At 28, with World War II service in the Army behind him, Robinson was mature and tough enough to withstand the taunts of racist fans and opposing players. He was married, to the beautiful Rachel Robinson, and hence no threat to the sanctity of white womanhood. Moreover, Robinson understood everything that was riding on the experiment. He left his natural combativeness in the locker room and endured incredible abuse without fighting back. There is a reason why so many young black men have tried to follow in Robinson's footsteps, pouring all their ambitions into the hope of a career as a pro athlete.
Sport is one of the few arenas of American society in which the playing field is really level.
If you're as good as Robinson was, your acclaim transcends racial boundaries. But unless you get the chance to compete, you can never demonstrate your ability. Robinson had the guts to speak out against racial injustice after he retired from baseball. In 1963 he traveled to Birmingham to be with Martin Luther King Jr. after four little black girls were blown to bits in the bombing of a church. He didn't back down from his integrationist stance even when more militant blacks called him an Uncle Tom.