Part II

JACK ROOSEVELT ROBINSON CROSSED THE WHITE LINE AT EBBETS FIELD, CHANGING A GAME, AND A COUNTRY, FOREVER.

WITH QUIET DIGNITY AND STEADFAST CONVICTION, JACKIE SHOWED THE WORLD WHAT COURAGE, DETERMINATION, AND PRIDE, REGARDLESS OF COLOR, COULD ACCOMPLISH.

BANK OF AMERICA IS PROUD TO CELEBRATE JACKIE'S LEGACY AND FOLLOW IN HIS COMMITMENT TO EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND RESPECT FOR ALL AMERICANS.

MAN AS JACKIE ROBINSON: I AM PROUD OF MY BLACKNESS, PROUD OF THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF BLACK PEOPLE.

THINK OF ME AS THE KIND OF NEGRO WHO COMES TO THE CONCLUSION THAT HE ISN'T GOING TO BEG FOR ANYTHING, THAT HE WILL BE REASONABLE BUT HE DAMNED WELL IS TIRED OF BEING PATIENT.

JACKIE ROBINSON.

HOWARD BRYANT: MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, WHAT AFRICAN AMERICANS HAVE WANTED FROM AMERICA IS A SEAT AT THE TABLE.

JACKIE ROBINSON KNEW ONCE HE GOT IN THE DOOR, HE COULD KNOCK DOWN ALL OF THESE CONVENTIONS.

FIRST, YOU GET OUT THERE AND YOU PROVE YOU CAN PLAY.

THEN YOU CAN START TALKING BACK TO UMPS.

THEN YOU START DEALING WITH WRITERS ON YOUR TERMS INSTEAD OF THEIR TERMS.

THEN YOU START FIGHTING TO MAKE SURE THE HOTELS ARE INTEGRATED.

AND OVER TIME, JACKIE ROBINSON HAS PUSHED US FORWARD.

FOR HIM, THERE WAS NO SATISFACTION WITH SIMPLY BEING ALLOWED TO ENTER THE ROOM.

BARACK OBAMA: PART OF WHAT I ADMIRE ABOUT JACKIE ROBINSON IS PRECISELY HIS ABILITY TO APPROACH BASEBALL AND THOSE FIRST TWO YEARS OF INTEGRATION IN WAYS THAT WERE CONTRARY TO HIS CHARACTER OR HIS FUNDAMENTAL SENSE OF WHAT WAS RIGHT AND WRONG IN SERVICE OF A LARGER CAUSE.

BUT THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT MADE SENSE FOR HIM TO SUSTAIN.

HE HAD PURCHASED THE RIGHT TO SPEAK HIS MIND MANY TIMES OVER.

NARRATOR: ON APRIL 15, 1947, JACK ROOSEVELT ROBINSON BECAME THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN IN THE MODERN AGE TO PLAY MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL.

[CHEERING] IN HIS FIRST SEASON WITH THE BROOKLYN DODGERS, HE HAD SILENTLY ENDURED RACIST TAUNTS, THREATS, AND ABUSE, PERFORMING SPECTACULARLY ON THE FIELD AND BECOMING ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED MEN IN THE COUNTRY.

LATER, UNBURDENED OF HIS PROMISE TO BRANCH RICKEY TO KEEP QUIET, TO TURN THE OTHER CHEEK, AMERICANS WOULD BEGIN TO SEE THE REAL JACKIE ROBINSON, AND THEY WOULD NOT ALWAYS LIKE HIM.

RACHEL ROBINSON: EARLY ON, THEY LIKED JACK, BECAUSE HE WAS BEING A GOOD BOY AND HE WAS DOING WHAT THEY THOUGHT HE SHOULD DO AND HE WAS KEEPING HIS MOUTH SHUT.

AND THE MINUTE HE DECIDED TO DEFEND HIMSELF, THEY WOULD CALL HIM UPPITY; THEY WOULD CALL HIM A LOUD MOUTH TO DISCREDIT HIM.

