tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca-fr/topics/jackie-robinson-102210/articlesJackie Robinson – La Conversation2022-04-15T12:16:35Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1810142022-04-15T12:16:35Z2022-04-15T12:16:35ZJackie Robinson was a Republican until the GOP became the ‘white man’s party’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458176/original/file-20220414-20-h8sxe9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=325%2C78%2C2963%2C2312&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Wearing his military uniform, Jackie Robinson signs a contract on Oct. 23, 1945 to becomes the first Black to play with a white professional baseball team. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jackie-robinson-in-military-uniform-becomes-the-first-news-photo/514867314?adppopup=true">Bettmann/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson played his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers, forever changing baseball and society. </p>
<p>Robinson was Black, and the integration of all-white major league baseball was <a href="https://liberalarts.iupui.edu/blogs/the-slate/pub-jackie-robinson-and-his-legacy/">perhaps the most important</a> story about civil rights in the years immediately following World War II. </p>
<p>The integration, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/04/sports/baseball/04tygiel.html">Jules Tygiel</a> wrote in his groundbreaking book “Baseball’s Great Experiment,” “captured the imagination of millions of Americans who had previously ignored the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=L07wCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT14&lpg=PT14&dq=%E2%80%9Ccaptured+the+imagination+of+millions+of+Americans+who+had+previously+ignored+the+nation%E2%80%99s+racial+dilemma.%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=IrhbSnbRMz&sig=ACfU3U3VerkA73FciWxxx215mEs4hIjtkg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi3wbyLyY_3AhWEaM0KHSGMD5wQ6AF6BAgNEAM#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9Ccaptured%20the%20imagination%20of%20millions%20of%20Americans%20who%20had%20previously%20ignored%20the%20nation%E2%80%99s%20racial%20dilemma.%E2%80%9D&f=false">nation’s racial dilemma</a>.” </p>
<p>As Martin Luther King Jr. famously put it, Robinson “was a sit-inner before sit-ins, <a href="https://www.mlb.com/cut4/mlk-jr-and-jackie-robinson-were-good-friends-c162102154#:%7E:text=King%20encouraged%20Robinson's%20involvement%2C%20saying,freedom%20rider%20before%20freedom%20rides.%22">a freedom rider</a> before freedom rides.”</p>
<p>Major League Baseball celebrates the anniversary of Robinson’s historic debut on April 15 annually as “Jackie Robinson Day” in stadiums and ballparks across the nation. </p>
<p>But in my view, those celebrations will fall short if they don’t address how Robinson confronted white supremacy with class and dignity during a time before he joined the Dodgers, when his own <a href="https://nationalpost.com/42/how-clay-hoppers-attitude-was-transformed-by-jackie-robinson">minor league manager once asked</a>, “Do you really think a nigra is a human being?”</p>
<p>I’ve written or edited <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Chris-Lamb/e/B001IZRKIQ">four books</a> about Jackie Robinson. When I give a lecture or a talk about him, I often mention that he was a Republican. </p>
<p>Given the modern-day opposition that the Republican Party has toward civil and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/19/republicans-voting-rights/">voting rights protections</a> – and the <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/news/581109-43-percent-of-republicans-in-new-survey-oppose-teaching-history-of-racism/">teaching of racism</a> in American history – this invariably provokes an audible gasp from the audience.</p>
<h2>Republican roots</h2>
<p>Robinson, who lived from 1919 to 1972, was a Republican when <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/07/14/331298996/why-did-black-voters-flee-the-republican-party-in-the-1960s">millions of other Blacks</a> were Republicans.</p>
<p>Back in those days, the GOP still hung on to its mantra that it was “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/07/20/743650584/opinion-should-republicans-still-call-themselves-the-party-of-lincoln">the party of Abraham Lincoln</a>,” the president who signed the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/emancipation-proclamation#:%7E:text=President%20Abraham%20Lincoln%20issued%20the,and%20henceforward%20shall%20be%20free.%22">Emancipation Proclamation</a>. </p>
<p>The proclamation declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious Southern states that had seceded from the Union “are, and henceforward shall be free.” </p>
<p>Robinson’s parents gave him the middle name Roosevelt in honor of Republican President Teddy Roosevelt, “who expressed disdain about racism,” <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=V1FOPvDwZsoC&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=%E2%80%9Cbefore+white+supremacist+power+made+him+retreat+into+conservatism.%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=bJUZgKRxnH&sig=ACfU3U0HfaAtsd36UE5AmPJqcm4hx7ewhg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiA3cqroIf3AhWRlGoFHXYRACUQ6AF6BAgCEAM#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9Cbefore%20white%20supremacist%20power%20made%20him%20retreat%20into%20conservatism.%E2%80%9D&f=false">Arnold Rampersad wrote</a> in his Robinson biography, “before white supremacist power made Roosevelt retreat into conservatism.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A white man in a large hat is seen talking with a Black baseball player wearing a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458173/original/file-20220414-18-yes4wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458173/original/file-20220414-18-yes4wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458173/original/file-20220414-18-yes4wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458173/original/file-20220414-18-yes4wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458173/original/file-20220414-18-yes4wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458173/original/file-20220414-18-yes4wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458173/original/file-20220414-18-yes4wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brooklyn Dodgers President Branch Rickey chats with Jackie Robinson on March 17, 1949.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/brooklyn-dodgers-president-branch-rickey-talking-to-his-news-photo/72743319?adppopup=true">Curt Gunther/Keystone/Archive Photos/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p><a href="https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/rickey-branch">Branch Rickey</a>, the white Dodgers executive who signed Robinson to a contract and became his mentor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-politics-played-a-major-role-in-the-signing-of-jackie-robinson-56890">was an ardent Republican</a> who believed in racial equality. Robinson supported and then <a href="https://sabr.org/journal/article/jackie-robinson-republican/">worked for civil rights advocate New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller</a>. </p>
