When Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous emancipation proclamation, it was the beginning of great change not only for the United States but also the start of a new thought process. The effects were not immediately evident, but the freeing of blacks led to many great outcomes. Unfortunately, a lull for the push of race equality took strong hold between the years after the emancipation proclamation and before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. Today athletes are the center of idolism for many Americans; the early years of baseball gave Americans such a fascination. Without superstars such as Babe Ruth there would not be Jackie Robinson’s influence. However, baseball had a tremendous influence on the integration of society by breaking the long withstanding color barrier, leading to non-violent movements for equality, new life possibilities for African Americans, and a new revolutionized America.
As Jackie Robinson made his mark in Major League Baseball, he did so while receiving intense hatred. Branch Rickey, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, made it paramount that Robinson not fight back (The Jackie Robinson Story). Robinson’s non-violent movement helped to pave the way so that activists such as Martin Luther King, Jr. could even have a platform to stand on and speak. The first of many prolific acts advancing racial equality came the same year that Jackie Robinson broke into the league. The year 1947 saw the first black baseball player not only successfully play, but his manners and perseverance were not lost on the public or the president. President Harry S. Truman desegregated the military in 1947. As Robinson’s and other Negro Leaguers’ experiences in the Negro Leagues and in Major League Baseball were shared, the 1896 trial Plessy vs. Ferguson ruling that stated that segregation was acceptable as long as it was equal was questioned. Chief Justice Earl Warren reexamined this ruling in 1954 in a case named Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education. The stories of Negro League players helped clarify that there were no actual possibilities for separate but equal segregation to exist. The case of Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education may have happened without the chronicles of these players, but it helped to solidify what black players truly experienced. Despite the example that Robinson set, it was not the first time that blacks were to be silent about their lowly status. For years African Americans were taught to not fight the harsh treatment. However, for the first time players were being idolized for their abilities to play at a level equivalent to if not better than that of the white players. The Brooklyn Dodgers shortstop, Pee Wee Reese, really helped people understand that Robinson was a teammate; he was the biggest advocate for Robinson on the field. Reese’s actions helped to fuel the love that children of any race felt for both players. As a result of these non-violent movements, blacks suddenly had new opportunities.
African Americans quickly took advantage of their new found opportunities. The first opportunity is the aforementioned desegregation of the military. Truman’s Executive Order 9981 abolished racial discrimination which now allowed a plethora of careers for African Americans. These careers were also coupled with a valuable education. Integrated schools meant that black students would receive the same education that white students did. Along with education, came many famous African American examples of excellence. Ralph J. Bunche became the first black to win a noble peace prize in 1950 . Along with Bunche, Gwendolyn Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize in poetry . Five years later, Marian Anderson became the first black woman to be a part of the Metropolitan Opera Company . What made the tearing down of the walls of oppression so easy was that players like Monte Irvin, Larry Doby, Don Newcombe, and Willie Mays were making names for themselves in the white league. "If you break down barriers in one field, it directly impacts others, particularly economic, political and social," said Julius Thompson, a professor of history and black studies at the University of Missouri. This was achieved in many ways. For instance, politics came into the picture. Cora Brown became the first black female Senator in 1952. She was a democrat from Michigan.
Politics was a way to change the injustice eight years later, in 1960, when the first black man to run for president surfaced. Reverend Clennon King ran on the Independent Afro-American party ticket. The next attempt came in 1964 by Clifton DeBerry on the established Socialist Worker’s Party. DeBerry would later go on to run for Governor of New York in 1970, and he would later run for president again in 1980. Robinson himself would remain a figure in politics long after his retirement from Major League Baseball. Political influence was far from the end of the African American influence after Robinson’s debut.
Black entrepreneurs began to surface as well; Restaurant and store owners became common in the 1950s. However, pop culture was probably the largest influence. The new and, at times, controversial sound of African American music swept the nation. Names such as Ella Fitzgerald, Chuck Berry, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Billie Holiday, Etta James, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong graced the billboards with hit songs. Their influence paved the way for modern day music. The other
side of popular culture, athletics, helped to propel these musicians to fame. Robinson, and the players who joined him later, sparked the curiosity of America. Jackie Robinson and the baseball pioneers helped to revolutionize America, propelling the United States into a new era.
