Surprisingly, in Jackie’s lowest political moment, he
first used his platform to publicly take a stand against police brutality.
Looking for a way to attack Paul Robeson’s powerful protests against American
racism—Robeson questioned if Blacks should fight against Russia—in July 1949,
HUAC dragged Jackie Robinson to Washington D.C., to testify on behalf of Black
America. Instead of passing Civil Rights legislation, Congress wanted a loyal
Black face to reassure White Americans that America was a beacon of racial
democracy. Jackie’s testimony, unfortunately, cut Robeson deep.
Regretfully, Robinson said “I can’t speak for any fifteen million people any
more than any one person can, but I know that I’ve got too much invested for my
wife and child and myself in the future of this country, and I and other
Americans of many races and faiths have too much invested in our country’s
welfare, for any of us to throw it away because of a siren song sung in bass.”
Robeson was noticeably upset by Jackie’s attack and told a reporter, “The only
other time Negroes were called on to publicly proclaim their loyalty was when
Jeff Davis called them during the Civil War.” For his stance against the Black
icon, White America praised Robinson. Robinson did more than just appease White
America, however, he used his testimony to take a swing at racism. In one of
his boldest statements, the baseball pioneer told HUAC, “because it is a
Communist who denounces injustice in the courts, police brutality and lynching,
when it happens, doesn’t change the truth of the charges.” Robinson added
“Negroes were stirred up long before there was a Communist party, and they’ll
stay stirred up long after the party has disappeared—unless Jim Crow has
disappeared by then as well.” Jackie Robinson put Whites and the federal
government on notice. If America truly wanted racial equality, police brutality
had to end.
From that moment, Jackie joined a cadre of Black
voices across the country and denounced police brutality. During the 1950s and
60s, he led marches, gave speeches, and used his newspaper column to attack
injustice. He often linked Black rage as a response to police abuse, and warned
of the potential problems if brutality went unchecked. A month before the
1964 Harlem Uprising—the rebellion started after the police murdered an unarmed
Black teenager—in an article entitled “Watch that Brutality,” Jackie urged, “I
think our Police Commissioner must be warned that police brutality will not be
tolerated by the Negro and Puerto Rican people of New York City. There has been
too much of it and unless it is seriously curtailed, there can be serious and
crucial times ahead for the city.” A week later at a rally to denounce
violence—legendary catcher Roy Campanella, who Jackie called out for being
silent on civil rights, also spoke—Jackie further warned about the brewing
problems. He told the crowd “Harlem is the key to Negro areas throughout the
country and efforts by Comm. Murphy or the Mayor to meet and ease problems here
on police brutality will have an effect throughout the nation.”
The powers that be did not listen to Jackie
Robinson and other Black leaders across the country demanding an end to
abuse. Between 1964 and 1968, hundreds of uprisings started in response
to police brutality. Predictably, a number of Americans, especially those
on the Right, blamed the destruction on Black violence. In response to
complaints, Robinson noted that so-called Black violence was a byproduct of
police brutality. He argued “One cannot expect leaders to sell the non-violence
cause when followers see violence erupting against them every day of their
lives. Not even new civil rights bills or statesmanlike speeches can counteract
this.”
Jackie was right. Civil Rights legislation has failed to protect Blacks
from the police. Since emancipation, Blacks have pleaded with local, state, and
federal politicians to end police brutality. Let’s hope politicians finally
listen to our complaints.