<p>“If we had one or two governors in the Deep South like Nelson Rockefeller,” <a href="https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/rockefeller-nelson-aldrich">King said</a>, “many of our problems could be readily solved.” </p>
<p>Robinson endorsed <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/10/26/21534624/jackie-robinson-dr-martin-luther-king-trump-gop-history-black-voters-civil-rights-movement">Richard Nixon</a>, the Republican candidate for president, in 1960. Nixon, who, like Robinson, was from southern California, convinced Robinson, a former UCLA athlete, that he would support civil rights.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A Black and white man are seen standing next to each other in a crowd of people." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458171/original/file-20220414-16-huglhv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458171/original/file-20220414-16-huglhv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458171/original/file-20220414-16-huglhv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458171/original/file-20220414-16-huglhv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458171/original/file-20220414-16-huglhv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458171/original/file-20220414-16-huglhv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458171/original/file-20220414-16-huglhv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this Oct. 4, 1960 photograph, baseball legend Jackie Robinson stands with then-Vice President Richard M. Nixon (right) during a campaign stop in New Jersey.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/vice-president-richard-m-nixon-chats-with-former-baseball-news-photo/514900632?adppopup=true">Bettmann/GettyImages</a></span>
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<p>Robinson found Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy, Nixon’s opponent, “insincere” in his <a href="https://andscape.com/features/jackie-robinson-jfk-on-civil-rights/">tepid support</a> for civil rights. </p>
<p>Kennedy won the presidential election that year.</p>
<h2>The white man’s party</h2>
<p>In 1964, U.S. Sen. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/daily/may98/goldwater30.htm">Barry Goldwater</a> of Arizona challenged Rockefeller and other more liberal Republicans for control of what <a href="https://www.salon.com/2013/12/22/how_the_gop_became_the_white_mans_party/">the right wing called</a> “the white man’s party.” He won the party’s presidential nomination.</p>
<p>Though Goldwater lost the presidential election in a landslide to Democratic President Lyndon Baines Johnson, he won the hearts and minds of <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/18/fact-check-democrats-republicans-and-complicated-history-race/3208378001/">pro-segregation Democrats</a>, the mostly Southern politicians and their followers who had abandoned the Democratic Party when it endorsed legislation during the late ‘50s and '60s to advance civil rights and voting rights for Blacks. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A white man dressed in a business suit is standing behind a lectern and gesturing with one hand." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458184/original/file-20220414-26-8ybnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458184/original/file-20220414-26-8ybnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458184/original/file-20220414-26-8ybnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458184/original/file-20220414-26-8ybnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458184/original/file-20220414-26-8ybnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458184/original/file-20220414-26-8ybnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458184/original/file-20220414-26-8ybnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this July 1948 photograph, segregationist South Carolina Gov. Strom Thurmond is seen gesturing to implore his colleagues to oppose civil rights legislation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/rights-governor-after-trumans-scalp-philadelphia-pa-news-photo/514962962?adppopup=true">Bettmann/GettyImages</a></span>
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<p>Those who switched parties included <a href="https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/takeaway/segments/racist-filibuster-we-cant-afford-forget">U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond</a> of South Carolina, who ran for president in 1948 as a segregationist and later filibustered for more than 24 hours to prevent passage of the <a href="https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/research/online-documents/civil-rights-act-1957">1957 Civil Rights Act</a>. </p>
<p>Goldwater, Nixon and others in the GOP used what they called the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/05/donald-trump-richard-nixon-southern-strategy">“Southern strategy”</a> to leverage the grievances and fears of Southern whites over the Democrats’ groundbreaking proposal that Blacks should have equal rights.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A Black baseball player wearing the number 42 steps up to bat in a stadium packed with thousands of fans." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458183/original/file-20220414-16-8uscit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458183/original/file-20220414-16-8uscit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458183/original/file-20220414-16-8uscit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458183/original/file-20220414-16-8uscit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458183/original/file-20220414-16-8uscit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458183/original/file-20220414-16-8uscit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458183/original/file-20220414-16-8uscit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jackie Robinson steps up to bat with his back to the camera during a game at a packed stadium on Aug. 28, 1949.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/american-baseball-player-jackie-robinson-second-baseman-for-news-photo/3203410?adppopup=true">Hulton Archive/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>By 1968, Robinson was done with the GOP. He <a href="https://www.sethkaller.com/item/2134-25679-Jackie-Robinson-Explains-Why-He-Cannot-Support-Nixon-in-1968">refused to support</a> Nixon when he ran for president again in 1968. He also became more active in the civil rights movement and appeared with King on frequent occasions.</p>
