PHILADELPHIA (AP) – As cities across the country honored Jackie Robinson’s pioneering baseball career, one also apologized for its racist treatment of Major League Baseball’s first black player nearly 70 years ago.
When Robinson’s Brooklyn Dodgers played the Philadelphia Phillies in 1947, he was told to “go back to the cotton fields” by the Phillies’ manager, refused service at a local hotel and taunted by players with racial slurs when he came to bat. On Friday, Philadelphia’s city council publicly acknowledged the incident as a dark chapter in the city’s history.
“He faced tremendous racism in our city,” Councilwoman Helen Gym said. “It was something he never forgot … but neither should we.”
April 15 is recognized nationally as Jackie Robinson Day, and ballparks around the country are also celebrating the 69th anniversary of the day he broke the league’s color barrier in 1947. Robinson played for the Brooklyn Dodgers until 1956.
Gym presented a resolution , passed by the council last month, before about 100 children, city leaders and Robinson fans – some wearing his No. 42 Dodgers jersey – gathered at the Philadelphia Stars Negro League Memorial Park. Among them was 79-year-old Carolyn Mitchell, who saw Robinson play as a girl.