NARRATOR: AFTER BASEBALL, HE WOULD SPEAK OUT TIRELESSLY, USING HIS IMMENSE FAME TO PROMOTE EQUALITY AND CREATE BETTER OPPORTUNITIES FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS EVERYWHERE.

BUT IN AN AGE OF PROFOUND SOCIAL UPHEAVAL AS HIS INFLUENCE DIMINISHED AND HIS HEALTH DECLINED, HE WOULD SOMETIMES STRUGGLE TO FIND HIS PLACE IN THE RAPIDLY CHANGING CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT HE HAD ONCE SYMBOLIZED.

AND HIS HOME, ONCE A HAVEN FROM THE FIGHT OUTSIDE, WOULD SEE UNIMAGINABLE SORROW.

RACHEL ROBINSON: JACK NEVER TALKED ABOUT CARRYING THE ASPIRATIONS OF OUR RACE AS A BURDEN.

HE ALWAYS TALKED ABOUT IT AS-- AS KIND OF OPPORTUNITY.

AND HE WAS PROUD, VERY PROUD, WHEN HE SUCCEEDED IN SOME WAY AND DEVASTATED WHEN HE DIDN'T.

BUT HE KNEW THAT WE HAD TO HAVE RACIAL EQUALITY IN AMERICA.

AND IF WE DIDN'T, IF HE DIDN'T DO HIS PART AND DIDN'T ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO DO THEIR PART, NO CHANGE WOULD HAVE TAKEN PLACE.

ALTON WALDON: IT WAS AFTER SCHOOL, WE GO INTO THE STORE, AND WE'RE TRYING TO FIND, UH, WHAT LITTLE CANDIES WE GONNA BUY WITH THESE FEW PENNIES WE HAD IN OUR POCKET.

AND IN WALKED OUR HERO, JACKIE ROBINSON.

WE WERE STARTLED.

AND HE PAID FOR HIS NEWSPAPERS, AND HE TURNED TO WALK OUT, AND HE TURNED BACK AND SAID, "WOULD YOU GUYS LIKE SOME ICE CREAM?"

EVERYBODY SAID, "YES, MR.

ROBINSON."

HE SAID, "NO, NO, NO.

CALL ME JACKIE.

CALL ME JACKIE."

I WAS SO EXCITED--MY KNEES WERE KNOCKING-- TO SEE A REAL HERO WHO LOOKED LIKE US.

WE SHUFFLED OUR FEET.

WE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING.

WE DIDN'T HAVE THE COURAGE TO SAY ANYTHING.

BUT HE SPOKE, YOU KNOW, GAVE US KIND OF A PEP TALK.

NOW WE SAW HIM AS SOMEONE WE COULD ALMOST TOUCH.

AND HE BECAME EVEN MORE INTENSELY OUR HERO.

[VEHICLE HORN HONKS] [INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS] NARRATOR: IN MARCH OF 1948, JACKIE ROBINSON REPORTED TO SPRING TRAINING 25 POUNDS OVERWEIGHT.

HE ADMITTED HE WAS TOO HEAVY BUT SHRUGGED IT OFF.

"WAIT UNTIL OPENING DAY," HE PROMISED.

[CHEERING] BUT WHEN THE SEASON BEGAN, ROBINSON WAS SLUGGISH ON THE BASE PATHS AND BY MID-JUNE STILL HADN'T STOLEN A BASE.

ALTHOUGH HE KEPT HIS BATTING AVERAGE NEAR .300 ALL SUMMER, THE DODGERS FINISHED 1948 7 1/2 GAMES OUT.

ROBINSON'S NUMBERS WERE NEARLY AS GOOD AS THE YEAR BEFORE, BUT HE KNEW HE COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER.

THAT SEASON, JACKIE ROBINSON WROTE AN ARTICLE FOR "EBONY" MAGAZINE CONDEMNING NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL.

THE CLUBS, HE CLAIMED, WERE UNPROFESSIONAL AND DISORGANIZED, AND SOME OF THE PLAYERS LACKED "CHARACTER AND MORALS."

EFFA MANLEY, THE OWNER OF THE NEGRO LEAGUE'S NEWARK EAGLES, BLASTED ROBINSON FOR TURNING ON THE LEAGUE THAT HELPED GET HIM TO THE MAJORS.

