ERIC THIELE STAFF WRITER
On April 15, 1947 Jackie Robinson made his debut at second base for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking the color barrier in major professional sports. A year later Satchel Paige and Larry Doby joined the Cleveland Indians.
In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the March on Washington that eventually led to the famous “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial onto the National Mall where over 250,000 heard him say, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
On Jan. 20, 2009 Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America, essentially fulfilling King’s dream of equality.
Having the first African-American sworn in as president did not come without challenges and President Barack Obama has acknowledged this on more than one occasion.
Obama’s journey to the White House did not start when he declared his candidacy over two years ago but before he was born when Jackie Robinson debuted for the Dodgers. Players around baseball and on his own team threatened to strike if he played. Commissioner Ford Frick forbid such notions saying that if anyone actually did so, they would be suspended.
Many African-American athletes have come through baseball, basketball, football, and other sports since Robinson made his debut. Most, especially those in the 1950s and 1960s, had to deal with not being able to eat with the team because a restaurant would not serve them or being mocked by crowds, players and coaches from other teams, and sometimes players on their own teams.
As the years have gone on, more and more historical moments have occurred because African-American athletes have decided to ignore the ridicule and just play.
Such an instance occurred in 1966 when Coach Don Haskins of the Texas Western Miners, now known as University of Texas-El Paso, basketball team started five black players for the first time ever when they played the University of Kentucky, an all-white team, for the National Championship.
The Miners won that game which has been called the greatest upset in college basketball history.
As a child, growing up in the 1990s in Wisconsin, I remember rooting for Brett Favre and Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Reggie White, Cal Ripken, Jr. and Antonio Freeman, Ray Allen and Ron Dayne. For many others growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, they can remember the epic games that took place between the Lakers and Celtics, especially Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
This generation of sports fans doesn’t see athletes like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, LaDanian Tomlinson, or Randy Moss as African-American athletes, we see them as athletes.
The same can be said about the candidacy and election of President Obama. The people who voted for him didn’t see him as an African-American presidential candidate; they saw him as a presidential candidate with ideas to turn this country around.
So, as you were observing or celebrating the inauguration of a new president, I hope you were thinking about all of those who came before President Obama that helped pave the way for him to become president and to be treated as another American who wanted change.
It truly is amazing what happened on January 20. Obama said in his speech that 50 years ago, his father wouldn’t have been able to have lunch in Washington, D.C. but now his son has taken the Oath of Office. It is amazing how far this country has come in those 50 years.