<p>Robinson also became <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00947679.2020.1757345#:%7E:text=This%20study%20explores%20how%20Jackie,line.%E2%80%9D%20A%20review%20of%20those">a prolific writer</a>, including a column for the Amsterdam News, a weekly Black newspaper, where he further developed his fierce opposition to the Republican Party. </p>
<p>“I suspect that unless the party showed a desire to win our votes,” <a href="https://www.candicewiggins.com/squares-stay-sharp/jackie-robinson-negro-outspoken#:%7E:text=Writing%20to%20Clarence%20Lee%20Towns,my%20friends%20cannot%20and%20will">he wrote</a> in a letter 1968 to <a href="https://richmondfreepress.com/news/2017/jan/20/clarence-l-townes-jr-longtime-business-civic-leade/">Clarence Lee Towns Jr.</a>, the leading Black member of the Republican National Committee, “it may rest assured that I and my friends cannot and will not support a conservative.”</p>
<p>Instead, Robinson supported Nixon’s Democratic rival, <a href="https://www.sethkaller.com/item/299-Jackie-Robinson-Reflects-on-the-Importance-of-%E2%80%9Cthe-Negro-Vote%E2%80%9D-in--Nixon%E2%80%99s-Loss-to-Kennedy">Hubert Humphrey</a>. “I have my right to remember that I am Black and American before I am Republican,” Robinson wrote in the Amsterdam News. “As such, I will never vote for Mr. Nixon.”</p>
<p>When Nixon won the election, Robinson <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-jackie-robinson-100-politics-mlk-nixon-0131-20190130-story.html">demonstrated the determination</a> he showed throughout his life. </p>
<p>In one of <a href="https://usnatarchives.tumblr.com/post/631342860032147457/letter-from-jackie-robinson-to-nixon-deputy">his last letters</a> to the Nixon White House, Robinson pleaded with special assistant Roland L. Elliott to listen to Black America before racial tensions got out of control.</p>
<p>“Black America has asked so little,” Robinson wrote, “but if you can’t see the anger that comes from rejection, you are treading a dangerous course. We older blacks, unfortunately were willing to wait. Today’s young blacks are ready to explode.”</p>
<p>On Nov. 24, 1972, Robinson died of a heart attack at age 53. Twenty-five years later, Major League Baseball honored him by retiring his number, 42, meaning the number can no longer be worn by any player in the league. </p>
<p>No other baseball player has been given such an honor.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181014/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Lamb does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Like millions of other Blacks during the first half of the 20th Century, legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson was a republican. That changed when the GOP opposed voting rights for Blacks.Chris Lamb, Professor of Journalism, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1797322022-04-14T12:15:48Z2022-04-14T12:15:48ZJackie Robinson was a radical – don’t listen to the sanitized version of history<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457776/original/file-20220412-17-7a6boo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=74%2C31%2C1838%2C1500&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jackie Robinson addresses civil rights supporters protesting outside the 1964 GOP National Convention.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/baseball-star-jackie-robinson-addresses-civil-rights-news-photo/576842774?adppopup=true">Ted Streshinsky/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In our new book, “<a href="https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9781496217776/">Baseball Rebels: The Players, People, and Social Movements That Shook Up the Game and Changed America</a>,” Rob Elias and I profile the many iconoclasts, dissenters and mavericks who defied baseball’s and society’s establishment. </p>
<p>But none took as many risks – and had as big an impact – as Jackie Robinson. Though Robinson was a fierce competitor, an outstanding athlete and a deeply <a href="https://sabr.org/journal/article/jackie-robinsons-faith-sustained-him-during-unrelenting-turmoil/">religious man</a>, the aspect of his legacy that often gets glossed over is that he was also a radical.</p>
<p>The sanitized version of the Jackie Robinson story goes something like this: He was a remarkable athlete who, <a href="https://sourcesofinsight.com/jackie-robinson-story-of-self-control/">with his unusual level of self-control</a>, was the perfect person to break baseball’s color line. In the face of jeers and taunts, he was able to put his head down and let his play do the talking, becoming a symbol of the promise of a racially integrated society.</p>
<p>With this April 15 marking the 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s breaking baseball’s color line, Major League Baseball will celebrate the occasion with great fanfare – with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=723832598808868">tributes</a>, movies, <a href="https://www.espnfrontrow.com/2022/03/jackie-to-me-go-inside-espns-10-part-video-series-honoring-jackie-robinsons-legacy/">TV specials</a>, <a href="https://nmaahc.si.edu/events/75th-anniversary-and-celebration-jackie-robinson-day">museum exhibits</a> and <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/jackie-robinson-75th-anniversary-symposium">symposia</a>. </p>
<p>I wonder, however, about the extent to which these celebrations will downplay his activism during and after his playing career. Will they delve into the forces arrayed against Robinson – the players, fans, reporters, politicians and baseball executives who scorned his outspoken views on race? Will any Jackie Robinson Day events mention that, toward the end of his life, he wrote that he had become so disillusioned with the country’s racial progress that he couldn’t stand for the flag and sing the national anthem?</p>