"I CHARGE JACKIE ROBINSON WITH BEING UNGRATEFUL," SHE SAID, "AND MORE LIKELY STUPID."

GERALD EARLY: JACKIE ROBINSON WAS AN INTEGRATIONIST.

SYMBOLICALLY, EVERYTHING HE STOOD FOR WAS ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE BEING ABLE TO HAVE EQUAL ACCESS TO CAREERS AND EVERYTHING ELSE THAT WHITE PEOPLE HAD.

BUT THERE WERE LOTS OF BLACK PEOPLE WHO WERE UPSET WITH THAT BECAUSE THEY FELT IT SHOULDN'T BE THAT INTEGRATION SHOULD COME AT THE EXPENSE OF BLACK PEOPLE'S OWN INSTITUTIONS.

ONCE INTEGRATION HAPPENED, THE NEGRO LEAGUES WERE NO LONGER VIABLE.

AND THEY CRUMBLED.

[CHEERING] [BAND PLAYING "THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER"] NARRATOR: AS THE 1949 SEASON BEGAN, BRANCH RICKEY TOLD ROBINSON HE COULD NOW PLAY WITHOUT RESTRAINT.

ROBINSON DIDN'T NEED ANY ENCOURAGEMENT.

WHEN A REPORTER ASKED HIM WHAT OPPONENTS COULD EXPECT FROM HIM, ROBINSON REPLIED, "THEY BETTER BE ROUGH ON ME, BECAUSE I'M GOING TO BE ROUGH ON THEM."

RACHEL ROBINSON: JACK SAID, "WE'VE GOT THIS THING GOING.

"THE TEAM IS WINNING.

I'M DOING WELL.

I'M GONNA SPEAK OUT."

AND SO HE BEGAN TO CHALLENGE OTHER BALLPLAYERS AND CHALLENGE UMPIRES WHEN HE THOUGHT THEY HAD MADE A MISTAKE.

MAN AS JACKIE: SPORTSWRITERS SEEMED TO COME DIRECTLY TO ME WHENEVER THERE WAS A HINT OF A STORY.

THEY KNEW I WOULD SAY WHAT I THOUGHT.

THEY KNEW I WOULDN'T BACK DOWN IF I GOT INTO TROUBLE-- THAT I WOULDN'T WHINE THAT I WAS MISQUOTED.

IT FELT GOOD TO BREATHE FREELY, TO SPEAK OUT WHEN I WANTED TO.

NARRATOR: THAT SEASON, ROBINSON PLAYED BETTER THAN HE EVER HAD.

BY MID-JULY, HE WAS LEADING THE LEAGUE IN HITS, BATTING AVERAGE, STOLEN BASES, AND RUNS BATTED IN.

WHEN ALL THE VOTES WERE TALLIED FOR THE 1949 ALL-STAR GAME, ONLY RED SOX OUTFIELDER TED WILLIAMS HAD RECEIVED MORE.

CARL ERSKINE: YOU KNOW, KIDS, THEY'RE HONEST.

AND WHEN A KID CAME BACK 3 TIMES FOR MY AUTOGRAPH, I SAID, "WHY WOULD YOU WANT THREE OF MINE?"

WELL, HE WAS HONEST.

HE SAID, "ACTUALLY I WANT SIX.

"IF I CAN GET SIX OF YOURS, I COULD TRADE IT FOR ONE OF JACKIE ROBINSON'S."

NARRATOR: OTHER TEAMS WERE BEGINNING TO INTEGRATE, BUT NO CLUB MOVED AS QUICKLY AS THE DODGERS.

CATCHER ROY CAMPANELLA HAD HIT ALMOST .500 IN APRIL.

DON NEWCOMBE THREW A COMPLETE GAME SHUTOUT IN HIS FIRST BIG-LEAGUE START AND WON 5 OF HIS FIRST 6 DECISIONS.

BUT THE THREE MEN WERE ASSIGNED LOCKERS IN A CORNER OF THE CLUBHOUSE, AND THEY SHOWERED SEPARATELY FROM THEIR WHITE TEAMMATES, MANY OF WHOM WERE STILL UNCOMFORTABLE PLAYING WITH BLACKS.

