Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism.

This theme begins with Mallie. Unlike her husband, she didn’t run from the racist sharecropping system. She stuck by her family and moved them to the West Coast, and this move reinforced her belief in accountability and responsibility. She didn’t rely on others to improve her environment; she did it herself. Her behavior in California advanced her resolve as she became her family’s breadwinner and teacher, earning money as a domestic worker and instilling principles in her children to help them face the US’s racist norms. If Mallie hadn’t pushed against racism, her children might have had different values, and MLB wouldn’t have had a Jackie Robinson.

Mallie’s beliefs shaped Jackie, turning him into Rickey’s ideal athlete. Sharon explains, “[Rickey] learned that Dad had been raised in a religious home by a mother whose values matched Rickey’s own” (28). Jackie applied the “values” to the racism he experienced while playing for the Dodgers. By not replying to virulent bigotry, Jackie set a composed, dignified example, proving that Black people belonged in MLB and that racism couldn’t knock them out of the league. Jackie’s devotion to integrating baseball helped get more Black players into the league, like his future teammate Roy Campanella.