Baseball is on the decline in African American culture. The percentage of African Americans in the major leagues is at its lowest point since 1968, for example. This article employs structuration theory, a comprehensive social theory developed by British sociologist Anthony Giddens, to examine the evolution of African Americans’ involvement in baseball from the heyday of the Negro leagues to the historically low level of participation today. Structuration theory has the capability of facilitating a rich, multifaceted analysis of this situation, at both macro and micro levels, through employing such constructs as routine, ontological security, identity, rule and resource structures, and positioning.
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