A review of Ken Burns’ “Jackie Robinson” (PBS)

“ ♪ Did you see Jackie Robinson hit that ball?
It went zoomin 'cross the left field wall.
Yeah boy, yes, yes. Jackie hits that ball. ♪

♪ And when he swung his bat,
the crowd went wild,
because he knocked that ball a solid mile.
Yeah boy, yes, yes. Jackie hits that ball. ♪ ”

– Buddy Johnson's “Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball?” (1949), with a famous recording by Count Basie in that same year

Before Jackie Robinson, baseball was segregated, with the Black players in a separate league

It has been said that baseball is a profoundly conservative game, which sometimes managed to be years ahead of its time. That is certainly the case with Jackie Robinson; since long before the civil rights movement of the 1960's, Jackie Robinson broke the “color barrier” in 1947. He was the first African American ever to play in the Major Leagues on a permanent basis. There were actually a few African Americans who had played in the Major Leagues before him, and who had been “light-skinned” enough that they could almost pass for “White.” But when their racial background was discovered, they were unfortunately kicked out of Major League Baseball for this reason. Before Jackie Robinson, African Americans were thus forced to play in a segregated set of leagues known as the “Negro Leagues.” (The term “Negro” was considered non-offensive at this time.) It was only after Jackie Robinson permanently broke the color barrier in 1947 that baseball was finally integrated.

Robinson with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954

Ken Burns had already covered Jackie Robinson before, but interviewed some new people here

Ken Burns had covered this subject before making this film, in his epic television history of baseball in 1994. Many of its early episodes (particularly the 1930's episode) were focused on the “Negro Leagues.” And more to the point, a significant portion of the 1940's episode was dedicated to Jackie Robinson himself. In this earlier series, the Ken Burns team had interviewed Jackie Robinson's widow, who is a woman named Rachel Robinson. She is still alive at the time that I write this, and so was able to be interviewed when this film was first shown in 2016. For this later film, they also interviewed Jackie's children, whom I believe that the previous series had not interviewed. Most astonishingly for a program on PBS, they also interviewed sitting president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama. Obviously, any politician who gives an interview to someone for a television program is thinking of how it will affect their image, and Mr. Obama was no exception here. Appearing on television to promote their image is nothing new in politics, of course, but it is rare that politicians allow themselves to be interviewed by a documentary filmmaker on PBS. Most documentaries don't have enough of an audience to justify giving this kind of an interview to them. Thus, it is a testament to the popularity of Ken Burns that he was granted such an interview with a sitting president. Not many documentary filmmakers are granted such an honor.

Robinson doing the long jump for UCLA

Comparisons to Ken Burns' other film about the boxer Jack Johnson (another trailblazer in the realm of race relations)

In 2005, Ken Burns had made another film with a similar subject, which was called “Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson.” (For the origins of this title, see my blog post about this film.) For the film “Jackie Robinson,” comparisons to this other film are almost inevitable; since Jack Johnson was the first African American to become the “Heavyweight Champion of the World” in boxing. This film has much to recommend it, but it is not one of my favorite films, as I describe in this other blog post about it. Suffice it to say that I much prefer this Jackie Robinson film in many ways. Part of this may be that I am a baseball fan, and I'd much rather see a baseball game than watch people punch each other's lights out for no good reason. To be sure, boxing is a violent sport; and the absence of violence in most professional baseball games makes it seem much more appealing to me. But another part of my preference for this film may be that Jackie Robinson was a much more sympathetic person than Jack Johnson. Jackie Robinson was monogamous, and stayed faithful to his wife – unlike the promiscuous and philandering Jack Johnson. Jackie never beat up any girlfriends, and was thus a better role model than the likes of Jack Johnson (who beat up his girlfriends with some frequency). And in general, Jackie Robinson was more principled than Jack Johnson. All of these things made him a much better spokesperson for Black America, and earned him the admiration of Whites and Blacks alike. This was part of why he was able to pull off the integration of baseball, in such a short amount of time.

