Fleet Walker Vs. Jackie Robinson

Throughout the course of American history, there have been many historical figures who have been responsible for, or were a part of the gradual change of our nation. In the early to mid 1900's, the United States was racially segregated, and African Americans were looked at as second class citizens. In the mid-1900's, a time period which is now known as the Civil Rights Movement, there were a number of different people who helped lead the charge to desegregate the United States. Some of the historical figures, who's names are synonymous with the Civil Rights Movement, include political activist Martin Luther King, NAACP officer Medgar Evers, Baptist minister Malcolm X, and normal citizen Rosa Parks. All of these people were a very large part of the Civil Rights Movement and attempted to recognize African Americans as equals to Whites.

One man who made a huge difference in changing our nation, by simply doing something he loved, was Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson made a difference by playing professional baseball, widely known as our national pastime. Recognized as the first African American to play the game of baseball, Jackie paved the way for other African Americans to do the same. Where would the game of baseball be today if Jackie Robinson never "broke the color barrier?" Would greats such as Willie Mays or Hank Aaron have been given the chance to play?

It was April 15, 1947 when Jackie Robinson made his Major League debut for the then Brooklyn Dodgers. This event was for many years considered to be the single most eagerly awaited event in the history of baseball. And that is how history textbooks explained it to us. Students in the United States were and are constantly told stories of Jackie Robinson. These textbooks not only regard Jackie as the first African American player to play, but also as a quality human being who had to overcome constant abuse and struggles. History textbooks have made Jackie Robinson out to be a hero. They make him out as the man who is single handedly responsible for black people being able to play in the Major Leagues.

But these textbooks are forgetting one very important detail. That detail being Jackie Robinson really is NOT the first African American to play the game of baseball professionally. A man who went by Fleet Walker accomplished the feat of being baseball's first black player more than sixty four years before Jackie Robinson made his debut for the Dodgers. He was born with the name Moses Fleetwood Walker, but went by the name Fleet ever since he was a little boy. In 1883, Walker signed a contract to play for the Toledo Blue Stockings, a minor league team in the Northwestern League. He was their catcher. In early 1884, a few months after the 1883 season ended, Toledo joined the American Association, a professional baseball league. It was on that day, that Fleet Walker officially became the first African American baseball player to play the sport professionally. But yet as students in the United States, the only person's name that we ever hear, when it comes to the FIRST African American to play baseball professionally, is Jackie Robinson.

So why are American students taught that Jackie Robinson was the first African American player instead of Fleet Walker? Why do we regard Jackie Robinson as the man who opened the door for other African American athletes? Shouldn't we be saying Fleet Walker was the man who opened the door for Jackie Robinson? Why isn't Fleet Walker as big or bigger of an American hero as Jackie Robinson?

In our course, we read a book called "Lies My Teacher Told Me," written by James W. Loewen. In the first chapter of this book, Loewen explores heroes. The first chapter is called Handicapped by History: the process of Hero-making. The book gives numerous examples of heroes in the history of the United States. Some examples they give are ex-president of the United States Woodrow Wilson, Betsy Ross, Paul Revere, and Christopher Columbus. But the one that I will focus on is a leader of the women's suffering movement Helen Keller.

Helen Keller was one of the better "feel good" stories in American history. Keller was legally blind, as well as deaf. Keller's struggles in life have been very well documented, and her fight to live a normal life, regardless of her physical handicaps, have made her an inspiration to children in the United States. She struggled to learn how to speak and do normal everyday things. She eventually became a radical socialist, but that's not what people focus on (that's not what history texts have focused on). They focus on her bravery and the fact that she overcame a lot of her handicaps to be able to function somewhat normally in society. This is what people love, and this is what makes her a hero to us.

Jackie Robinson can be mentioned in the same way. He had to overcome many struggles as well. Not with physical handicaps, such as the ones Heller had. But Robinson's struggles had to do with people trying to hold him down. The constant racism throughout America, the death threats, and the overall dislike of him due to his skin color were things Jackie had to constantly fight through. And he did. He not only was a tremendous baseball player (rookie of the year in 47, MVP in 49), he did it through nonstop adversity. This is what makes Jackie similar to Keller. This is what sets Jackie aside from Fleet Walker.

Walker