I Never Had It Made

Having done great fund-raising work on behalf of the NAACP and having served as the vice president of Chock full o’ Nuts for seven years, Robinson was ready for a new challenge in 1964. That challenge came when Harlem businessman Dunbar McLaurin convinced Robinson to associate himself with his dream of opening a black-owned and operated bank for the black community. Though he was cautious about working with McLaurin, Robinson agreed to serve on the bank’s organizing committee and later as its chairman of the board. Although the bank survived and became successful, it did suffer major operational problems that could have been disastrous. The entirety of the chapter discusses Robinson’s involvement with Freedom National Bank in the latter half of the 1960s.

Although the idea was McLaurin’s, the organizing committee voted that he could not be president and settled on William Hudgins, formerly of Carver Federal Savings and Loan in Harlem, to be president. In making the case that Freedom Bank “did much to ease the problem New York City blacks have had for years in getting mortgage credit” (188), Robinson also divulges the primary source of the problems that the bank ran into. That is, as Robinson explains, “not being cautious enough with the processing of loan applications” (190). As Robinson became more suspicious about the bank being in trouble, he also started to suspect that the Comptroller’s office was not being stern enough with them for fear of being accused of persecuting a black institution.

Feeling that his investigation proved that a change in the bank’s administration was needed, Robinson confronted the other board members, and they eventually decided to bring in a new president, businessman and former football player Bob Boyd, to try and turn the bank around. As he did in previous chapters, Robinson relays this story and the mistakes made with complete honesty. Although he had concerns that the true story of the bank’s early failure and near collapse could be harmful to the now-successful bank, Robinson chose to divulge it because “[he] feels that there are lessons to be learned from it by many people—black and white” (197).

Robinson opens Chapter 18, “Hope and Disillusionment in White Politics,” with a discussion of President John F. Kennedy and his brother, former Attorney General and Senator Robert Kennedy. Both men “did much for the cause of black rights” (199) during the 1960s, but both were assassinated. When Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson assumed the presidency following Kennedy’s death, Robinson admits that he did not have the same hope for the advancement of civil rights for black people. However, Robinson soon underwent a drastic change in how he felt about Johnson due to the president’s work in passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, arguing that “there is no doubt that President Johnson played a magnificent role in the political liberation of blacks” (201).

Although Robinson effusively praises the Kennedys, Johnson, and all democrats for their respective stances on civil rights, he also was truly bi-partisan in that he would gladly praise and work for a republican if he felt strongly about their commitment to civil rights. That was the case in 1966, when Robinson accepted the position of Special Assistant to the Governor for Community Affairs within the Executive Chamber of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. As the modern conservative movement within the Republican Party was shifting from supporting pro-civil rights liberals, such as Rockefeller, to supporting candidates such as Governor Ronald Reagan and Senator Barry Goldwater, Robinson began to feel that he had no home in the GOP. When the party nominated Richard Nixon for the presidency in 1968, and Nixon then tabbed staunch conservative Spiro Agnew as his running mate, Robinson resigned his position with Rockefeller, going as far as to say “the GOP didn’t give a damn about my vote or the votes—or welfare—of my people” (207). Robinson then went on to campaign for Hubert H. Humphrey, the democratic candidate, in the 1968 Presidential election 

In exploring the influence of Martin Luther King Jr., Robinson begins by discussing not only what he accomplished, but also the constant threat under which he existed. The Montgomery Bus Boycott, which Robinson refers to as “the first real breakthrough in the Civil Rights Movement” (210), created incredible hardships for his people, but it was successful in eliminating segregated buses. In retaliation for this 1956 success, King’s home was bombed, which King responded to by calling for peace and for black people to love their enemies. Robinson met King not long after this act of violence and came to respect him greatly, but he also admits that he likely could not have remained peaceful in the face of the same sort of violence. King’s commitment to nonviolence and pacifism also was the source of a major disagreement between the two men.

The issue which they disagreed on so strongly was that of America’s role in the Vietnam War. King was so staunchly opposed to the war and America’s actions in it that he called the United States “the greatest purveyor of violence on earth” (212). Robinson responded to this, in one of his syndicated columns in 1967, with an open letter to King saying that the Communist forces we are fighting deserve the blame. Though Robinson asked King to respond with a letter of his own in the column, King instead called Robinson and the two had what Robinson refers to as a long and “an enlightening conversation” (213). Even though neither changed their mind, this disagreement never altered their friendship or the respect that they had for one another. 

In Chapter 20, “Jackie’s Prison,” Robinson covers the painful years of the late-1960s dealing with his son’s drug addiction. Although Robinson acknowledges that there had always been communication problems between them, he writes that it seemed to be better when Jackie Jr. returned from Vietnam in 1967. While Jackie Jr. openly discussed using marijuana, he assured his parents that it was harmless, and he would never turn to hard drugs. However, Jackie Jr. was soon arrested on drug and weapons charges. Concerning how he and Rachel handled this, Robinson writes that “we had to let Jackie know we expected him to shoulder the consequences of his mistakes, but that we were 100 percent behind him and would leave no stone unturned to do whatever was necessary to help him” (219).

