L'affaire Jake Powell: The minority press goes to bat against segregated baseball

During a radio interview on 29 July 1938, New York Yankee outfielder Jake P owell said he worked as a policeman in the off-season and kept in shape by cracking "niggers" over the head with his nightstick. Powell was immediatel y suspended for ten days. The "Jake Powell Incident" provided the catalyst to challenge segregation in baseball-mobilizing pressure from Black activis ts, journalists, and others who wanted to integrate baseball. This article examines how this story was covered by mainstream dailies; Black weeklies; and the Daily Worker, a Communist daily published in New York City.