#42"The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become." - Charles Dubois
On this very date 60 years ago an average man showed us all that a single act of courage could in fact change the lives of those around him and the lives of future generations. That man’s name was Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson did more than just play baseball; whether he knew it or not, he became the founder of the Civil Right Movement that would finally establish African Americans as true citizens of a country that they had inhabited for over 200 years.
Born in 1919, Jackie Robinson led what most would call at the time an average life in Cairo, Georgia. Life was especially harsh for a majority of African Americans who resided in the southern United States during Jackie’s era, but he made do. Besides baseball, Jackie was also a gifted football and basketball player. By the end of his athletic career in junior college, Robinson decided that baseball was his calling. But first he served his country in a distinguished manner from 1942-1944 as a second lieutenant during World War II.
By 1946, Brooklyn Dodger’s GM Branch Rickey had decided to give Robinson a chance to demonstrate his immense baseball talents by signing him to a minor league contract with the team’s minor league affiliate. Robinson quickly rose through the ranks of the minors and was soon promoted to the big league. On April 15, 1947, Robinson became the first black man in history to play in a Major League Baseball sanctioned game.
Even though he went 0 for 3 in his first game, he would rarely have another “0 for” game. He would win National League rookie of the year award and two years later he would lay claim to National League MVP honors. He would go on to have a distinguished career in the big league and retired in 1957. In 1962 he was inducted into the baseball hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York. After baseball he became an advocate for race relations, assisting countless others in their bid to find equality amongst their fellow countrymen.
Robinson passed away on October 24, 1972, but his legend has not been forgotten in MLB. His trademark # 42 was retired by the league, meaning that no one may every wear that number again for any MLB team. Some believe that we make too much out of Jackie Robinson, but those are the people that have been ignorant to the plight of countless minorities in this country, not just in sports, but in everyday life. Robinson risked his life every time he walked out onto the ball diamond. If he wasn’t worrying about his life, he was taking perpetual shit from his teammates and players throughout the league because of the color of his skin.
America has made leaps and bounds since the days of Jackie Robinson. But I believe that we would not be where we are today in race relations if Jackie Robinson had not summoned the courage to prove everyone wrong. The next time you go to any ballpark and you see a #42 banner flying, do not just think of the baseball player, but think of the man and his vital significance to our maturation as a nation. Jackie Robinson did not open doors, he ripped them off their hinges and then some.
