Today, African Americans are commonly found playing on major league baseball teams. In fact, many of the most popular and noted players are African American. Few people today would think twice about black and white ball players sharing lockers, travelling together and playing together.
But it was not always so. Prior to the 1940s, there was not one single proven black in the majors. And a lot of people wanted to keep it that way. After all, it had always been that way. We must remember, this was an era before civil rights, the Supreme Court decisions, and the acceptance of African Americans as having full human status.
Well-meaning people often thought of ôbeing niceö to the Negro. But often the stereotype of Bo Jangles or Uncle Remus held sway. And somehow, baseball had always been off limits to African Americans, especially in the majors. Since baseball was as American as apple pie and the national pasttime, it may have revealed something of the American attitude toward the Negro.
Imagine, then, being the first African American to ever play in major league baseball. Think of the psychological barriers which would have to be broken. But it was also an opportunity; an opportunity to be a pioneer û to pave the way for others of like skin color. This pioneering individual would have to posses outstanding characteristics. He would have to be a topnotch athlete; he must possess self-control; he would need a pugnacious and independent spirit to withstand strong opposition.
The scene switches to a little town on the Georgia-Florida border. It is named Cairo. There Mallie McGriff and Jerry Robinson marry each other on November, 1909. That year, Honus Wagner had won the national league batting title with a .339 average, his seventh batting title. But neither Mallie nor Jerry were too interested. They didnÆt know that what they had contracted would result in a Negro winning a batting title some day.
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