Jackie Robinson: Race, Sports and the American Dream - A Literature Review

This literature review focuses on the depth of racial discrimination in American Society during 1950s and how far people like Jackie Robinson retaliated against this prejudice. The book ‘Jackie Robinson- Race, Sports and the American Dream’ reflects the journey of the famous baseball player Jackie Robinson who was not fair in complexion and because of that he had to face a series of life threats and humiliation. The book highlights racism in the American society and how far it affected the sport culture there. In that context, covering the life of Jackie Robinson is very relevant and significant.

Running Head: LITERATURE REVIEW
LITERATURE REVIEW
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Racism in America has a long drawn history since the independence in 17761. However,
the Civil War of 1861 was succeeded to abolish slavery but the practice of racial segregation was
still prevalent until 1968 when the Civil Rights Act was legalised2. However, the movement was
suppressed in many ways by the government and the Caucasian citizens. In response to that this
the book ‘Jackie Robinson- Race, Sports and the American Dream’ reflects the journey of the
famous baseball player Jackie Robinson who was not fair in complexion and because of that he
had to face a series of life threats and humiliation3. Despite all these obstacles he stood firmly
and changed the perception of American psyche about racial segregation. Therefore, the purpose
of this report is to put focus on the depth of racial discrimination in American Society during
1950s and how far people like Jackie Robinson retaliated against this prejudice.
It can be stated that editors Joseph Dorinson and Joram Warmund were trying to depict a
social picturesque of racial prevalence in America during the 1950s4. It is imperative to
understand that idea of racism and the discourses of apartheid in America. In US blacks are
dealing with discriminations in terms of slavery, violence, symbol as well as state sponsorship5.
In this context it is also important to keep in mind of the fact that in 2009 US got its first
African- American President, namely Barack Obama6. Therefore, the intensity and relevance of
racism is very significant. In this regard, the book on Jackie Robinson illustrates the obstructions
1 Fredrickson, George M. Racism: A short history. Princeton University Press, 2015.
2 Araújo, Marta, and Silvia R. Maeso. Eurocentrism, racism and knowledge: debates on history and power in
Europe and the Americas. Springer, 2015.
3 Witherell, Carol S. "Exploring the Lingering Currency of Racism. A Book Review of Trayvon Martin, Race, and
American Justice: Writing Wrong." Democracy and Education 23.2 (2015): 11.
4 Dorinson J Warmund, Jackie Robinson: Race, Sports And The American Dream. Routledge 2015
5 Zigerell, L. J. "Distinguishing racism from ideology: A methodological inquiry." Political Research Quarterly 68.3
(2015): 521-536.
6 Ladson-Billings, Gloria, and William F. Tate IV. "Toward a critical race theory of education." Critical race theory
in education. Routledge, 2016. 21-41.

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LITERATURE REVIEW
that he faced in his professional career and how did he manage to change the perspective of
sports as well as society.
Apparently the book can be considered as a biography on Jackie Robinson. He was a US
born Afro- American legendary professional baseball player who was the first player to play in
Major League Baseball (MLB). Scouted by Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 Jackie broke the colour
segregation in professional baseball in US and became the first afro player to get selected in
MLB7. However, before MLB career and during the professional career as well Jackie was facing
enormous humiliation and threats despite of his outstanding performances. The entire struggling
life of Jackie Robinson for achieving equality has been addressed in the books which not only
reflects his fight against Racism but also provides a gross idea about the humiliation and
discrimination that the black people were facing in US8. The audacious attitude of Jackie
Robinson helped him to get the honour that he deserved and at the same time led the way
towards the victory over Racism.
It must be acknowledged that no discussion is perfect and always there is a possibility of
biasness. There is no question about the detailed and informative arguments that were mentioned
in the book indicating anti racist ideas. However, while scrutinizing the book a number of
partialities are being figured out exhibiting the inclination towards leftist ideology or against
white supremacy. For an instance, Joseph Dorinson, one of the editors of the book had a leftist
influence because his parents were the supporters of left wing politics. In fact, the Red Scare
movement associated with radical left communism had a deep effect on him. On the other hand,
Joram Warmund was a victim of the World War II Holocaust and had a relation with the Zionist
7 Khan, Abraham Iqbal. "Michael Sam, Jackie Robinson, and the politics of respectability." Communication &
Sport5.3 (2017): 331-351.
8 Dorinson J Warmund, Jackie Robinson: Race, Sports And The American Dream. Routledge 2015

