daughter, nephew, or niece play. It pleases us to see our friends or family playing the game and enjoying it. Baseball gives us reason to get our friends together and have fun. Professional baseball has become an institution that reflects shifting values in American society. In the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, changing race relations appeared in the major leagues. Nineteen ninety-seven marked the fiftieth anniversary of the first black baseball player, Jackie Robinson, permitted to play in major league baseball. He tolerated death threats, white teammates spitting on him, and lack of enthusiasm by the press. Eventually, people came to realize that African Americans had a place in baseball and the rest of society. Soon, more black players gained positions into the realm of professional baseball. Jackie Robinson was a college educated and outspoken individual. In 1957, he retired from the major leagues and took a position as Vice President for a restaurant chain. Later, in 1959, Robinson began writing a regular column for the New York Post. He wrote of social issues, foreign affairs, and the upcoming elections. In the 1960 election, he decided to back Richard Nixon instead of John Kennedy. His logic was that the black community should be represented by the Republican as well as the Democratic Party. This decision led to his fall out of favor with much of the black community. Later in life, he admitted to the bad decision saying, "I do not consider my decision to back Richard Nixon over John F. Kennedy for the Presidency in 1960 one of my finest ones. It was a sincere one, however, at the time."(Lester, p2) In 1964, he organized and founded the Freedom Nation Bank in Harlem. The black-owned bank had the goal of being owned by the African-American community it served. Robinson was able to raise 1.5 million dollars for the community. Also in 1964, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller asked Robinson to be one of his deputy national directors. He ...
