Connecting the Preface to the American Dream

In the preface Wilson discusses his view of the strive for the American Dream for Whites versus the struggle for the American Dream by Blacks during the late 1950's. Wilson is angry at the difference in how European immigrants who voluntarily came to this country, were treated, and how African immigrants who were forced to come here were treated. In the preface, Wilson opens the play with his thoughts on this issue. He speaks about how the Great Migration left many southern rooted Blacks with the same or less than what they had before they migrated north. He spoke of how in 1957, Blacks only had one dream, which was to be treated as equally as whites were and to be exposed to the same opportunities that they were. He spoke of the suffering that many Blacks faced once they moved to a region of the country that they thought had an open mind. In the last paragraph of the preface Wilson gives the reader a recap of what was happening economically and socially in the baseball arena in 1957.