Jackie Robinson was not the first black to play in the major leagues but he is a hero none the less. Men of color had played on professional teams before but one of the owners effectively banned blacks from pro ball for many years. It wasn't until the Dodgers defied him that the color barrier was broken.
What makes Jackie Robinson a hero is not the fact that he was the first black man to break the ban on people of color but how he did it. In order to get his shot, Jackie Robinson agreed to play for seven years without uttering a word in his own defense. It was extremely difficult and it did take its toll on his health, but with that commitment to silence he not only proved he was a great baseball player but he proved he was a man of great character as well and isn't that what we really want in our sports heros?
What is a shame though is that after all this time it seems when a non-black makes a mistake it is only a character flaw but when a black man makes a mistake it is a racial characteristic. We really should be better than that now but we aren't.
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