Editorial: King, Robinson, and Civil Rights

Needless to say, I am a sports fan. But I am also a dedicated history major. Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2011; I did not mourn for University of Michigan alumnus Tom Brady's loss to the hated New York Jets. I was too preoccupied replaying King's "I Have A Dream" speech in my head over, and over, and over again. His thunderous voice and brilliant rhetoric are forever enshrined in the annals of history. As brilliant as King was, his movement would not have taken off the way it did without baseball

What touched off King's Civil Rights Movement? Anyone? Bueller? Any self-respecting school kid would mention Rosa Parks. As a history enthusiast and self-proclaimed baseball scholar, I would say Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson.

I have mentioned it before and I will say it again: baseball is deeply ingrained in American history and has proved time and time again to be a catalyst for a change and progress. Through Robinson, baseball made an indelible mark in American history.

Robinson debuted in 1947, eight years before Parks made her brave stand (actually she sat, it's a history major's joke) in Montgomery, Alabama. The baseball color barrier was broken before something as simple as segregated bus seating.

Robinson was indeed a baseball player, but also a pioneer. Robinson embodied King's theory of silent protest and civil disobedience. Subject to Jim Crow Laws throughout the South, Robinson was prohibited from dining in restaurants and could not stay in the same hotels as teammates. But on a greater moral level, Robinson was subjected to such boorish behavior on the part of opponents, spectators, and even teammates. As Robinson covered second to turn double plays, opposing base runners slid with their spikes up and deliberately went out of the baseline to cause Robinson physical pain. Bench jockeys delighted in calling Robinson a number of choice phrases which I will not write here. Spectators threw objects at Robinson and consistently sent death threats. Teammates, with the exception of Pee Wee Reese, were no kinder.

In spite of everything, Robinson played baseball. Not only did he play baseball, but he did so on an exceptional level. Baseball, perhaps more than any other sport, requires a great deal of concentration. Squaring up a round bat to a ball traveling in excess of 90 mph released from 60.5 feet away is far from simple. So difficult, that the best hitters fail seven times out of ten in doing this. Simply, he refused to let distractions affect his game. Also, he resisted the urge to retaliate. Any man with a sense of pride and honor would have stood up for himself. But Jackie was different. When Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey was asked if he wanted a player who was afraid to fight back, he responded, " I want a ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back!"

Robinson worked closely with King. In the early 1960s, Robinson's career was long over, but his reputation as a ballplayer and a person made him a poster child of King's Civil Rights Movement. It was a peaceful movement, not violent one.

In 1959, Pumpsie Green made his debut for the Boston Red Sox, signaling the full integration of African-Americans into the Major Leagues. Though racism continued to be prevalent in Major League Baseball, baseball did take a major step toward gaining equal rights.

Regrettably, I can neither capture the full essence of the integration of Major League Baseball nor King's importance. But the relevance and bravery of King and those pioneering ballplayers should always be remembered and honored.