[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 41 (Wednesday, April 9, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S2950]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     COMMEMORATING THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF JACKIE ROBINSON'S DEBUT 
                        IN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL

 Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, 50 years ago a true American 
hero walked onto Ebbets Field one afternoon and forever shattered the 
color barrier with one swing of his bat. His name was Jack Roosevelt 
Robinson.
  On that day, 7 years before Brown versus the Board of Education 
allowed school children of all colors to sit in the same classroom, 16 
years before Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of his dreams at the foot of 
the Lincoln Memorial, and 18 years before the Civil Rights Act became 
the law of the land, Jackie Robinson did more for the equal rights 
movement and the sport of baseball than had anyone before him.
  Jackie Robinson on April 15, 1947, became the first professional 
black athlete to play America's pastime, baseball. In his Brooklyn 
Dodgers uniform, he not only broke the color barrier, but he also broke 
numerous baseball records during his 10-year professional career.
  By the end of his tenure as a player, Jackie Robinson would become 
one of America's most celebrated and honored athletes. He became major 
league baseball's first Rookie of the Year--an award now named after 
him, the national league's Most Valuable Player, holder of the coveted 
batting title, a six-time member of Dodgers' World Series teams, a 
member of the 1955 world champion Dodgers, and a member of the Baseball 
Hall of Fame.
  As the senior U.S. Senator representing California, I am particularly 
proud of the fact that Jackie Robinson was from the Golden State, 
raised in Pasadena, and was a star athlete at the University of 
California at Los Angeles. At UCLA, Robinson became the first athlete 
ever to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, 
football, and track.
  Such an amazing and talented athlete, however, was not welcomed into 
the arms of American baseball fans or of its players back in the spring 
of 1947.
  Jackie Robinson fought prejudice and harassment with every base he 
ran, every ball he hit, and every victory he helped win for his team. 
Players and coaches yelled racial slurs at him, and one team even 
threatened to strike in protest of Robinson's presence in their city. 
But Robinson, remembering how his mother refused to sell their family 
home and move away amid protests from white neighbors, persevered.
  He faced hatred and racism with courage and conviction, proving to 
teammates, opponents and fans alike that he had earned the right to 
play professional baseball through his sheer athleticism. Along the 
way, Robinson became the role model for future baseball icons such as 
Hank Aaron and Willie Mayes.
  Shortly after his retirement from baseball in 1957, Jackie Robinson 
helped to further the rights of all African-Americans by becoming a 
spokesman and fundraiser for the National Association for the 
Advancement of Colored people [NAACP]. He traveled the country urging 
black communities to work together for equal rights, educating and 
encouraging them to participate in the new civil rights movement. He 
became a role model all over again, this time to millions of men and 
women who saw inequality and wanted to change it.
  Jackie Robinson represents everything good with baseball, and 
everything great with America. By commemorating his achievements and 
his entrance onto the professional baseball fields, his legacy lives 
on, inspiring yet another generation of fans to realize their dreams 
and break new ground along the way.
  Jackie Robinson once said, ``A life is not important except in the 
impact it has on other lives.'' By that standard, Jackie Robinson's 
life was as important as America's greatest heroes throughout history, 
and we as a nation are all grateful and proud of his accomplishments.
  Major league baseball has recognized Jackie Robinson's achievements 
by dedicating the 1997 season to his memory. As part of these 
festivities, last week's opening day games were played in all major 
league stadiums with a Jackie Robinson commemorative baseball. Just 
last weekend, the Los Angeles Dodgers paid tribute to the Hall of Famer 
in a pregame ceremony attended by Rachel Robinson, Jackie's widow.
  The Dodgers plan many other activities throughout the year such as a 
Jackie Robinson poster distributed to all Los Angeles district schools, 
a special section devoted to Robinson on the Dodgers' official web 
site, a salute to Jackie Robinson scholarship winners, an historic 
Robinson display at Dodger Stadium and assistance with the Jackie 
Robinson Foundation Golf Classic. Additionally, President Clinton will 
honor his memory with Rachel Robinson in an April 15 ceremony at Shea 
Stadium during a game between the Dodgers and the New York Mets.
  I salute the memory of Jackie Robinson on this, the 50th anniversary 
of his becoming the first black baseball player in the major 
leagues.

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