<h2>Laying the groundwork</h2>
<p>Robinson was a rebel before he broke baseball’s color line. </p>
<p>When he was a soldier during World War II, his superiors sought to keep him out of officer candidate school. He persevered and became a second lieutenant. But in 1944, while assigned to a training camp at Fort Hood in Texas, <a href="https://www.americanheritage.com/court-martial-jackie-robinson">he refused to move to the back of an army bus</a> when the white driver ordered him to do so. </p>
<p>Robinson faced trumped-up charges of insubordination, disturbing the peace, drunkenness, conduct unbecoming an officer and refusing to obey the orders of a superior officer. Voting by secret ballot, the nine military judges – only one of them Black – found Robinson not guilty. In November, he was honorably discharged from the Army.</p>
<p>Describing the ordeal, Robinson later wrote, “It was a small victory, for I had learned that I was in two wars, one against the foreign enemy, the other against prejudice at home.”</p>
<p>Three years later, Robinson would suit up for the Dodgers. </p>
<p>His arrival didn’t occur in a vacuum. It marked the culmination of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-politics-played-a-major-role-in-the-signing-of-jackie-robinson-56890">more than a decade of protests</a> to desegregate the national pastime. It was a political victory brought about by a persistent and progressive movement that confronted powerful business interests that were reluctant – even opposed – to bring about change. </p>
<p>Beginning in the 1930s, the movement mobilized a broad coalition of organizations – the Black press, civil rights groups, the Communist Party, progressive white activists, left-wing unions and radical politicians – that waged a <a href="https://sabr.org/journal/article/before-jackie-robinson-baseballs-civil-rights-movement/">sustained campaign</a> to integrate baseball. </p>
<h2>Biting his tongue, biding his time</h2>
<p>This protest movement set the stage for Brooklyn Dodgers executive Branch Rickey to sign Robinson to a contract in 1945. Robinson spent the 1946 season with the Montreal Royals, the Dodgers’ top farm club, where he led the team to the minor league championship. The following season, he was brought up to the big leagues.</p>
<p>Robinson <a href="https://sabr.org/journal/article/jackie-robinsons-faith-sustained-him-during-unrelenting-turmoil/">promised Rickey</a> that – at least during his rookie year – he wouldn’t respond to the verbal barbs from fans, managers and other players he would face on a daily basis. </p>
<p>His first test took place a week after he joined the Dodgers, during a game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Phillies manager <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/15/sports/baseball/philadelphia-apologizes-to-jackie-robinson.html">Ben Chapman</a> called Robinson the n-word and shouted, “Go back to the cotton field where you belong.” </p>
<p>Though Robinson seethed with anger, he kept his promise to Rickey, enduring the abuse without retaliating. </p>
<p>But after that first year, he increasingly spoke out against racial injustice in speeches, interviews and his regular newspaper columns for The Pittsburgh Courier, New York Post and the New York Amsterdam News.</p>
<p>Many sportswriters and most other players – including some of his fellow Black players – balked at the way Robinson talked about race. They thought he was too angry, too vocal.</p>
<p>Syndicated sports columnist Dick Young of the New York Daily News griped that when he talked to Robinson’s Black teammate Roy Campanella, they stuck to baseball. But when he spoke with Robinson, “sooner or later we get around to social issues.” </p>
<p>A 1953 article in Sport magazine titled “Why They Boo Jackie Robinson” described the second baseman as “combative,” “emotional” and “calculating,” as well as a “pop-off,” a “whiner,” a “showboat” and a “troublemaker.” A Cleveland paper called Robinson a “rabble rouser” who was on a “soap box.” The Sporting News headlined one story “Robinson Should Be a Player, Not a Crusader.” Other writers and players called him a “loudmouth,” a “sorehead” and worse.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, Robinson’s relentless advocacy got the attention of the country’s civil rights leaders.</p>
<p>In 1956, the NAACP gave him its highest honor, <a href="https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/naacp-spingarn-medal-1914/">the Spingarn Medal</a>. He was the first athlete to receive that award. In his acceptance speech, he explained that although many people had warned him “not to speak up every time I thought there was an injustice,” he would continue to do so.</p>
<h2>‘A freedom rider before the Freedom Rides’</h2>
<p>After Robinson hung up his cleats in 1957, he stayed true to his word, becoming a constant presence on picket lines and at civil rights rallies.</p>
<p>That same year, he publicly urged President Dwight Eisenhower to send troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to protect Black students seeking to desegregate its public schools. In 1960, impressed with the resilience and courage of the college students engaging in sit-ins at Southern lunch counters, <a href="https://andscape.com/features/how-jackie-robinsons-love-of-jazz-helped-civil-rights-movement/">he agreed to raise bail money</a> for the students stuck in jail cells.</p>
<p>Robinson initially supported the 1960 presidential campaign of Sen. Hubert Humphrey, a Minnesota Democrat and staunch ally of the civil rights movement. But when John F. Kennedy won the party’s nomination, Robinson – worried that JFK would be beholden to <a href="https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/CivilRightsAct1964.htm">Southern Democrats who opposed integration</a> – endorsed Republican Richard Nixon. He quickly regretted that decision after Nixon refused to campaign in Harlem or speak out against the arrest of Martin Luther King Jr. in rural Georgia. Three weeks before Election Day, <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538110201/Jackie-Robinson-An-Integrated-Life">Robinson said that</a> “Nixon doesn’t deserve to win.” </p>
