Jackie Robinson – Multi-Cultural Hero
I know that talking about baseball has nothing to do with de-tracking schools in reality, but I feel that it is pertinent to look at the example of the negro league in the 30’s and its advancement into today’s sports as something that can be copied within schools. In the 30’s, the Negro league was set up for support of separating the ‘colored folks’ from the ‘white folks’ in baseball. The games were a kind of “pat on the back joke” as ESPN’s Dan Mortenson said on his blog on April 16th. Now where is the connection to tracking, you say? Well, my good friends, what are tracked classes more than just “negro leagues?” A place to shove those who are different into a corner, still let them pretend they are playing in the big leagues but not giving them sufficient ability to do so. That is what I see tracked classes as frankly. I do not understand why differences cause fear. It is a stepping curb like two-centimeters high, once we step above it we do not even realize it is even there. And so, in honor of Jackie Robinson stepping above that curb (granted, he wasn’t the first, but he was the first post-negro league player to do it) I just would like to extend gratitude to him. I think, as a role model to those who are forced down into the “negro leagues” and away from the “big league” he represents what it takes to succed. The link for the tribute to him is http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070416/SPORTS12/704160343/1048/SPORTS&GID=i9OXS39aU86iitBXgbOEjvpsPwSXE/S6FGDHbkS081A%3D
If anyone didn’t get a chance to recognize Jackie for his actions toward multi-cultural advancement, I think you should take a minute to just think about what sports mean to our society as a whole and what kind of impact, in 1947 no less, Jackie Robinson had.
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