Their words
“I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag; I know that I am a black man in a white world.”
Source: I Never Had It Made (1972)
Context In his autobiography, published in 1972, the year he died, he recalls standing for the anthem at the 1947 World Series after his first season in the major leagues.
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More words from Jackie Robinson
“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”
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“You can put me down as an expert on being a colored American, with 30 years of experience at it.”
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“Negroes were stirred up long before there was a Communist Party, and they'll stay stirred up long after the party has disappeared — unless Jim Crow has disappeared by then as well.”
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“I respectfully remind you sir, that we have been the most patient of all people.”
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