<p>In February 1962, Robinson traveled to Jackson, Mississippi, to speak at a rally organized by NAACP leader Medgar Evers. Later that year, at King’s request, Robinson traveled to Albany, Georgia, to draw media attention to three Black churches that had been burned to the ground by segregationists. He then led a fundraising campaign <a href="https://georgiahistoryfestival.org/a-legacy-of-leadership-jackie-robinsons-leadership-on-and-off-the-field/">that collected $50,000</a> to rebuild the churches.</p>
<p>In 1963 he devoted considerable time and travel to support King’s voter registration efforts in the South. He also traveled to Birmingham, Alabama, as part of King’s campaign to dismantle segregation in that city. </p>
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<img alt="Group of men in suits gathered around a lectern." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457701/original/file-20220412-37987-ydxqjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457701/original/file-20220412-37987-ydxqjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457701/original/file-20220412-37987-ydxqjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457701/original/file-20220412-37987-ydxqjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457701/original/file-20220412-37987-ydxqjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457701/original/file-20220412-37987-ydxqjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457701/original/file-20220412-37987-ydxqjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Jackie Robinson, to the right of Martin Luther King Jr., appeared at a rally in Birmingham, Alabama, in May 1963.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/two-of-the-sporting-worlds-greats-visited-birmingham-to-news-photo/517384458?adppopup=true">Bettmann/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>“His presence in the South was very important to us,” <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/137494/jackie-robinson-by-arnold-rampersad/">recalled Wyatt Tee Walker</a>, chief of staff of King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference. <a href="https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/robinson-jackie">King called Robinson</a> “a sit-inner before the sit-ins, a freedom rider before the Freedom Rides.” </p>
<p>Robinson also consistently criticized police brutality. In August 1968, three Black Panthers in New York City were arrested and charged with assaulting a white police officer. At their hearing two weeks later, about 150 white men, including off-duty police officers, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1968/09/05/archives/offduty-police-here-join-in-beating-black-panthers-among-150.html">stormed the courthouse and attacked</a> 10 Panthers and two white supporters. When he learned that the police had made no arrests of the white rioters, Robinson was outraged.</p>
<p>“The Black Panthers seek self-determination, protection of the Black community, decent housing and employment and express opposition to police abuse,” <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Jackie_Robinson_in_Quotes.html?id=Ob2pCgAAQBAJ">Robinson said</a> during a press conference at the Black Panthers’ headquarters.</p>
<p>He challenged banks for discriminating against Black neighborhoods and condemned slumlords who preyed on Black families.</p>
<p>And Robinson wasn’t done holding Major League Baseball to account, either. He refused to participate in a 1969 Old Timers game because he didn’t see “genuine interest in breaking the barriers that deny access to managerial and front office positions.” At his final public appearance, throwing the ceremonial first pitch before Game 2 of the 1972 World Series, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/24/sports/baseball/24vecsey.html">Robinson observed</a>, “I’m going to be tremendously more pleased and more proud when I look at that third base coaching line one day and see a black face managing in baseball.”</p>
<p>No major league team had a Black manager until Frank Robinson <a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/25946566/frank-robinson-mvp-first-black-manager-dies-83">was hired by the Cleveland Indians in 1975</a>, three years after Jackie Robinson’s death. The absence of Black managers and front-office executives is an issue that <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/video/dusty-baker-lack-of-african-american-mlb-managers-is-very-dangerous-trend-184238335.html">MLB still grapples with today</a>.</p>
<h2>Athlete activism, then and now</h2>
<p>Athletes still face backlash for speaking out. When NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick protested racism by refusing to stand during the national anthem, then-President <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/05/25/donald-trump-said-protesting-nfl-players-shouldnt-be-in-this-country-we-should-take-him-seriously/">Donald Trump said</a> that athletes who followed Kaepernick’s example “shouldn’t be in the country.” </p>
<p>In 2018, after NBA star LeBron James spoke about a racial slur that had been graffitied on his home and criticized Trump, Fox News’ Laura Ingraham suggested that he “<a href="https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/sports/lebron-james-responds-to-laura-ingrahams-shut-up-and-dribble-with-powerful-post-about-police-brutality/2375333/">shut up and dribble</a>.”</p>
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<p>Even so, in the past decade, athletes have become more outspoken on issues of racism, homophobia, sexism, American militarism, immigrant rights and other issues. They all stand on Robinson’s shoulders.</p>
<p>It was Robinson’s strong patriotism that led him to challenge America to live up to its ideals. He felt an obligation to use his fame to challenge the society’s racial injustice. However, during his last few years – before he died of a heart attack in 1972 at age 53 – he grew increasingly disillusioned with the pace of racial progress. </p>
