PHILADELPHIA — When Jackie Robinson stepped out on to Ebbets Field in 1947 in the alabaster Brooklyn Dodgers uniform, “American apartheid flashed into view like wicked lightning,” in the words of author Roger Kahn. A tempest of change had arrived and its impact would be felt across America extending way beyond the playing field.
Friday marks the 75th anniversary of Robinson becoming the first African American to play in a Major League Baseball game when his Dodgers took on the Boston Braves. All players will wear Robinson’s No. 42 in “Dodger Blue” on their uniforms as part of MLB’s celebration.
Robinson’s story is a passion play that needs to be told repeatedly and should never be allowed to become covered in dust and faded in sepia. It is a living story, an American story. It is triumphant, it is heartbreaking, it is inspiring. It should not be watered down or reshaped into something less indicting of America’s history of racism.
