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HISTORICAL NARRATIVES
How Stories of Black Success Expose Motivation to Hide History
Some narratives expose racism as an obstacle to overcome
Why hide or obscure the accomplishments of successful Black people, some may wonder. But, the answer is quite simple, considering what they often reveal. That racism stood as a barrier to all they hoped to achieve. Consider, for instance, the career of the hall-of-fame baseball player Jackie Robinson. He was born in 1919, Georgia, during the Jim Crow era. State laws segregated social life. And prohibited Black people from enjoying the same opportunities as White people. So, when Robinson first played professional baseball, he joined the Kansas City Monarchs. This Negro League baseball team provided Black players a chance to compete. Yet, they did not earn a salary close to White baseball players in the Major Leagues. Nor did their leagues offer them the same level of exposure. That began to change in 1947 when Robinson crossed the color line. And became the first Black man to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Some do not want people to learn about his story despite his success. Because doing so could invoke a discussion about the racism he endured.
Before playing professional baseball, Jackie Robinson served as a lieutenant in the Army. Like many Black Americans who served, he faced racism despite his sacrifice. An incident at Camp Hood in Texas in 1944 highlights this nuanced experience. Robinson boarded a bus and sat beside an officer’s wife, whom he recognized. She was a fair-skinned Black woman, who some onlookers assumed was White. This sparked outrage among the passengers. The bus driver instructed Robinson to move to the back, an order he refused to follow. The Army court-martialed him as a result. But, Robinson wrote to the NAACP seeking guidance on the matter. This, in turn, helped to raise public awareness of this case. A military court would later acquit him of all charges and set an important precedent. He once referred to World War II as a “small victory.” Because Black people had to fight “in two wars. One against the foreign enemy, the other against prejudice at home.”
Online, some Americans debated whether Jackie Robinson was an example of a DEI hire. This, of course, became complicated by conservative…