[NEWSREEL MUSIC PLAYING] ANNOUNCER: EBBETS FIELD, BROOKLYN, SCENE OF THE 16th ANNUAL ALL-STAR GAME.

JACKIE ROBINSON UP.

JACKIE RIFLES A SHOT INTO LEFT FIELD.

THE FIRST NEGRO PLAYER TO APPEAR ON AN ALL-STAR GAME, THE BROOKLYN DODGERS SPEED MERCHANT DOESN'T STOP RUNNING TILL HE FLIES INTO SECOND WITH A DOUBLE.

NARRATOR: IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS SPECTACULAR 1949 SEASON, ROBINSON WAS ASKED TO TESTIFY BEFORE THE HOUSE UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE, WHICH WAS INVESTIGATING INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS SUSPECTED OF HAVING COMMUNIST SYMPATHIES.

REPORTER: THE COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES, ITSELF THE CENTER OF NO LITTLE CONTROVERSY, WAS DELVING THIS WEEK INTO STILL ANOTHER QUESTION OF COMMUNISM: WHERE LIES THE LOYALTY OF OUR NEGRO POPULATION IN THESE DAYS OF CRITICAL COLD WAR TENSIONS?

NARRATOR: THE HOUSE COMMITTEE WAS TARGETING THE SINGER, ACTIVIST, AND FORMER COLLEGE FOOTBALL STAR PAUL ROBESON AND WAS SURE THAT JACKIE ROBINSON WOULD REFUTE ROBESON'S CLAIM THAT BLACKS WOULD NOT FIGHT IN CASE OF WAR AGAINST THE SOVIET UNION.

PAUL ROBESON: ♪ HE DON'T PLANT TATERS ♪ ♪ HE DON'T PLANT COTTON ♪ ♪ AND THEM THAT PLANTS 'EM ♪ ♪ IS SOON FORGOTTEN... ♪ ROGER KAHN: YOU HAVE NOT HEARD A BASS BARITONE SING UNTIL YOU HEAR A RECORDING OF ROBESON.

ROBESON: ♪ ...JUST KEEPS ROLLING ALONG ♪ HE WAS ALSO A SERIOUS RADICAL.

HE WAS A GREAT FAN OF THE SOVIET UNION.

AND HE SPOKE HIS MIND.

ROBESON: ♪ AND YOU LAND IN THE JAIL... ♪ HARRY BELAFONTE: FOR ME, PAUL ROBESON WAS THE TALLEST TREE IN OUR FOREST.

ROBESON STOOD THAT STRONG IN OUR MIDST AS THE KIND OF VOICE, NOT ONLY FOR THE ISSUES AFFECTING BLACK PEOPLE, BUT FOR ISSUES AFFECTING POOR PEOPLE, SAYING, "THIS IS ALSO OUR SPACE, THIS IS ALSO OUR TURF, THIS IS ALSO OUR COUNTRY."

NARRATOR: BRANCH RICKEY, FERVENTLY ANTI-COMMUNIST, HAD URGED ROBINSON TO TESTIFY.

I HAVE BEEN ASKED TO EXPRESS MY VIEWS ON PAUL ROBESON'S STATEMENTS IN PARIS TO THE EFFECT THAT AMERICAN NEGROES WOULD REFUSE TO FIGHT IN ANY WAR AGAINST RUSSIA BECAUSE WE LOVE RUSSIA SO MUCH.

I HAVEN'T ANY COMMENT TO MAKE EXCEPT THAT ON THAT STATEMENT, EXCEPT THAT IF MR. ROBESON ACTUALLY MADE IT, IT SOUNDS VERY SILLY TO ME.

IT ISN'T VERY PLEASANT FOR ME TO FIND MYSELF IN THE MIDDLE OF A PUBLIC ARGUMENT THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE STANDING OF THE BROOKLYN DODGERS IN THE PENNANT RACE OR EVEN TO THE PAY RAISE I'M GOING TO ASK MR.

BRANCH RICKEY FOR NEXT YEAR.