Given the choice of prison or rehabilitation, Jackie Jr. joined the Daytop program, leading not only to curing his addiction, but also helping others by becoming a counselor himself. Early in the chapter, Robinson offers both bitter resentment for those who lead users and their parents to believe that marijuana is harmless and great praise for the Daytop program and the work that they do in helping addicts. Jackie Jr. was invited to testify before the United States Senate Sub-Committee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency in 1970. With his full statement included, nearly the entire second half of the chapter covers his testimony about becoming addicted while serving in Vietnam.

Returning to the subject of national politics in Chapter 21, “Politics Today,” Robinson takes aim at the Nixon Administration’s lack of progress concerning the issue of black progress and race relations. Despite having worked on behalf of his opponent, democrat Hubert Humphrey, in the 1968 Presidential Election, Robinson did hold out hope that progress could occur during Nixon’s presidency. Primarily because the most trusted voices in the president’s ear seemed to be those of Senator Strom Thurmond, Attorney General John Mitchell, and Vive President Spiro Agnew, Robinson came to the conclusion that the problems of current race relations and black America would linger on. In a letter Robinson wrote to the president in 1970, this was its primary contents, asking the questions “how can you expect trust from us when we feel that these men you have selected for high office are enemies,” and asking further “why appoint known segregationists to deal with black problems?” (239). The chapter concludes with a statement full of glowing comments that Nixon made about Robinson, but also with Robinson acknowledging that admiration of one’s past accomplishments is not enough when so much needs to be done.

In what is the most emotional chapter of the book, Robinson covers the tragic death of his oldest son, Jackie Jr. in Chapter 22, “… And He Was Free.” Jackie Jr. died in an automobile accident in the early morning hours of June 17, 1971, a little more than a year before I Never Had It Made was published. At the time of his death, Jackie Jr. had been completely clean from drugs for three years, and as Robinson explains, “he had fought his way back up out of the hell of drug addiction” (244). The two primary aspects of this heartbreaking episode of Robinson’s life that he focuses on is that Rachel was out of town at the time, and the family had to get the news to her, and at the time of his death, Jackie Jr. was in the process of organizing a jazz benefit for the Daytop program.

Knowing the importance of getting the news to Rachel before she heard it on the news, Robinson and daughter Sharon immediately made the trip to Massachusetts, where Rachel was in a hotel for a conference. Youngest son, David, meanwhile, took on a great responsibility to stay in Connecticut in order to identify the body. Writing about the way that David handled that situation and helped to console his mother and sister, Robinson says that “his strength was magnificent” (247). In addition to the family’s closeness and concern for one another, Robinson also discusses his personal grief in this period and how people reacted toward him knowing that he was carrying such grief. The chapter concludes with Robinson describing Jackie Jr.’s funeral in great detail and the full text of a poem that David had written and recited for his brother’s funeral.

In the book’s final chapter, Robinson comes full circle to discuss baseball as his primary subject. Specifically, Robinson explores the lack of black people in the positions of managing, coaching, and front office personnel in Major League Baseball. Robinson begins the chapter, however, answering one of the criticisms that he had heard about himself: that he is “a black man who was made by white people” (259). His so-called “white godfathers” representing the three main facets of his life, according to this criticism, are Rickey, Bill Black, and Rockefeller. Robinson’s answer to this is quite simple; all three men became involved with him because he had a talent to offer them.

Moving on to discuss the closeness and fondness that he had with Rickey, who passed away in 1965, Robinson reminds readers that the ultimate decision on his inclusion in the big leagues was about business as much as it was about fairness. Robinson argues that “baseball poses as a sacred institution dedicated to the public good, but is actually a big, selfish business with ruthlessness that many big businesses would never think of displaying” (261-262). Exploring the idea further that baseball has used and discarded black players, Robinson mentions that former teammate Roy Campanella, who once had much different opinions on matters of race, now seems to agree more closely with him. The chapter closes with a mention of Robinson’s mother, Mallie, who died in 1968. 

Despite acknowledging that he has been very fortunate in life, Robinson stands by his claim that forms the title of his work, I Never Had It Made. His reasoning is that the human condition that continues to exist for other black people prevents him being able to believe that he has ever had it made or will ever have it truly made until conditions improve. Fame and financial security for him do not translate into the same things for other black people. Robinson’s Epilogue, in whole, is not only a stroll down memory lane, reminiscing about those who have played a pivotal role in his life and those whom he respects so much, but also a call to action for others because the battle for equality is not over, and the battle for better race relations is far from over.