[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 46 (Thursday, April 17, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E691]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF JACKIE ROOSEVELT ROBINSON

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 15, 1997

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it is with great 
pleasure and honor that I stand here in this Chamber and shower the 
late, great Jackie Robinson with praises and accolades for his 
contribution to major league baseball. Jackie Robinson always had fire 
in his eyes. There was an intensity in them, a determination from the 
lonesome odyssey of 1947 when he integrated baseball and changed 
America.
  The versatile Jackie Robinson began his stellar sporting career in 
1933 as a letterman in football, basketball, baseball, and track in 
Pasadena, CA. Destined for stardom, Robinson made the Pomona (CA) 
Tournament Baseball All-Star team, in his senior year, that included 
future major league standouts such as Ted Williams and Bob Lemon.
  Jackie Robinson's baseball career led him to many challenges outside 
the sports arena. After being traded to the New York Giants in December 
1956, Robinson contemplated retirement. The following month, Robinson 
announced his retirement, moving from the dugout to a desk, trading his 
bat for a pen. Robinson became vice president of Community Affairs for 
the Chock Full O'Nuts Co., a restaurant chain. In 1964, he resigned 
from the restaurant company to organize the Freedom National Bank in 
Harlem.
  The black-owned bank's mission was ``a community enterprise which 
will in every way belong to the people it is to serve * * *.'' As 
chairman of the board, Robinson helped raise more than $1.5 million.
  That same year, 1964, Gov. Nelson Rockefeller of New York, asked him 
to become one of six deputy national directors. Robinson was 
Rockefeller's first black staff member. Rockefeller later named him to 
his executive committee as special assistant of community affairs.
  Today, 50 years later, we honor Jack Roosevelt Robinson for his 
contributions to our beloved game of peanuts and crackerjacks. Our game 
where the only race that matters is the race to the bag. When color is 
only a means to distinguish one uniform from that of another. Robinson 
made it possible for all Americans to see beyond skin color and assess 
a person's true character. For without Jackie's inspiration and 
dedication, America's game would not be what it is today, our national 
pastime. For this reason we have cause to celebrate the 50th 
anniversary of this barrier breaker and remember his hardships as well 
as his triumphs.

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