<p>In his 1972 memoir, “I Never Had It Made,” he wrote: “I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag; I know that I am a Black man in a white world.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179732/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Dreier does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Years before Colin Kaepernick was born, Robinson wrote, ‘I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag; I know that I am a Black man in a white world.’Peter Dreier, E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics, Occidental CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1569242021-03-31T19:19:17Z2021-03-31T19:19:17ZDid racism kill Jackie Robinson?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392029/original/file-20210326-23-5ik6kv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4223%2C2839&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Adoring fans clamor for an autograph from baseball legend Jackie Robinson in 1962, but Robinson faced slurs, hatred and insults in his early years in the majors. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/former-dodger-great-jackie-robinson-signs-autographs-before-news-photo/515392368?adppopup=true">Bettman/</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Baseball great Jackie Robinson was a living, breathing example of athleticism and apparent good health, playing <a href="https://notevenpast.org/baseballs-great-experiment-jackie-robinson-and-his-legacy-1997/">four sports at UCLA</a> and becoming the first Black man to play in major league baseball.</p>
<p>And yet, the athletic hero and civil rights champion died at age 53, almost blind, from a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/29/archives/diabetes-is-called-basic-cause-of-robinsons-death.html">heart attack</a>, with underlying <a href="https://diatribe.org/issues/4/logbook">diabetes</a> and associated complications.</p>
<p>When Robinson died on Oct. 24, 1972, few researchers studied health disparities. There was little understanding that social factors and stress greatly affect health, and that racism and discrimination contribute to poor health outcomes among communities of color. Fewer people paid attention to racial and ethnic <a href="https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2013.1273">gaps</a> in life expectancy. </p>
<p>Since Robinson’s death, however, research has shown that enduring structural and everyday racism can have serious negative consequences for health. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=derek+novacek&oq=derek+no">We</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=alicia+morehead+gee&oq=alicia+morehea">are</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=tamra+burns+loeb&btnG=">researchers</a> who examine mental and physical health disparities in marginalized populations. We can’t help but wonder: Did racism kill Jackie Robinson? And might his life – and early death – help people understand the mechanisms behind how racism kills?</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Jackie Robinson faced racism from the start.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Jackie the hero</h2>
<p>Robinson was born Jan. 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia, a small town not far from the Florida-Georgia line. Robinson’s father, a sharecropper, abandoned the family when Robinson was a baby. His mother, a housekeeper, moved her five children to Pasadena, California to be near her brother. </p>
<p>Robinson went to Pasadena Junior College and later to UCLA, where he became the school’s first four-letter athlete. His wife, Rachel, would later say he was a “big man on campus.” Yet the big man was not destined to be a graduate; he had to drop out of college <a href="https://sportsmuseum.org/2021/02/the-great-influence-of-jackie-robinson/">due to lack of finances</a>.</p>
<p>Jim Crow still had control in much of the country, but in Brooklyn, Branch Rickey, general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, believed it was time to integrate baseball. In 1946, Rickey signed Robinson to play for the <a href="https://www.milb.com/news/jackie-robinson-first-made-his-mark-in-the-minor-leagues-301588624">Montreal Royals</a>, a Dodgers farm team. Robinson was a star, and Rickey called him up. In 1947, at age 28, Robinson became the first Black American to play in the majors. </p>
<p>Robinson was Rickey’s choice not only because of Robinson’s prowess on the diamond but also because of his strength of character off the field. Yet Rickey warned him it would not be easy. Robinson would be insulted and reviled, Rickey told him, but Robinson could not speak out. He would have to endure whatever insults came his way.</p>
<p>They weren’t just verbal. Some players intentionally slid into his legs with their cleats. He had to have <a href="https://twitter.com/darrenrovell?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1117787718354968576%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportscasting.com%2Fthe-tragic-death-of-jackie-robinson-the-first-black-player-to-play-in-the-mlb%2F">metal plates sewn into his cap</a> to protect him from “beanballs” – pitches intentionally aimed at a batter’s head. Fastballs hurled from the arm of a major league pitcher can be <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2009/08/18/beanballs-ingrained">traumatic and result in concussions, broken bones, severe bruising</a> or death. </p>
<p>And always, there were racial slurs. </p>
<p>One of the worst incidents happened when the <a href="https://notevenpast.org/baseballs-great-experiment-jackie-robinson-and-his-legacy-1997/">Philadelphia Phillies</a> came to Ebbets Field to face the Dodgers in Brooklyn in 1947.</p>
<p>Robinson later wrote about that day, <a href="https://www.thisisopus.com/opus-world/right-remain-silent/">recalling some of the insults and taunts</a>. They were not only from fans but from Phillies players.</p>
<p>Robinson also wrote that he considered giving up and tearing into the Phillies’ dugout.</p>
<p>Instead, he went on to win <a href="https://www.sportscasting.com/the-tragic-death-of-jackie-robinson-jr-who-was-killed-just-16-months-before-his-famous-father-passed-away/">Rookie of the Year in 1947.</a> In 1949, he was National League MVP. He led the Dodgers to a World Series Title in 1955.</p>
<h2>Broken records, broken health</h2>
<p>Robinson’s <a href="https://diatribe.org/issues/4/logbook">health problems</a> began while he was still in the major leagues. He struggled with his weight, and he experienced pain in his knees, arm and ankles. He was diagnosed with diabetes at age 37, about the time he retired. <a href="https://diatribe.org/issues/4/logbook">Two of his brothers</a> also had diabetes. Robinson’s hair began to turn white.</p>
<p>By 1969, at age 50, he had <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/29/archives/diabetes-is-called-basic-cause-of-robinsons-death.html">nerve and artery damage</a> in his legs. In 1970, he suffered two mild strokes. His doctors noted that both of his legs would soon require amputation. He then <a href="https://diatribe.org/issues/4/logbook">lost sight in one eye</a> and experienced limited vision in the other. He suffered from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/29/archives/diabetes-is-called-basic-cause-of-robinsons-death.html">high blood pressure</a>, and had <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/29/archives/diabetes-is-called-basic-cause-of-robinsons-death.html">three heart attacks,</a> the third of which was fatal. </p>
