Jackie Robinson in 1949. Source: Smithsonian Institution via WikiMedia (Public Domain)

Major League Baseball and Branch Rickey

One of the most famous incidents in American sports history occurred when Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, was looking for an African-American player to integrate Major League baseball. That role would require a man who could take tremendous abuse without hitting back.

When the man he selected asked if Mr. Rickey was looking for a Negro who was afraid to fight back, Branch Rickey famously replied that he was looking for a man “with guts enough not to fight back.”

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