The 1940's consisted of strong racial tensions between the white and black populations, as Jim Crows Laws normalized the separation of the races. Although Jackie Robinson; the first black athlete to play professional baseball, was apart of the Dodgers team, society was very much separated. Blacks lived in constant fear of whites. Many lynchings and slaughters occurred, along with the infamous execution of George Stinney; the youngest person to be executed in the 20th century. During this time tensions between the whites and Japanese heightened, as internment camps were being formed in response to Pearl Harbor.