What Jackie did

The great ballplayer broke a barrier, and more

Once upon a time, baseball was as segregated as every other part of American life. Then along came Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson. On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson, 28, broke the color barrier and ushered in an era when African-Americans could lawfully compete with whites as teammates and equals.

Looking back at Jackie Robinson’s MLB debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers, millions who were yet to be born consider it absurd that most white Americans assumed blacks lacked the hand-eye coordination, speed or intelligence to play Major League Baseball.

Jackie Robinson, No. 42, shattered the prevailing stereotypes of black fitness to play the game by winning the National League Rookie of the Year award his first season. Because of his hustle and refusal to be cowed by racist taunts, the Dodgers earned six National League championships and six trips to the World Series.

When Jackie Robinson won the National League MVP award in 1949, no one credible disputed the fairness of the honor. A black man was recognized as his league’s finest player. His example of grace under pressure ushered in a wave of signings of black stars from the Negro League. An unintended outcome of integration in MLB was the collapse of Negro League baseball.

Jackie Robinson’s induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962 was practically anticlimactic. There was no way that any combination of Jim Crow antics or attitudes could deny him entrance to baseball’s Holy of Holies.

Jackie Robinson was a great baseball player, but he was an even greater champion of civil rights. He used his wealth and celebrity to campaign for equality for ordinary black people who were still denied dignity and opportunity in America every day, even as America increased its regard for him.

Seventy years after his Major League debut and 45 years after his death, America is still heavily indebted to the great Jackie Robinson. His refusal to be anything but great in the face of the most virulent racist opposition helped change American history.