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The recent commemorations of Jackie Robinson's 1947 entrance into Major League Baseball have brought attention to what has and has not transpired on the ball field, as well as in the U.S.A. over the last sixty years. Much of this attention deservedly went to Jackie Robinson-the-man, and the courage that he exhibited in his protracted struggle to desegregate the then (and for some us today's), most important sport in the United States.
Yet, in watching old news clips, I found myself looking behind the story and thinking about the increased bitterness that took hold of Robinson as the years went by. I could not help but wonder about the extent to which that bitterness was connected to and influenced the physical ailments from which he suffered and which, eventually, ended his life.
Robinson knew that there were African American players better than he who had never had the chance to play Major League Baseball, or, due to their age, would never have a reasonable opportunity to excel. Robinson, as most sports enthusiasts and lovers of history know, was compelled to keep his mouth shut while playing ball in the face of countless racist provocations. That was part of the deal he had with Branch Rickey, despite the personal toll it took on him. Nevertheless, Robinson was the man of, and man for, that moment.
Robinson, of course, went on to be a major figure in the Civil...