2007 -- H 6294 ======LC02891 ======STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2007 ______

H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N

COMMEMORATING JACKIE ROBINSON FOR BREAKING THE COLOR BARRIER IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ON APRIL 15, 1947

Introduced By: Representatives Almeida, Williams, Watson, Schadone, and Shanley

Date Introduced: April 12, 2007

Referred To: House read and passed

1 WHEREAS, Baseball has been called "America's national pastime", but its hard to accept

2 that statement being true prior to 1947 when approximately twelve percent of the American

3 people were excluded from playing Major League Baseball; and

4 WHEREAS, African-Americans, prior to 1947, were banned from Major League

5 Baseball. As a result, great players like Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, Buck Leonard and John

6 Henry "Pop" Lloyd were only able to play baseball in the Negro Leagues, and the great pitcher

7 Satchel Paige was over forty years old before he was allowed to play Major League Baseball.

8 Everything was about to change within Major League Baseball and the world at large, when the

9 great Jackie Robinson arrived on the scene; and

10 WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson was born in 1919 in Georgia, the youngest of five children.

11 As a young boy his mother moved to California, and like most American young men in that era,

12 Jackie had a love and passion for sports and saw sports as a way to escape poverty. In high school

13 he incredibly played and starred in five sports, baseball, football, basketball, tennis and track &

14 field. Jackie went on to star in baseball and football at UCLA; and

15 WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson served his nation in World War II in the United States

16 Army as a Second Lieutenant from 1942-1944. While America and its armed forces were

17 standing up for liberty and freedom abroad, racism and Jim Crow were the norm in the United

18 States Military and in American society at home. Jackie Robinson exhibited the kind of courage

19 he was to become famous for later when he refused an order to sit in the back of a segregated bus. 1 He was acquitted by a military jury and received an honorable discharge; and

2 WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1946 to a

3 professional baseball contract, and after playing one year in the minor leagues, he became a

4 member of the Brooklyn Dodgers Baseball Team. On April 15, 1947 Major League Baseball,

5 professional sports and America were changed forever for the good when Jackie Robinson

6 became the first African-American to play in a Major League Baseball Game; and

7 WHEREAS, Few athletes have had to tolerate the kinds of abuse and discrimination

8 Jackie Robinson faced in 1947. On a daily basis, he was called the most despicable names and

9 had the most awful racial epithets thrown at him by opposing players, fans and even members of

10 the media. Jackie Robinson, while traveling on the road, was unwelcome at most restaurants and

11 hotels. Arguably of all, was the fact that Robinson had to bottle up his anger at these injustices

12 and not respond because he knew the bigots were hoping they could use some kind of incident to

13 get him kicked out of Major League Baseball; and

14 WHEREAS, Despite battling these inhuman circumstances, Jackie Robinson went on to

15 have one of the greatest years any rookie ever had in Major League Baseball. He won the Rookie

16 of the Year Award, led the Dodgers to the National League Pennant and the World Series; and

17 WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson went on to have a Hall of Fame career playing for the

18 beloved and famous "Boys of Summer" Brooklyn Dodger teams of the late 1940's and 1950's. He

19 was the best player and leader of a team loaded with great players such as Duke Snider, Roy

20 Campanella, Don Newcombe, and Pee Wee Reese. With Jackie's leadership, power hitting and

21 incredible ability to get on base, the Brooklyn Dodgers won six National League Pennants and

22 averaged well over 90 wins a season in Jackie's ten year Major League Baseball career; and

23 WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson, in his Hall of Fame baseball career, won the MVP award

24 in 1949, was a six time All-Star, led the National League in Batting Average in 1949 and during a

25 five year period from 1949 to 1953, he finished in the top three each year in on-base percentage

26 and led the National League in that category in 1952. In 1955 he led the Brooklyn Dodgers to

27 victory in the World Series against the Dodgers nemesis and hated rivals, the New York Yankees.

28 The image of Jackie Robinson successfully stealing home in that series against Yogi Berra is one

29 of the most famous images in baseball history; and

30 WHEREAS, In addition to his great accomplishments on the baseball diamond, Jackie

31 Robinson was also an outspoken leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He was a key figure in the

32 establishment of the Freedom Bank, an African-American owned and controlled entity in the

33 1960's. He also wrote a syndicated newspaper column for numerous years, in which he was an

34 outspoken supporter of Martin Luther King, Jr. In recognition of his many accomplishments to

2 1 our nation, Robinson posthumously was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal and the

2 Presidential Medal of Freedom; now, therefore be it

3 RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island

4 commemorates Jackie Robinson for breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947.

5 America's debt to this great man can never be fully re-paid, but we can honor his legacy of

6 courage in helping to open the doors to success and opportunity for all American's; and be it

7 further

8 RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to

9 transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the President of the NAACP and the Director of

10 the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society.

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