The Los Angeles Dodgers continued their Jackie Robinson Day tradition of visiting the statue the team had commissioned in his honor, and they were accompanied in the center field plaza of Dodger Stadium by the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation chief executive officer Nichol Whiteman, Jackie Robinson Foundation scholars, and Sonya Pankey, the oldest granddaughter of Jackie and Rachel Robinson also were on hand.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts began the practice of taking his team to the Jackie Robinson statue at Dodger Stadium every April 15 in 2021. Two years later, the Dodgers started being accompanied by whoever their opponent was at the time.
Whiteman and Roberts both addressed the group before Abdul-Jabbar shared his personal connection to Robinson.
“It’s huge,” Roberts said of the Dodgers and Rockies being treated to the wisdom bestowed on them by Abdul-Jabbar. “I would say there’s not a lot of readers in the clubhouse, so to hear from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, we got a little snapshot of a history lesson.
“This is a one-off from Jackie. Guys like Kareem, they’re not going to be with us forever, so to hear firsthand stories, is really powerful. I appreciate him coming out here and sharing his story about Jackie and Bill Russell. It was great.”
Roberts reiterated feeling a sense of responsibility to keep Robinson’s legacy and message alive, and not just when his breaking of the color barrier is celebrated.
So MLB’s decision — whether an oversight or deliberate — to not include mention of “Black,” “racism” or “color barrier” in their press release about Jackie Robinson Day, like they had in previous years, caught Roberts by surprise.
“For me, I think the truth is that Jackie did break the color barrier,” he said. “There were white people that were playing the game of Major League Baseball, and he was the first man of color to play Major League Baseball. Literally, that is breaking the color barrier, in the way I view it.
“I don’t know the reason behind it. But for me, I do think the way he was treated was racist, was wrong. And I do believe he broke the color barrier.”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar remembers Jackie Robinson
Abdul-Jabbar, a civil rights activist in his own right, relayed an instance of Robinson refusing to sit on the back of the bus during his time in the army.
“Back before World War II, he got into an incident at Camp Claiborne in Louisiana,” Abdul-Jabbar began. “The bus driver told him to go sit in the back of the bus, and Jack told him to stuff it. The bus driver said, ‘I’m going to report all of this.’
“The bus driver threatened Jackie physically, and Jack told him it would look kind of funny pulling the guy’s 45 out of his butt. The guy went and reported Jackie, and Jackie’s superior officer would not court marshal him. The officer in charged of the base did court marshal Jackie.”
Robinson ultimately took an honorable discharge, which helped paved the way for his Major League career. As Abdul-Jabbar further noted, that series of events potentially helped Robinson avoid dying in the war.
Along with becoming an important figure for breaking MLB’s color barrier, Robinson also was part of convincing Abdul-Jabbar to attend UCLA.
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