Baseball, like the United States, was evolving in ways that were vastly unseen. An ever changing nation was completely enthralled with the fast paced changes of baseball. The game was transformed by the new style of play that the Negro Leaguers brought to baseball. Speed, power, fielding, and overwhelming pitching were the mark of the new league. The game was no longer methodical; baseball was no longer about hitting the ball and running for daylight. Like the game, America was also evolving. The 1950’s ushered in a new style of music, education, and entertainment. Life in America was no longer slowly paced; America was no longer only about becoming a successful business person. Superstars, black and white, were captivating the youth of the nation. American youths were becoming ambitious and striving to model Jackie Robinson, Louis Armstrong and others.
What the Negro League influence brought to the game was the home run ball. Players like Willie Mays would hit over 500 hundred home runs in their career. Hank Aaron, the proper all-time home run king, would hit over 700. They simply took the reins of Negro League catcher Josh Gibson. Those who saw both Babe Ruth and Josh Gibson play, would say that Ruth was the white Josh Gibson. Gibson’s power was said to be double or triple that of Ruth’s. They brought a disruptive style to the base-paths. Pioneered by players like Cool “Papa” Bell in the Negro Leagues, when Jackie reached the white league, he carried this style over with him. Jackie won a world series for the Brooklyn Dodgers by stealing home. This style of play would have never happened in the game that existed before the black players.
America was also flooded with black influence. The Harlem Renaissance had already made a huge impact on impressionable America in the 1920’s and 1930’s. This was an almost minute change in comparison to the movements that would cultivate in the 1960’s and 1970’s. In the wake of the non-violent American Civil Rights Movement, the Black Power movement gained influence. This movement was intended to nurture the well-being of the black communities. However, extremist groups stepped out of the shadows. Groups such as the Black Panthers had the goal of arming citizens in order to prepare for the black uprising. This went against the non-violent philosophy of Jackie Robinson, Mahatma Gandhi, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Movements continued to be pressed forward in the name of racial rights.
Meanwhile, baseball was doing its best to be a good example for the nation. Players like Willie McCovey, Maury Wills, and an aging Mickey Mantle served as models of proper human beings for the time. Jackie Robinson was still biding for black rights. His career was over, but he was still working for the betterment of the black community alongside the NAACP. Unfortunately, Robinson’s death in 1972 would not allow him to see the strides that were made for the African American community.
However, baseball and America went hand in hand as time progressed. Ultimately integration settled like bedrock in the fast-paced America. Baseball reached a plateau as well incorporating a harmonious balance between the power stricken and run fueled game with the methodical strategic game that was played in the white league. Moreover the game and America have once again linked in the modern age. Racism, presently, is no longer the fueling factor. Social media fuels the fast paced lives of baseball stars and regular American citizens. Cataclysmic changes that have led to the modern day were influenced by Jackie Robinson. It is important to not forget those who stood beside Jackie breaking color barriers in not only athletics, but also breaking the barriers that kept black people away from being professionals in other aspects as well. Baseball was a catalyst to not only revolutionize the American way, but baseball was also a way to bring together black and white citizens.
Courage is the only way to describe those who stood up for the rights of blacks. Standing up in the face of adversity is difficult, especially when that adversity is so malicious. Jackie Robinson may be the concentration when the subject turns to the match that started the fire that forged black rights, but Robinson was only one molecule in a sea of brave men and women who fought for the rights of black citizens. Their difficulties have paid off in numerous ways. Athletes, doctors, politicians, law enforcement workers, teachers, and entrepreneurs are just some of the occupations that African Americans proudly work in today. The most admirable aspect is the way in which these visionaries went about pursuing their rights: non-violent movements in the face of ultra-violent reactions, continually earning positions that no one thought they could obtain, and through revolutionizing the minds of American citizens. A new America was born from the revolution of a baseball.