<p>However, despite these problems, Robinson kept his diabetes “<a href="https://diatribe.org/issues/4/logbook">in the closet</a>,” insisting that he felt good. </p>
<h2>A not-so-grand slam of factors</h2>
<p>Those of us who study health disparities now have a better understanding how Jackie’s life experiences all likely contributed to his early death. His refusal to capitulate to the hatred he encountered on a daily basis, the magnitude of his role in the struggle to <a href="https://notevenpast.org/baseballs-great-experiment-jackie-robinson-and-his-legacy-1997/">challenge Jim Crow</a> and integrate baseball, and the extensive racial trauma all likely played a factor. In addition, the <a href="https://www.sportscasting.com/the-tragic-death-of-jackie-robinson-jr-who-was-killed-just-16-months-before-his-famous-father-passed-away/">death of his eldest son</a>, Jackie Robinson Jr., in a car crash in 1971 no doubt took its toll. </p>
<p>It is now well established that the racism and discrimination that people of color experience has a negative effect on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6664-x">health</a>. This burden was incalculably magnified by a society that refused to acknowledge, denied the existence of and justified structural racism. For instance, in 2016, the city of Philadelphia issued an <a href="https://time.com/4278774/philadelphia-apology-jackie-robinson-racism/">official apology</a> for the racist incidents Robinson encountered there in 1947. Yet efforts to make amends could be offered only to his widow – Jackie didn’t live long enough to receive them. </p>
<p>Environmental conditions that influence health, referred to as the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/socialdeterminants/about.html">social determinants of health</a>, are <a href="https://www.apha.org/topics-and-issues/health-equity/racism-and-health">driven by structural racism</a>. Many of the social determinants lead to poor health outcomes. These include the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/socialdeterminants/index.htm">conditions</a> in which people are born, live, play, work and age. Racism and poverty/socioeconomic disadvantage are two social determinants that contribute to worse health outcomes in the U.S. </p>
<p>Robinson and his four siblings were raised by their mother after their father <a href="https://jackieroosevelt42.weebly.com/childhood.html">abandoned the family</a> when Robinson was an infant. His mother worked long hours as a <a href="https://jackieroosevelt42.weebly.com/childhood.html">housekeeper</a>. The Robinsons encountered racism as a Black family in a <a href="https://jackieroosevelt42.weebly.com/childhood.html">mostly white neighborhood</a>, and they endured <a href="https://jackieroosevelt42.weebly.com/childhood.html">name-calling and taunts</a> from neighbors, who summoned the police to their home without reason. </p>
<p>These traumatic events, including being abandoned by a parent and enduring verbal or physical abuse from others, are known as <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/index.html">adverse childhood experiences, or ACES</a>. ACES and other <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/47r3z0q5">lifetime adversities</a> can have negative effects on one’s health as an adult, leading to higher risk of conditions like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039077">depression</a> and <a href="https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.117.004391">heart disease</a>. Robinson’s childhood and adolescence increased his risk for poor health later in life.</p>
<p>Researchers have identified collective coping as as one of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000430">key strategies Black Americans use to deal with racism-related stress</a>. But Robinson did not have access to collective support from other Black baseball players until MLB teams <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_first_black_Major_League_Baseball_players">slowly began signing Black athletes</a> months after his debut with the Dodgers. He was carrying the burden alone, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-jackie-robinsons-wife-rachel-helped-him-break-baseballs-color-line-109556">except for the support of his wife</a> and Rickey, until other Black players were hired and Dodgers began openly supporting him.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Jackie Robinson talks with talk show host Dick Cavett about becoming the first Black man to play in the majors.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Before the ballpark</h2>
<p>Though Robinson’s illnesses were diagnosed in early adulthood, they could have had their roots in childhood. <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/socialdeterminants/index.html">Adverse social and physical conditions</a> as well as limited access to and poor quality of health care serve as barriers to illness <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehaa134">prevention and treatment</a>, limiting the ability to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/socialdeterminants/index.html">protect one’s health</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/%2010.1016/j.pcad.2020.02.014">Experiences of racial trauma and discrimination</a> like those Robinson experienced are linked to <a href="https://doi.org/10.5993/AJHB.38.1.4">smoking, unhealthy eating habits and alcohol use</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000796">decreased trust in health care providers</a>, increased cardiovascular risks and negative cardiovascular outcomes. </p>
<p>Experiences of racism and discrimination are painful, sometimes <a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/10/28/560444290/racism-is-literally-bad-for-your-health">daily, occurrences </a>for many people of color. These include things like being followed in stores, receiving poor service in restaurants and being stopped by police.</p>
