This book is a collection of articles about Jackie Robinson who integrated major league baseball on April 15, 1947. This was the most significant civil rights development since Reconstruction. The most amazing things is how Robinson was the best person for the job. Branch Rickey, owner of the Dodgers, picked well.
Today a national icon, Jackie Robinson was a complicated who walked thru a minefield in his short life integrating the national pastime. Few knew of his inner turmoil, his activism, and his true place in civil rights history.
Foreward P. X1
FACTS
Born in Cairo, Georgia. Father abandoned the family. The mother led the Robinsons to Pasadena, California.
Jackie Robinson was a lifelong Republican, a Rockefeller Republican. He was shaken when the Republicans nominated Goldwater in 1964. Voted for Nixon in 1960 but later regretted it.
There is Jackie Robinson the baseball player and there is Jackie Robinson the civil right icon. The latter has a complicated history. Perhaps he has never received proper recognition for his civil rights activity and positions.
Rachel says that the Pee Wee Reese incident never happened.
He promised Branch Rickey that he would not fight back for three years, but he did fight back after that. Those three years led to his early reputation as a mild Uncle Tom. Jackie was a natural fighter.
He had his agreements and disagreements with other civil rights icons like MLK, Jr. and Malcolm X. Jackie Robinson was nothing not complex.
The white sportswriters missed the integration story.
#2 A Methodist Life
Jackie Robinson was a Methodist. This greatly influenced his life. He was nurtured at Scott Methodist Church. Rev. Downs was his liaison with Branch Rickey, also a Methodist.
Methodism may have helped shape Rickey's correct vision that Robinson had the qualities to survive the racism and taunting that he would have to endure. At the same time, Branch Rickey was a capitalist trying to fill the stands and make money.
Robinson was a Republican. He voted for Nixon in 1960. He was stunned when the party nominated Barry Goldwater in 1964. He voted for Lyndon Johnson in 1968. Did he officially identify as a Democrat before he died in 1972?
#George Vecsey Jackie Robinson Ball
Jackie Robison was the epitome of aggressive baseball smarts.
#10 Yohuru Williams "I Gotta Be Me"
How do you place Jackie Robinson into the history of the struggle for black equality in the latter half of the 20th Century? P. 114
His life in many ways reflects twentieth-century African American history. P. 114
He was the first 4-letter athlete at UCLA. P. 114
Rookie of the Year in 1947. MVP in 1949. First Dodger World Series championship in 1955. P. 114
Lifelong supporter of Nelson Rockefeller. P. 115
Baseball was his fourth best sport. P. 115
He redefined the game. P. 115
The narrative of his life does not fit a simple progressive scenario. P. 116
Malcom X called him an Uncle Tom. P. 116
His independence of thought made him difficult to categorize. P. 117
People saw in Jackie Robinson what they wanted to see. He was many things to many people. P. 119
He supported the Viet Nam War and had a falling out with MLK, Jr. over this. P. 120
Wife Rachel said he was not bitter. P. 121
#11 Peter Dreier "The First Famous Jock for Justice"
Part of his legacy is as a role model for athletes who desire to express their social and political views. P. 132
Robinson wrote newspaper columns. He did radio and TV shows. He led a very textured life after baseball. P. 135
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