Robinson in his Army uniform, circa 1943

Jackie's early life through his recruitment onto the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947

During World War II, Jackie was drafted into the Army, and later joined an all-black cavalry unit in Fort Riley, Kansas. He applied for Officer Candidate School, but saw his admission delayed due to prejudice against his race. Eventually, he was admitted, and became friends with the boxer Joe Louis in the process – another trailblazer in the realm of race relations, because of his defeating the Nazi boxer Max Schmeling in 1938. But Jackie Robinson was court-martialled when he protested against Army segregation rules, and never saw action with his unit overseas because of this. During his college years, he had played many sports for campus sporting teams (and was gifted in all of them, incidentally). Eventually, he also made it into professional baseball by playing in what was then called the “Negro Leagues” (see my earlier comment about the use of this term). He was also recruited by the Brooklyn Dodgers manager Branch Rickey to play in the Major Leagues on a permanent basis, as the first African American ever to do so. There were other Black players who could have done the job, too, some of whom were even better players than Jackie Robinson by some standards. Jackie was unquestionably a good player, but he may also have been chosen for some additional factors besides just his talent (although this was undoubtedly relevant to his selection). One was his toughness, which he had demonstrated by fighting Army segregation rules during World War II; and Branch Rickey could also sense that the young Jackie was able to do these things. He would need this, as it turned out, because there was going to be a lot of criticism from the racist elements of the American press at that time. He would also need the support of Rachel Robinson, who agreed to marry him at around this time, and suffer the scrutiny of the White media and fans with him.

Robinson during his stint with what was then called the “Negro Leagues,” with a team called the Kansas City Monarchs

Robinson playing in the Minor Leagues, for the Montreal Royals in 1946

Jackie's baseball years, and his involvement in the civil rights movement of the 1960's

But ironically, the very attributes that had caused Branch Rickey to select Jackie in the first place – namely, a willingness to fight back against discrimination – needed to be controlled during these first few years. This was because Branch Rickey was forcing Jackie to agree to some harsh terms, which included not fighting back against violence during the first few years of his playing. Only later, after he had “turned the other cheek” for a long time, would he be allowed to “fight fire with fire.” This was no small task, because his White opponents were then willing to get violent with him during these baseball games; and Jackie had to rely on his teammates to fight back for him (something he hated). But when the agreed-upon waiting period was over, Jackie fought back with a ferocity that stunned his fans and admirers. Reporters condemned this new “aggressive” Jackie; but other fans were more understanding, given the harsh (and public) treatment that he had received up until that time. His “turning the other cheek” had won him the admiration of many White fans during this time, and he had actually polled ahead of Bing Crosby and Eleanor Roosevelt as the “most popular person in America” at this time. During the civil rights movement of the 1960's, Jackie would ironically speak out against the use of violence as a political tactic; which may have been why some later African Americans dismissed him as an “Uncle Tom.” But if I may be allowed an opinion, Jackie had some unusually good instincts about when violence was appropriate, and when it was not. Different times called for different measures; and Jackie knew when to control his temper, and when to let it loose at those who deserved it.

Robinson in the Major Leagues, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1950)

Robinson and his son David (age 11) are interviewed during the “March on Washington,” 1963

Conclusion: This is an excellent film, and helps to show how baseball was eventually integrated

I could go on for a long time about Jackie's fascinating life, but I don't want this post to get overly long. Suffice it to say for our purposes here that this documentary gives some excellent coverage of Jackie's life, and not only during his years in Major League Baseball. His post-baseball political activism is also covered with a depth not seen elsewhere in the documentary world. Most documentaries about Jackie Robinson have tended to focus on his baseball years, and there is plenty of coverage of these years here. But this documentary also distinguishes itself in its coverage of these other periods, partly because it also focuses on his involvement in the civil rights movement of the 1960's (among other things). If you want good coverage of American race relations, you'd be well-advised to come to this film. But if you're also something of a baseball fan, you will get a good dose of the sport in this film; and will not be disappointed by its coverage of his baseball years.

“ ♪ One ball, one strike,
One out, one run.
Jackie at the bat,
Here's what he done. ♪

♪ He hit the ball with the bat,
The bat hit the ball.
You should have heard
Those fans all squall. ♪

♪ Goin, it's goin,
This time it's really gone.
You do the baseball boogie
When Jackie goes running home. ♪ ”

– Brownie McGhee's “Baseball Boogie” (1947)

DVD at Amazon

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