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Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for April 14, 2017
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
April 14, 2017: On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson made history by breaking the major league color barrier. MVP awards, All-Star selections, and championships recognized his skills as a player. His larger legacy was honored when all of major league baseball retired his number. Nobody else on any team will wear number 42 again. The sole exception is on April 15 each year, Jackie Robinson Day. On that day, every player, coach, and manager on every team wears his number in celebration of his life. No other player has ever received such an honor.
Robinson deserves all the accolades he has received. The courage and class he displayed in the face of hatred and vicious personal attacks are almost beyond belief. He and his wife demonstrated the power of nonviolent resistance years before the world ever heard of Martin Luther King Jr.
As a result, the impact was felt far beyond the world of baseball. One year after Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, President Harry Truman integrated the U.S. military.
Nearly nine years after Robinson’s first major league at-bat, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery. That’s when Martin Luther King Jr. emerged as a leader and applied the lessons of nonviolent resistance on an even broader scale. Acknowledging the debt his movement owed to the ballplayer, King called Robinson "a pilgrim that walked in the lonesome byways toward the high road of Freedom. He was a sit-inner before sit-ins, a freedom rider before freedom rides."[1]
Still, it took 17 years before Congress caught up to the Brooklyn Dodgers and passed major civil rights legislation. In fact, by the time Congress got around to acting, the Dodgers weren’t even in Brooklyn anymore.
This story is highlighted in my forthcoming book, Politics Has Failed: America Will Not. It is one of many examples showing how the culture leads and politicians lag behind.
- Yesterday's number looked at the 261 million visits to the IRS website in 2017.
- Wednesday's number looked at the 20 percent of Americans who bought groceries from online-only stores in 2016.
- Tuesday's number highlighted the average age of U.S. cars (11.2 years) and that number's implications for driverless cars.
- Monday's number looked at the $2,860 average income tax refund in 2016.
- To see other recent numbers, check out the archive.
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Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
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