Description
Describe the experiences of returning African American servicemen. In what ways were inequalities at home used against the United States in the Cold War? What was President Truman’s response? ( 250 words)
FOCUS QUESTION 3:
How did Truman expand on the New Deal? How effective was his Fair Deal agenda? (250 words)
As American as apple pie, baseball in the 1940s reflected the reality of racism in America: the sport was strictly desegregated, and only the white leagues were celebrated and glorified as “America’s national pastime.” There were Negro Leagues as well, in which some of the finest athletes played and in which black America took considerable enjoyment and pride, but they were not part of the national identity, as were the so-called Big Leagues. In 1947, Jackie Robinson integrated perhaps the most important social institution in the nation. And he did it without fighting back at the taunts and physical assaults he endured in the process, including the famous spike from North Carolinian player Enos Slaughter, who created a seven-inch gash in Robinson’s leg. Between 1949 and 1954, Robinson hit for an average .324, batting over .300 all six of those years. He was selected as the National League’s most valuable player in 1949 and in 1955 helped lead the Brooklyn Dodgers to a World Series victory.
But Robinson’s job, his role in life, was not merely to be the best ballplayer he could be. His standing in the national spotlight provided an opportunity for the part of him that was a committed Civil Rights activist to shine. In a preview of what became known as Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolent direct action against oppression, Jackie Robinson maintained his cool in the face of angry and ugly behavior from baseball fans and fellow ballplayers. His skill on the field and his character on and off of it spoke volumes, and moved America. If the national pastime could become integrated, perhaps there was hope for America as a whole. As Robinson once said, “I’m ready to take the chance. Maybe I’m doing something for my race.”
DOCUMENTS
Document 1 is a passage from a speech by former Brooklyn Dodgers owner, Branch Rickey, on breaking the color line and hiring the first Big League player of color, Jackie Robinson. This document provides a glimpse into one of the two key players involved in the historical event of the desegregation of baseball.
Document 2 is an image that reveals Jackie Robinson’s athletic prowess as a quarterback for UCLA.
Document 3 is a link to the New York Times article from the day that Jackie Robinson was signed to play with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
3. Answer the Focus Question.
DOCUMENT 1
Branch Rickey, [The Right Man On and Off the Field], 1956
Now I could talk at some length, of course, about the problem of hiring a Negro ballplayer after an experience of twenty-five years in St. Louis–where, at the end, I had no stock at all in the club and no Negro was permitted to buy his way into the grandstand during that entire period of my residence in St. Louis. The only place a Negro could witness a ballgame in St. Louis was to buy his way into the bleachers–the pavilion. With an experience of that kind in back of me, and having had sort of a “bringins up” that was a bit contrary to that regime–milieu, in St. Louis, I went to Brooklyn.
Within the first month in Brooklyn, I approached what I considered the number-one problem in the hiring of a Negro in professional baseball in this country. Now that is a story and that could be a fairly long speech. Namely–ownership. Ownership must be in line with you, and I was at that time an employee, not at that time a part-owner of the club. And when ownership was passed, then five other things presented themselves. This is not my speech. I am just giving you this as a preliminary. But I want to get out of the road of this thing, and have you say that– well, I wish he had talked about that thing.
The second thing was to find the right man as a player. I spent 25,000 dollars in all the Caribbean countries–in Puerto Rico, Cuba–employed two scouts, one for an entire year in Mexico, to find that the greatest Negro players were in our own country.
Then I had to get the right man off the field. I couldn’t come with a man to break down a tradition that had in it centered and concentrated all the prejudices of a great many people north and south unless he was good. He must justify himself upon the positive principle of merit. He must be a great player. I must not risk an excuse of trying to do something in the sociological field, or in the race field, just because of sort of a “holier than thou.” I must be sure that the man was good on the field, but more dangerous to me, at that time, and even now, is the wrong man off the field. It didn’t matter to me so much in choosing a man off the field that he was temperamental–righteously subject to resentments. I wanted a man of exceptional intelligence, a man who was able to grasp and control the responsibilities of himself to his race and could carry that load. That was the greatest danger point of all.
A man of exceptional courage, and exceptional intelligence, a man of basically fine character–when somebody, somewhere, thinks in terms of a local athletic club not playing some other club because of the presence on the squad of a man of color. I am thinking that if an exhibition game were to be played in these parts against a team on whose squad was Jackie Robinson–even leaving out all of the principles of fair play, all the elements of equality and citizenship, all the economic necessities connected with it, all the violations of the whole form and conceptions of our government from its beginning up to now–leave it all out of the picture, he would be depriving some of the citizens of his own community, some wonderful boys, from seeing an exhibition of skill and technique, and the great, beautiful, graciousness of a slide, the like of which they could not see from any other man in this country. And that’s not fair to a local constituency.
Character is a great thing to have in an athlete, a team. It’s a great thing. And when I wonder if there is any condonation, any explanation, anything that can be done to make an extenuating circumstance out of something that violates the right of a part of our citizenship throughout the country when I know that the Man of 1900 years ago spent His life and died for the sake of freedom–the right to come, to go, to see, to think, to believe, to act. It is to be understood, but it is too profoundly regretted.