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LITERATURE REVIEW
movement in South America. Therefore, it is evitable that those incidents could be reflected in
their writings.
In order to make the book more authentic the editors were relied on both the primary
sources as well as the literary evidences. However, most of the research is restricted to primary
evidences. The authors utilized a number of primary sources like journalists, ballplayers and
newspaper magazines. Besides this, scholarly work was also done in response to make the
information more authentic and concise. In fact, to make it more interest the authors were going
to organise a conference and incorporated the review into the book.
The theme of the book highlights racism in the American society and how far it affected
the sport culture there. In that context, covering the life of Jackie Robinson is very relevant and
significant. However, it should be acknowledge that there are other layers or factors that are
equally represented the image of racism. The book is very linear and accounted a single
perspective of the racism in America where as racism itself is a dynamic practice and divergent
in action. The first approach is based on Structural racism. According to Bailey9 structural racism
is associated with the colonizers primarily who promulgated massacre and introduced legal
oppression on the black people of America. In fact, the infamous Jim Crow law was also
introduced under the state sponsorship10. Besides this there is also internalized racism which was
practiced in America. Internalized racism defines the skin color11. It is a stereotype obsession of
9 Bailey, Zinzi D., et al. "Structural racism and health inequities in the USA: evidence and interventions." The
Lancet 389.10077 (2017): 1453-1463.
10 Smith, Andrea. "Heteropatriarchy and the three pillars of white supremacy: Rethinking women of color
organizing." Women in Culture: An Intersectional Anthology for Gender and Women's Studies 404 (2016).
11 Dovidio, John F., Samuel L. Gaertner, and Adam R. Pearson. "12 Aversive Racism and Contemporary Bias."
(2017).

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LITERATURE REVIEW
the fair complexions that makes them feel superior12. In response to that the book ‘Jackie
Robinson- Race, Sports and the American Dream’ overtly indicates the incident but the
internalised racism still exists in American society. Researchers and experts opined that psycho-
social consequences were responsible for this. In this context, the book discusses neither the
institutional nor the internal factors of racism. Instead, it put more emphasis on the person
mediated factors. As a result of that the assessment lost its vitality and failed to get a broader
vision of the fact.
The book is genuinely an account of racial oppression. The name Jackie Robinson is very
popular for his fight against racism but the book make it more authentic by using the primary and
secondary sources. The book has the ability to penetrate the mind of its readers and using factual
data with an understandable way make the book unputdownable. Nevertheless, there are some
issues regarding the method of collecting data. Most of the data are verbal and based on an
interview which ushers the question of authenticity. In fact, incorporating only one aspect of the
racial theory reduces the credibility of the book.
The book rightly described the journey of Jackie Robinson as a flag bearer of the fight
against racism. In fact, it was also able to depict a clear image of the then American society
where skin complexion came before your talent. Jackie succeeded to throw off the shackles of
racism and paved the way for equality. In this regards it can be concluded that although the book
has some limitations regarding aspects of racism but in the context of history of apartheid in US
the book is very much relevant and significant.
12 Maxwell, Morgan, et al. "What’s color got to do with it? Skin color, skin color satisfaction, racial identity, and
internalized racism among African American college students." Journal of Black Psychology 41.5 (2015): 438-461.

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LITERATURE REVIEW
Reference
Araújo, Marta, and Silvia R. Maeso. Eurocentrism, racism and knowledge: debates on history
and power in Europe and the Americas. Springer, 2015.
Bailey, Zinzi D., et al. "Structural racism and health inequities in the USA: evidence and
interventions." The Lancet 389.10077 (2017): 1453-1463.
Dorinson J Warmund, Jackie Robinson: Race, Sports And The American Dream. Routledge 2015
Dovidio, John F., Samuel L. Gaertner, and Adam R. Pearson. "12 Aversive Racism and
Contemporary Bias." (2017).
Fredrickson, George M. Racism: A short history. Princeton University Press, 2015.
Khan, Abraham Iqbal. "Michael Sam, Jackie Robinson, and the politics of
respectability." Communication & Sport5.3 (2017): 331-351.
Ladson-Billings, Gloria, and William F. Tate IV. "Toward a critical race theory of
education." Critical race theory in education. Routledge, 2016. 21-41.
Maxwell, Morgan, et al. "What’s color got to do with it? Skin color, skin color satisfaction, racial
identity, and internalized racism among African American college students." Journal of Black
Psychology 41.5 (2015): 438-461.
Smith, Andrea. "Heteropatriarchy and the three pillars of white supremacy: Rethinking women
of color organizing." Women in Culture: An Intersectional Anthology for Gender and Women's
Studies 404 (2016).

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LITERATURE REVIEW
Witherell, Carol S. "Exploring the Lingering Currency of Racism. A Book Review of Trayvon
Martin, Race, and American Justice: Writing Wrong." Democracy and Education 23.2 (2015):
11.
Zigerell, L. J. "Distinguishing racism from ideology: A methodological inquiry." Political
Research Quarterly 68.3 (2015): 521-536.