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A Black Candidate Runs on Civil Rights in 1940s New York

The Japanese distributed leaflets over the South Pacific that asked, "If Americans are fighting for the freedom and equality of all people, why aren't Negro Americans allowed to play big league baseball?" Ben Davis, an African-American candidate for New York City Council in 1945, adopted this question in his campaign: "The Japanese propaganda leaflet told the truth! No Negro can play big league baseball!"

Source | "Good enough to DIE... but not good enough to PITCH!," pamphlet cover, from the National Negro Congress Records at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library.  
Creator | Unknown
Rights | National Negro Congress Records; Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library; Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.
Item Type | Pamphlet/Petition
Cite This document | Unknown, “A Black Candidate Runs on Civil Rights in 1940s New York,” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed April 25, 2024, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1144.

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