St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1946-04-19

come back TO the hotel and stand
around the lobby because the town
is dead and there's no place to go
since the army ran what night
life there was up the road beyond
the city limits. am a guy who
stays up late no matter where
am and | did a lot Of talking to
strangers as men travelling alone
and on the wagon often do. Most
Of them were southeTners and the
majority of them Disguised me with
their dark minded intolerance.
When they found out what l
did they usually sounded me out
on Jackie Robinson and when they
located where / stood, they would
hack at me with their sneering
bigotry. II we were alone, they
stayed courteous and presented
their prejudices as necessary to
perpetuate our civilization which
they believe is imperiled by equal
ity among the races.
But IL they had an audience, they
would snipe with dirty and point
less jokes and try to catch a laugh
with their venomously humorless
imagery Of a races agony. In that
lobby, standing around in the heat
Of the spring of the year, / knew
there are ways to lynch a man
without hanging him from a tree.
Robinson Carries Burden
1t is useless to wrangle with
them in a hotel lobby or here in
print. They are proud of their
ignorance and the small every
day punishments Of the Negro in
the south is considered by them
great heritage they must uphold
and they find a corrupted grandeur
in their inhumane attitudes. Not
today nor next year will the Negro
be given his true freedom in the
south. But what happened here
yesterday in a minor league ball
park indicates the long journey they
have made up out Of slavery has
a destination they will reach in
time to come.
On this chalk measured meadow
Negro played with eight other
men whose skins were white and
not once did any one in the stands
or in the game indicate he was an
intruder. 1t is hard to say if Jackie
Robinson will ever come upstairs
and make it in the big leagues.
There is no way to guess now be-
cause the burden Of being the first
Negro to come into organized base
ball is a lot Of weight for a young
player to haul around the. circuit
with him.
But after watching him for
nine innings, this l know. He is
a base thief whose haunting leads
upset the Dodgers the three times
he reached first, twice on singles
and once on a walk. He is sure
and loose on ground balls and his
instincts are right when he has
to break fast. Such a judge as
George Sisler, now scouting for the
Dodgers, believes he will hit a ball
a long ways once he is playing for
himself and not for the people sit
ting in the segregation of the
bleacher seats.
"If I don't make the Montreal
ball club it's not their fault" Rob-
inson told me, pointing to the
Royals on the bench. They're |
doing everything they can. Sure,
it's tough. There's a lot Of pres
sure on me. AS soon as l get that |
off it will be a lot better for me. |
The people in the stands have been |
fine. They don't ride me any more |
than they ride any one else. I
would say they've all been 100 per |
cent. mean the players and the
fans"
Montreal Team Mates Decent
The city of Jacksonville locked |
up the bail park and called off |
the ball game because Robinson
was coming up with the Montreal
squad to play the Jersey Giants.
But the casual decency of the guys
on the ball club seems to have
for the insult.
Even though I don't understand
why they do IT," he said, "it's a
law in Jacksonville. l don't under
stand why. But that's the custom.
It's going to take more than one
ball game to break it down. But
in time Jacksonville will be like
Daytona Beach. They don't accept
US as human beings in Jacksonville.
But some day Jacksonville will ac-
rept us as just a few other people
in the world"
Robinson thinks he will hit. He
Is tight every time he walks up
there and he feeS as though he
were hitting for millions of people
he has never seen. But he can hear
them pulling for him off in the
darkness of the big city tenements
and in the shacks on the fringes of
southern towns. It is as though
they were going to judge all Of
them for what one guy did in one
time at bat. He knows it isn't that
wav but he can't make himself
believe it. It will take a long time
for him to convince himself he is a
man on his own and not a guy
whose skill at a game elected him
to represent a race of prosecuted
people in a country that is con-
sidered a citadel Of liberty over the
world.
"A lot Of fellows on the club are
roofing for me-" he said. "If I can |
play enough ball to help them win
hats all fhpU vvaDt b;k ara;,.t |