The unsanitized story of Jackie Robinson

[PufPuf23]

I liked this article.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/15182338/how-story-real-jackie-robinson-shows-deeper-more-painful-side-civil-rights-legend

Although born from good intentions, the idea of Jackie Robinson the saint is a convenient, unfortunate concoction. It is true enough that Robinson changed America, and in turn, America changed with him. His image and name rests on awards and on stamps, on highways and schools, and in his sport, no player on any team will ever wear his number 42 again, except during the one game later this week, when every player, coach and umpire in the majors wears it.

The simple language at the root of his legend -- Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier -- sounds good and permanent and important, uncomplicated both for grade schoolers and adults alike, and the triumphant tone is consistent with America's enduring need for hope.

[The Undefeated: 'Jackie Robinson' doc kills myths of legend

Ken Burns' four-hour, two-part documentary on Jackie Robinson alters the memory and mythology of the first black man to integrate baseball.]

Yet even that is a concoction. At best, it is a fantasy discouraging the deeper, more painful excavation of the barriers he couldn't break and why, the ones society did not lower but strengthened because of the threat of his presence. At worst, it is a simplistic and corrosive lie designed to keep America from itself, to keep it from what it is, which is a nation far more comfortable with always being the good guy, always preferring the fairy tale to the truth.

The real Robinson, whole and unsanitized, was constantly human, competitive, flawed and pained, honorably naïve but always in determined opposition to the obstacles that prevented him from fulfilling a quest still unrealized some 44 years after his death: full partnership in the American dream for African-Americans. The real Robinson lives beautifully and heroically, inside a confectionary lie that his sainthood was something given by a redeemed America rather than taken from a resistant one.

The concoction undermines his true, enduring significance: the enormous cost of the legend, its actual price in isolation and hurt. Robinson paid for remaining in the fight, even when overmatched, and was betrayed, sometimes by his supporters. The better story for a nation so woefully divided is the real one of the person willing to pay the cost and suffer the cracks and fallibilities that came with it.

More:

[MisterP]

1. the story also originated that--"see? America's innate goodness and leveling tendencies

integrated the all-American sport"

it's basically New Dealism without the muss and fuss of having to psas laws

[Octafish]

5. or the cost.

especially the cost.

[malthaussen]

2. Ah, Ken Burns did a new documentary, I see.

I was wondering why Jackie's name was suddenly popping up around the 'Net.

-- Mal

[malaise]

3. Monday and Tuesday night

We watched - and yes it was a sanitized version

[malthaussen]

4. I'm pretty happy with my own understanding of the story...

... I almost flinch to wonder what Mr Burns did with it. It's not that he is mendacious, just that the format of a TV show hardly allows one to deal with nuances.

I'm reading Mr Bryant's article now. By coincidence, I was recently re-reading The Boys of Summer, where Jackie mentions his feeling that Roy Campanella was "a bit of a Tom." One of the ironies of the civil rights movement -- or of most "radical" movements -- is how those who might have a slightly different approach or are willing to make different compromises than oneself are so often lumped together as being sympathetic with the enemy. Even Bill James, who is generally a pretty perceptive guy, doesn't understand how Jackie could support Nixon or Goldwater.

-- Mal

[kwassa]

6. Campanella came across. ..

As a bit of a Tom in Burns' documentary. Though not stated plainly, it was obvious. No sugar coating.

[PufPuf23]

7. Jackie Robinson broke the Major League baseball color barrier on April 15, 1947.

Last edited Sat Apr 16, 2016, 08:53 AM - Edit history (1)

All MLB players today wore uniform #42 in his honor in all games.

from wiki:

"MLB "universally" retired his uniform number, 42, across all major league teams; he was the first pro athlete in any sport to be so honored. MLB also adopted a new annual tradition, "Jackie Robinson Day", for the first time on April 15, 2004, on which every player on every team wears No. 42."

[malthaussen]

8. 47, not 57.

Typos suck.

-- Mal

[PufPuf23]

9. Fixed. It was a typo.

I am a SF Giants fan.

I attended at least one game each year from 1959 to 2003.

Wiilie Mays and Juan Marichal were my biggest childhood heroes.

[malthaussen]

10. Presumably, then, you were alive when they were in New York.

Your silhouette is of California. Are you a native? Were you a fan of the Giants before they moved to SF? Or did you follow the PCL?

-- Mal

[PufPuf23]

13. Alive when Giants were in New York but very young.

My family were fans of SF Seals as maternal grandfather signed with SF Seals so my grandmother and mother were huge fans.

Born in Oakland raised in Ventura, he was sent out to a team in Humboldt county where he became a mule packer and back country guide and then had a hunting and fishing resort for 40 years.

He had clients from his time in San Francisco and baseball.

California native and resident but lived and worked in Oregon (Portland and Corvallis) for 12 years.

[Boomerproud]

11. The gist of the article sounds like a smack-down of Reaganism

You know, the "the shining city on the hill" fantasy. Reagan either ignored problems (AIDS or any number of others) or blamed social problems on liberals. We live with that today, and the generation that grew up with him and after still embrace that philosophy.

[malthaussen]

15. Or, taking it back farther, a smack-down of consensus history...

... which may be more to the point, since it is that warm-and-fuzzy consensus shtick with which the author is taking issue.

-- Mal

[oberliner]

12. You don't see this picture of him too often

?w=480&h=320&crop=1

[malthaussen]

14. Aren't some of those looks from folks in the background precious?

Ah, my country.

Jackie doesn't look particularly happy to be there, either.

-- Mal

[oberliner]

16. Robinson endorsed and campaigned for Nixon in 1960

He also campaigned for Rockefeller in 1964 and was very displeased that they ended up nominating Goldwater. By 1968 he had given up on the Republicans and became a Democrat.

If you read his autobiography, there are some interesting insights into this experience. He has a chapter called "On Being Black Among the Republicans" - check it out if you can.

[ScreamingMeemie]

17. The fact that Larry Doby and Hank Thompson are all but forgotten

bothers me more.

[malthaussen]

19. To say nothing of Willard Brown

It was not easy being a pioneer in the late '40s.

At least Doby and Brown did get into the HoF (for whatever that's worth).

-- Mal

[PufPuf23]

18. International inspiration: Jackie Robinson's impact on Cuba

I knew that baseball was popular in Cuba but did not know that MLB had such a history.


http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/15211117/mlb-jackie-robinson-inspiration-cuba

When I sat down in Havana, Cuba, with Rachel Robinson, the widow of Jackie Robinson, I knew I was in for an education. Her elegance was obvious, but it was the deep wisdom of time itself that stood out. We are almost 70 years from Jackie Robinson breaking the color line in Major League Baseball, and my experience in Cuba underscored that the color line barred players who were not just from the United States, but from all over the world, and Cuban players were particularly affected.

It was this trip to Cuba in March that first showed me Jackie Robinson's impact was truly international. Before, I had not even thought about that. I had associated much of his influence to be stateside: the early pioneer of Civil Rights, the constant work in politics and business to self-empower African-Americans, the fearless way he took on injustice for all.

Yet, Cuba was exposed to baseball as early as the 1860s and soon after, there was no color line to speak of by the time Cuba had independence at the turn of the 20th century. Cuba, like the U.S., also endured slavery, but over time, those free workers melded into the society alongside other shades of brown people that made up the Cuban population.

In baseball, major league teams elected to train in Cuba often. Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson, and many others played in Havana. From the 1900s right up until 1947, the year of Robinson's debut, nine teams had trained in Cuba.

more at article