Education is a slow process. It may solve it. It is inevitable that this thing comes to fruition. Too many forces are working fast. This so-called little Robinson– we call it the “Robinson Experiment”–tremendous as it will be for Jackie to have so placed himself in relation not only to his own people in this country, but to his whole generation and to all America that he will leave the mark of fine sportsmanship and fine character. That is something that he must guard carefully. He has a responsibility there.
This group here like this– these groups throughout America of all colors. That existence in this country will bring it about surely and faster than people know.
The recognition of the moral stature of all men, that all humans are equal. This thing of freedom has been bought at a great price. That all men are equal in the sight of God. That all laws must recognize that men are equal– all humans are equal by nature. The same pains, and the same joys, and in our country the same food, the same dress, the same religion, the same language, the same everything. And perhaps quite as questionable an ancestry civically in this country on the part of the black men as we can trace many of the forbearers in the white race of the other settlers of this country.
These things I mention will work, I think, in due time with a sureness that will make possibly the very next generation wonder and look back, with incredulity upon everything that was a problem to us today in this country, and will wonder what the issue was all about. I am completely color-blind. I know that America is–it’s been proven Jackie–more interested in the grace of a man’s swing, in the dexterity of his cutting a base, and his speed afoot, in his scientific body control, in his excellence as a competitor on the field. America, wide and broad, and in Atlanta, and in Georgia, will become instantly more interested in those marvelous, beautiful qualities than they are in the pigmentation of a man’s skin.
Credit: Branch Rickey, Speech for the “One Hundred Percent Wrong Club” Banquet, Atlanta, Georgia, January 20, 1956. Rights granted by the Grandchildren of Branch Rickey.
DOCUMENT 2
Jackie Robinson as UCLA quarterback (photograph)
Jackie Robinson as quarterback at UCLA; he was the college’s first student athlete to earn varsity letters in four different sports.
Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images
DOCUMENT 3
New York Times, “Dodgers Purchase Robinson, First Negro in Modern Major League Baseball” by Louis Effrat, April 10, 1957
Jackie Robinson, 28-year-old infielder, yesterday became the first Negro to achieve major-league baseball status in modern times. His contract was purchased from the Montreal Royals of the International League by the Dodgers and he will be in Brooklyn uniform at Ebbets Field today, when the Brooks oppose the Yankees in the first of three exhibition games over the week-end.
A native of Georgia, Robinson won fame in baseball, football, basketball and track at the University of California at Los Angeles before entering the armed service as a private. He emerged a lieutenant in 1945 and in October of that year was signed to a Montreal contract. Robinson’s performances in the International League, which he led in batting last season with an average of .349, prompted President Branch Rickey of the Dodgers to promote Jackie.
The decision was made while Robinson was playing first base for Montreal against the Dodgers at Ebbets Field. Jackie was blanked at the plate and contributed little to his team’s 4-3 victory before 14,282 fans, but it was nevertheless a history-making day for the well-proportioned lad.
An Inopportune Moment
Jackie had just popped into a double-play, attempting to bunt in the fifth inning, when Arthur Mann, assistant to Rickey, appeared in the press box. He handed out a brief, typed announcement: “The Brooklyn Dodgers today purchased the contract of Jackie Roosevelt Robinson from the Montreal Royals.”
Robinson will appear at the Brooklyn offices this morning to sign a contract. Rickey does not anticipate any difficulty over terms.
According to the records, the last Negro to play in the majors was one Moses Fleetwood Walker, who caught for Toledo of the American Association when that circuit enjoyed major-league classification back in 1884.
The call for Robinson was no surprise. Most baseball persons had been expecting it. After all, he had proved his right to the opportunity by his extraordinary work in the AAA minor league, where he stole 40 bases and was the best defensive second baseman. He sparked the Royals to the pennant and the team went on to annex the little world series.
Robinson’s path in the immediate future may not be too smooth, however. He may run into antipathy from Southerners who form about 60 per cent of the league’s playing strength. In fact, it is rumored that a number of Dodgers expressed themselves unhappy at the possibility of having to play with Jackie.
Robinson is “Thrilled”
Jackie, himself, expects no trouble. He said he was “thrilled and it’s what I’ve been waiting for.” When his Montreal mates congratulated and wished him luck, Robinson answered: “Thanks, I need it.”
Whether Robinson will be used at first or second base is not known. That will depend upon the new manager, yet to be named by Rickey.
Rickey, in answer to a query, declared he did not expect trouble from other players, because of Robinson. “We are all agreed,” he said, “that Jackie is ready for the chance.”
Several thousand Negroes were in the stands at yesterday’s exhibition. When Robinson appeared for batting practice, he drew a warm and pleasant reception. Dixie Walker, quoted in 1945 as opposed to playing with Jackie, was booed on his first turn at bat. Walker answered with a resounding single. If, however, Robinson, is to make the grade, he will have to do better than he did against the Brooks. Against Ralph Branca, Jackie rolled meekly to the mound, walked and then popped an intended sacrifice bunt into a double play. At first base–a new position for him–he handled himself flawlessly, but did not have a difficult chance.
