregate baseball was one of the most important civil rights stories of the 1930s and 1940s. But most of white America knew nothing about this story because mainstream newspapers said little about the color line and still less about the efforts to end it. Even today, as far as most Americans know, the integration of baseball revolved around Branch Rickey' s signing of Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers' organization in 1945. This book shows how Rickey' s move, critical as it may have been, came after more than a decade of work by Black and left-leaning journalists to desegregate the game. Drawing on hundreds of newspaper articles and interviews with journalists, Chris Lamb reveals how differently Black and white newspapers, and Black and white America, viewed racial equality. Between 1933 and 1945, Black newspapers and the communist Daily Worker published hundreds of articles and editorials calling for an end to baseball' s color line, while white mainstream sportswriters perpetuated the color line by participating in what their Black counterparts called a "conspiracy of silence. " The alternative presses' efforts to end baseball' s color line, chronicled for the first time in Conspiracy of Silence, constitute one of the great untold stories of baseball-and the civil rights movement.
"Everyone-casual fans, journalists, and even the most knowledgeable baseball expert-will find something of interest in this significant contribution to our understanding of civil rights and baseball. "-John Paul Hill, NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Cultures "Lamb . . . brings all his scholarly tools to the project. . . . The author has documented a story of immense cultural importance. "-Kirkus Starred Review "[Conspiracy of Silence] is a valuable resource for students of baseball history and for readers concerned with the history of race relations and the media in this country. "-Robert Bruce Slater, Library Journal "Conspiracy of Silence represents a significant contribution to the study of baseball, race, and the press. "-Trey Strecker, Journal of Sport History "Conspiracy of Silence offers overwhelming evidence of the effectiveness of the black press in advancing integration in this country. "-Dorothy Seymour Mills, New York Journal "Lamb' s thorough journalistic expose chronicles the drama and history behind the game, while tracing how the desegregation of baseball parallels the story of the civil rights movement in the United States. "-Kathleen Gerard, Shelf Awareness "Lamb' s research shows the struggle that took place in the media had a lot to do with the tug-o-war of ideals and practicality of all the issues involved in the decision. It' s as good a book on the subject as we' ve ever come across. "-Tom Hoffarth, Farther Off The Wall "Though it covers some familiar ground, this solidly researched study introduces new faces to the picture to broaden the context. The clear, bold writing makes the book a joy to read. "-L. A. Heaphy, Choice "This is important, overdue work. "-Gene Sapakoff, Post and Courier "Everyone-casual fans, journalists, and even the most knowledgeable baseball expert-will find something of interest in this significant contribution to our understanding of civil rights and baseball. "-John Paul Hill, NINE "[Conspiracy of Silence] makes a valuable contribution to the history of the desegregation of baseball. "-Peter Lush, Sport in History "The alternative press' efforts to end baseball' s color line, which is documented for the first time in this book, is one of the greatest untold stories in baseball history, as well as the civil rights movement. "-Jason Schott, Brooklyn Digest "Sure, everyone knows about baseball' s color line and the man who crossed it. But no one has ever sifted the soil where that line was drawn, and found as much gold, as Chris Lamb does in Conspiracy of Silence. "-Gary Smith, writer for Sports Illustrated "Understanding the curious intersection of sports and politics is always a perilous journey. But with Chris Lamb as a guide, it' s more than a joy. It' s a revelation. "-Dave Zirin, author of A People' s History of Sports in the U. S. "An invaluable addition to studies about the tragic barring of blacks from Major League Baseball for almost half of the twentieth century. . . . An independent, moving analysis of a crucial era in American race relations. "-Arnold Rampersad, author of Jackie Robinson: A Biography
Chris Lamb is chair of the Department of Journalism and Public Relations at Indiana University-Indianapolis. He is the editor, author, or coauthor of eleven books, including Sports Journalism: A History of Glory, Fame, and Technology (Nebraska, 2020), From Jack Johnson to LeBron James: Sports, Media, and the Color Line (Nebraska, 2016), and Blackout: The Untold Story of Jackie Robinson' s First Spring Training (Nebraska, 2004).
Status: No local stock, title imported to order
ISBN-13: 9781496229373
Published: 1 Oct 2021
Published In: United States
Imprint: University of Nebraska Press
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Format: Paperback
Height: 229mm
Width: 152mm
Pages: 416

In stock - for items in stock we aim to dispatch the next business day. For delivery in NZ allow 2-5 business days, with rural taking a wee bit longer.

Locally sourced in NZ - stock comes from a NZ supplier with an approximate delivery of 7-15 business days.

International Imports - stock is imported into NZ, depending on air or sea shipping option from the international supplier stock can take 10-30 working days to arrive into NZ. 

Pre-order Titles - delivery will vary depending on where the title is published, if local stock is available in NZ then 5-7 business days, for international imports it can be 10-30 business days. In all cases we will access the quickest supply option.

Delivery Packaging - we ship all items in cardboard sleeves or by box with either packing paper or corn starch chips. (We avoid using plastics bubble bags)

Tracking - Orders are delivered by track and trace courier and are fully insured, tracking information will be sent by email once dispatched.

View our full Order & Delivery information