Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete

Chapter 4 introduces the reader to Arthur “Rube” Foster, founder of the Negro National League (NNL). Rhoden argues that, while Jackie Robinson is considered the most crucial figure in African American athletics, Foster was the greater pioneer. Robinson, Rhoden explains, “became a symbol of the process of integration, a process that ultimately enriched white institutions while weakening and in many cases destroying black institutions” (101).

A visionary of sorts, Foster foresaw the inevitable desegregation of baseball and wanted to be certain that his NNL would “be in a position to dictate rather than be dictated to” (102). In order to achieve this dream, Foster would need to organize and to have a say in how “black muscle” would be employed. He finally succeeded in starting his league in 1920, and though he wasn’t the first to try, he was successful because of “the turbulence of the times, his relentless drive, and an emerging African American consciousness” (108).

Eventually, Foster would become dispirited by the fact that white owners, resentful of his success, would muster their power and numbers to refuse him the chance to have an all-black team compete in larger venues. Foster suffered from a nervous breakdown and was committed to an asylum, where he remained until his death in 1930.