Jackie Robinson cracked baseball’s color barrier when the Brooklyn Dodgers signed him in 1947. In 1946, when Robinson began playing professional baseball for the Montreal Royals, the United States was widely segregated. Public restrooms, theaters, and drinking fountains would be labeled “Whites Only”. African Americans continued to be lynched in some states, and restrictive covenants prevented them from purchasing homes in white neighborhoods. In the midst of such widespread racial inequality, Robinson’s contract with the Dodgers was a monumental step towards desegregation in the United States. Long before Robinson joined major league baseball, civil rights groups had been rallying for the integration of the sport. Politicians such as Boston councilman Isadore Muchnick and New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia paved the way for Robinson’s signing with the Dodgers by organizing committees and rallies to push teams to sign African American players. When Branch Rickey, owner of the Dodgers, asked Robinson to break American baseball apartheid, he was aware of Robinson’s strong political opinions and opposition to segregation. A former second lieutenant, Robinson had been court martialed for insubordination when he refused to move to the back of an army bus.
Robinson’s experience with racial prejudice and his willingness to
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Crowds would jeer at him, “mixing up race baiting and childish remarks”. Robinson, however, demonstrated remarkable dignity and restraint during racist encounters. His composure drew attention to racial inequality and generated sympathy for the broader Civil Rights Movement. Newspapers began to characterize all of baseball as “un-American” for preserving a color line in the major league. Americans started to view racial discrimination and segregation as symbols of American hypocrisy—assaults on American principles of democracy and