Monday, April 15, 2024
Copyrighted by Sarah Morris, 2024
Monday was the 77th anniversary of Jackie Roosevelt Robinson breaking the color barrier in the major leagues, the most important moment in American sports. This kicked off the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Without Robinsons’ courage and the ability to put up with nastiest racism, many Americans wouldn’t have accomplished what they have.
After being born in Georgia and his father left the family when Jackie was only 6 months old, his mother moved the family to Los Angeles. When Jackie was three years old, his mother bought a house in a white neighborhood of Pasadena, California. She refused to move even though the neighbors tried to make the Africa-American family.
While succeeding at all sports, Jackie fought injustice against people from his race. He lettered in four sports both at Pasadena City College and UCLA. While at UCLA, he met his future wife Rachel. He dropped out of UCLA when he couldn’t play sports anymore and couldn’t graduate because he was an average student. He claimed his family needed him to work because they needed the money.
During World War II, Jackie served in the United States Army after being drafted. He was a super rifleman, but he never served overseas. Because he refused to move to the back of the bus at Fort Hood, Texas, he was court marshaled and found innocent. The Army gave Jackie an honorable discharge.
Jackie joined the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues. He wasn’t the best player in the Negro Leagues while he played shortstop. Riding hours on buses, Jackie made the team ask if they could use the restroom before the team got gas. If they couldn’t use the restroom, they wouldn’t get their huge amount of gas there.
Since the Negro Leagues had long bus trips and awful food, Jackie didn’t enjoy playing in the Negro Leagues. He tried out for the Boston Red Sox, but the tryout was a fake.
Branch Rickey, the president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, always wanted to integrate Major League Baseball. He wanted to do it his way. He didn’t want only a great player, but he needed a player who had the intelligence and the courage needed to put up with the nasty racism. Rickey met with Jackie Robinson and encouraged him to marry Rachel since he would need to have support at home. He ordered Jackie not to respond to the racism.
Just before 1946 spring training, Jackie and Rachel married. The trip to Florida made the young couple face intense racism. Jackie excelled with the Montreal Royals, Brooklyn’s AAA team.
In 1947, Jackie needed to learn how to play first base to make the Brooklyn Dodgers. His major league teammates didn’t want Jackie on the team, but both Rickey and manager Leo Durocher wouldn’t let the players protest Jackie. One player was traded.
With all the pressure and racism incidents, Jackie Robinson performed exceptionally well for the 1947 Dodgers who lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series and earned the first Rookie of the Year. In 1949, Jackie Robinson earned the National League MVP. Diabetes cut Jackie’s playing career short, but he was a member of the 1955 world-champion Brooklyn Dodgers. After the 1956 season, Jackie Robinson retired from baseball and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
After his retirement, Jackie continued breaking down color barriers. He worked with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to help his race to gain rights and advance in American society. Mistakenly, he backed Richard Nixon for president because he thought he would help African Americans advance in America. After battling drug issues, Jackie Robinson, Jr., was killed in an automobile accident.
Diabetes stole Jackie’s sight and weakened his heart. Rachel put her nursing career on hold to care for her ailing husband. In Game 1 of the 1972 World Series, Jackie Robinson threw out the ceremony first pitch and said that he would like to see a black manager in the Major Leagues. Six days later, a heart attack killed Jackie Roosevelt Robinson at 53. Some people thought the pressure of breaking the color barrier killed Robinson prematurely.
Without Robinsons’ sacrifices, baseball would not have been a leader of integration. Jackie helped the Supreme Court to rule favorably in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas to integrate the public school system.
I grew up in Pasadena, California, about six blocks from where Jackie grew up. The Supreme Court forced Pasadena to integrate schools in 1973, and this helped my parents to buy our first house. I grew up hearing about the legacy of Jackie Robinson and helped me to have courage to integrate schools with disabled students. I wasn’t allowed to attend the same high school as Jackie even though I lived in the same school district because I used a wheelchair. Pasadena wanted to have all students who used wheelchairs at Blair High School, a hilly campus across town from where I lived.
I attended Pasadena City College where I was accepted and excelled. I couldn’t go to UCLA because my single mother couldn’t afford to send me. Without Robinson, I wouldn’t have had an opportunity to have a career in baseball.
