Thursday, 5/8/97 Athlete’s fight for equality transcended
baseball UCLA alumnus struggled for African-American civil rights
in business, politics
By Devin Reza Daily Bruin Contributor Jackie Robinson’s baseball
career ended over 40 years ago, but his retirement from the game
allowed him to help fight for African Americans’ equality in ways
that were just as important as his breaking baseball’s color line.
After being traded to the New York Giants at the end of the 1956
season, Robinson decided that he would rather retire than play for
the rivals of the Brooklyn Dodgers. But, instead of disappearing
from the spotlight as many athletes do after retirement, Robinson
became very active in community issues, politics, business and the
civil-rights movement. Robinson’s first job after baseball was Vice
President of Community Affairs for the Chock Full ‘O Nuts Company,
a restaurant chain. In 1964 he resigned, and organized the Freedom
National Bank in Harlem. The African-American owned bank’s
objective was to be "a community enterprise which will in every way
belong to the people it is to serve." As chairman of the board,
Robinson helped raise over $1.5 million. In 1959 he was hired by
the New York Post to write a column three times a week. The columns
emphasized social issues in baseball, international affairs and the
upcoming 1960 presidential election. Although the articles were
read widely, they were quite controversial, and in 1960 Robinson
left the journalism business in order to take a more active role in
politics. More publicized than his business ventures was Robinson’s
political career. John F. Kennedy, the 1960 Democratic presidential
candidate, admitted to Robinson that, being from Massachusetts, he
didn’t know much about the problems of African American people.
Robinson felt that it was Kennedy’s responsibility to know about
these problems, so he backed Republican nominee Richard Nixon by
default. Although the majority of African Americans at the time
were Democrats, Robinson felt it was important for them to be
represented by both political parties in order to avoid being taken
for granted. While he was often categorized as a Republican,
Robinson felt that his political views were too complex for him to
choose one party over the other. "I always decide my vote by taking
as careful a look as I can at the actual candidates and issues
themselves, no matter what the party label," he once said. Robinson
became Gov. Nelson Rockefeller’s first African-American staff
member in 1964, and was later named to his executive committee as
special assistant of community affairs. Robinson worked for
Rockefeller until he resigned in 1968 in order to campaign for
Democratic presidential candidate Hubert H. Humphrey. In addition
to politics, he remained very active in the the civil-rights
movement and with the NAACP. Robinson was one of the NAACP’s main
speakers at rallies and fund-raisers, and he was awarded the
organization’s Spingarn Medal in 1956 for "meritorious service to
black America." One issue that Robinson always emphasized to young
people, especially minorities, was education. "Jackie pushed a lot
for young minorities, especially black males, to continue in their
schooling and to get a good education," Ray Bartlett, lifelong
friend of Robinson, said. "He felt they needed to work hard, get a
degree and take more responsibility." Robinson also served as
chairman of the Freedom Fund Drive, which attempted to raise $1
million for Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
Robinson travelled and spoke with Martin Luther King, Jr. on
numerous occasions, and in 1963 he took his entire family to the
March on Washington and heard King’s "I Have a Dream" speech. By
1967, however, Jackie became frustrated with the NAACP’s negative
attitude toward the efforts of younger progressives and he resigned
from the organization’s board of directors. Five years later,
suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure, Robinson died at
the age of 53. Many, including Bartlett, feel that Jackie’s life
was greatly shortened by the stress and abuse he endured while
breaking baseball’s color barrier. "Jackie was always under
tremendous pressure," Bartlett said. "He developed diabetes while
still playing baseball, and it only got worse as he got older."
Robinson struggled his entire life to gain equality and freedom for
his people, yet he was never completely satisfied with the results.
In a statement that epitomizes the life of Robinson, he once said,
"There’s not an American in this country free until every one of us
is free." There will be a Jackie Robinson-UCLA Dodger Night on
Tuesday May 27. The Dodgers will play the Florida Marlins at 7 p.m.
and $1 from every ticket sold will go to support UCLA undergraduate
scholarships.