The Coach and The Hoax

Photo by Gene Gallin on Unsplash

Home run legend Frank Robinson made his major league debut nine years after Jackie Robinson, no relation, broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947. Frank Robinson was a pioneer in his own right. He became the first black manager of a Major League Baseball team in 1975.

Needless to say, Frank Robinson encountered unthinkable racism, but he always said, “Jackie taught us the way to beat the hate was to beat them on the field.”

In 2005 a reporter asked Frank Robinson about a black player that left Major League Baseball in the 1960s because of “racist abuse”. The reporter thought this black player demonstrated “silent dignity” by leaving the sport.

But Robinson disagreed and replied, “He wasn’t strong. He went home. He didn’t pursue what he wanted to do in life. He let a barrier prevent him from doing that.”

In other words, “silent dignity” was an excuse for the lack of perseverance.

Last month, Duke University’s women’s volleyball team visited Brigham Young University. After the match, Duke’s Rachel Richardson, a black woman, claimed she, along with her black teammates, were bombarded with racial slurs which made them feel unsafe.

Of course, the mainstream media ran with the story.