<p>We know that Robinson’s experience in the majors was not his first exposure to racism and discrimination. As a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, he sat next to a fellow officer’s wife on a bus at the Fort Hood, Texas base in July 1944. The woman was Black; however, her skin color was light. The bus driver was not pleased. He told Robinson to move to the back of the bus. Robinson refused. Robinson was <a href="https://www.americanheritage.com/court-martial-jackie-robinson">shackled, arrested and court-martialed</a>. Robinson later was acquitted and given an honorable discharge.</p>
<p>Over time, these repeated stressful episodes can lead to cardiovascular disease by increasing what is called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/s0027-9684(15)30120-6">allostatic load</a>. When a person repeatedly experiences the stress of racism, high levels of the stress hormone cortisol are released in the body. Elevated cortisol can lead to high levels of blood sugar, as seen in diabetes, and high blood pressure. Robinson had both diabetes and high blood pressure after years of enduring what was likely a high allostatic load.</p>
<p>Some researchers believe <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-016-0075-4">allostatic load </a> may be one reason why high blood pressure is more prevalent and more severe among Black Americans than White Americans. </p>
<p>The reasons for worse health among Black individuals goes beyond physiological responses to racism – it can be racism itself. Black patients also receive <a href="https://tcf.org/content/report/racism-inequality-health-care-african-americans/?agreed=1">less frequent and poorer-quality health care</a> than whites, even when severity of disease, quality of insurance, occupational status and level of education are controlled for.</p>
<p>Racism is even more likely to affect mental health than physical health, but it’s impossible to know how the racism that Robinson experienced <a href="https://www.mhanational.org/racism-and-mental-health">affected his mental well-being</a>. Racism is associated with <a href="https://doi.org/%2010.1371/journal.pone.0138511">negative impacts on mental health</a> including depression, stress, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal thoughts and alcohol use. In fact, mental and physical health are <a href="https://www.ahchealthenews.com/2020/08/06/how-your-mental-health-can-affect-your-physical-health/">connected</a>. Poor mental health can negatively affect the way the body responds to stress, and <a href="https://www.ahchealthenews.com/2020/08/06/how-your-mental-health-can-affect-your-physical-health/">increase inflammation</a> that can increase risks for diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and cancer. </p>
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<img alt="Jackie Robinson's casket being carried from a church." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392450/original/file-20210330-19-1f84ypk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392450/original/file-20210330-19-1f84ypk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392450/original/file-20210330-19-1f84ypk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392450/original/file-20210330-19-1f84ypk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392450/original/file-20210330-19-1f84ypk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392450/original/file-20210330-19-1f84ypk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392450/original/file-20210330-19-1f84ypk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pallbearers carry the body of Jackie Robinson from a New York City church on Oct. 27, 1972.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-body-of-jackie-robinson-is-carried-from-the-church-news-photo/515585742">Bettman/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A new day?</h2>
<p>How much has changed for Black baseball players since Robinson’s time? As of June 2020, approximately <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/black-mlb-players-speak-out-on-race-issues">8% of players and one owner</a> in major league baseball were Black, making it difficult to <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/black-mlb-players-speak-out-on-race-issues">challenge the very system</a> that discriminates against them. However, contemporary players including <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/cubs-jason-heyward-on-racial-injustice-it-feels-like-a-broken-record/ar-BB14TNfH">Jason Heyward</a> and <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/dominic-smith-speaks-on-experiencing-racism">Dominic Smith</a> have described the pervasiveness of systemic racism in American society and their profession, and the importance of raising awareness of its pernicious effects. </p>
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<p>In 2020, more than 150 Black former and current baseball players created <a href="https://theplayersalliance.com/">The Players Alliance</a> to use their “collective voice and platform to create increased opportunities for the Black community in every aspect of our game and beyond.” It seems that what is changing is the refusal to remain quiet, to be stoic in the face of racism and discrimination, both on the field and off. </p>
<p>As Smith noted on Twitter, “<a href="https://twitter.com/TheRealSmith2_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1272225800721489926%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mlb.com%2Fnews%2Fdominic-smith-speaks-on-experiencing-racism">Silence kills</a>.” Just as diabetes and hypertension kill silently, so does racism.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156924/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tamra Burns Loeb receives funding from the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine COVID-19 Research Award Program and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Derek Novacek receives funding from VA Advanced Fellowship in Mental Illness Research and Treatment as well as from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alicia Morehead-Gee does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Major league baseball opens today, and few are likely to give race a thought. When Jackie Robinson integrated MLB in 1947, it was a far different story. Did racism lead to Robinson’s early death?Tamra Burns Loeb, Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los AngelesAlicia Morehead-Gee, Adjunct assistant professor, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and ScienceDerek Novacek, Assistant Project Scientist, UCLA School of Medicine, University of California, Los AngelesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.