It was a emotional experience watching the Washington Nationals take the field Friday for Jackie Robinson Day with Robinson’s number 42 in “Dodger Blue” on the back of their jerseys.
The tributes were touching, and it was great to see how today’s ballplayers live out Robinson’s legacy.
Robinson’s debut on April 15, 1947 did not, however, instantly wipe out decades of segregation in baseball or centuries of institutional racism in the United States.
It’s just as important to remember the stories of other Black players who broke the unwritten color barrier in other cities but who did not have the same success or fame as Robinson.
In addition the vitriol of teammates, opponents, and fans, these players faced sports writers who mocked their speech, colored their coverage with racist tropes and stereotypes, and portrayed their humanity as ignorance or naiveté.
Robinson broke the color barrier a year before President Harry S. Truman ordered integration of the U.S. military and seven years before the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling desegregated U.S. public schools.
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