[LAUGHTER] NARRATOR: THE "DAILY NEWS" CALLED ROBINSON "A CREDIT NOT ONLY TO HIS OWN RACE, BUT TO ALL AMERICAN PEOPLE," WHILE THE "NEW YORK POST" RAN AN EXCERPT FROM THE STATEMENT AS AN EDITORIAL TITLED "CREDO OF AN AMERICAN."

EARLY: THE REACTION IN THE WHITE PRESS, IT WAS, "OH IT'S GREAT.

"HE GAVE THIS VERY NICE STATEMENT, "AND HE SAID BLACK PEOPLE WERE LOYAL AND BLACK PEOPLE WERE PATRIOTIC," AND SO FORTH AND SO ON.

THE BLACK PRESS, IT WAS MIXED BECAUSE ROBESON WAS SEEN AS A HERO AMONG BLACK PEOPLE.

NARRATOR: THE POET LANGSTON HUGHES WRITING IN THE "CHICAGO DEFENDER," WONDERED HOW THE HOUSE COMMITTEE COULD INVESTIGATE "REDS AND SECOND BASEMEN BUT NOT THE KU KLUX KLAN."

THE HABIT OF BAD-MOUTHING, ONE WOMAN WROTE OF ROBINSON TO THE "PITTSBURGH COURIER," "IS A SLAVERY TRAIT AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN OUTGROWN."

BRYANT: IT'S AN EXAMPLE OF ONE OF ROBINSON'S GREAT MISSTEPS.

THE GOVERNMENT WAS USING HIM TO DESTROY ANOTHER AFRICAN AMERICAN.

IT'S ALWAYS BEEN A GREAT STRATEGY TO HAVE ONE BLACK PERSON CRITICIZE ANOTHER TO DRIVE A WEDGE BETWEEN THE BLACK COMMUNITY.

AND IT WAS VERY EFFECTIVE.

NARRATOR: THE INVESTIGATION RUINED ROBESON'S CAREER.

THE SINGER HIMSELF DECLINED TO CRITICIZE ROBINSON AND INSTEAD DENOUNCED THE HEARING AS AN INSULT TO ALL NEGRO PEOPLE.

MEANWHILE, ROBINSON CONTINUED TO EXCEL ON THE FIELD.

ON THE FINAL DAY OF THE SEASON, BROOKLYN CLINCHED THE NATIONAL LEAGUE PENNANT FOR THE SECOND TIME IN THREE SEASONS.

BUT IN THE WORLD SERIES, JACKIE STRUGGLED AT THE PLATE.

THE DODGERS AGAIN LOST TO THE NEW YORK YANKEES.

STILL, 1949 WAS ROBINSON'S FINEST YEAR.

[NEWSREEL MUSIC PLAYING] ANNOUNCER: AT HIS ST. ALBANS, NEW YORK, HOME, BROOKLYN DODGER JACKIE ROBINSON LEARNS THAT THE SPORTSWRITERS HAVE VOTED HIM THE MOST VALUABLE PLAYER IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE.

THERE'S A WIFELY KISS FOR JACKIE, WHO LED THE LEAGUE IN BATTING AND STOLEN BASES.

SON JACKIE JR.

HEARS THE NEWS ON HIS THIRD BIRTHDAY.

THE FIRST MEMBER OF HIS RACE TO PLAY IN THE MAJORS MAKES GOOD IN A BIG WAY.

NARRATOR: THAT FALL, JACKIE AND RACHEL HAD BOUGHT A HOUSE IN THE MIXED-RACE NEIGHBORHOOD OF ST. ALBANS, QUEENS.

THE BANDLEADER COUNT BASIE, SINGER LENA HORNE, AND ROY AND RUTHE CAMPANELLA ALL LIVED NEARBY.

THREE-YEAR-OLD JACKIE JR. QUICKLY MADE FRIENDS WITH KIDS ON THE BLOCK.

ON JANUARY 13, 1950, RACHEL GAVE BIRTH TO A BABY GIRL, SHARON.

JACKIE STOOD OUTSIDE THE YMCA IN HARLEM ANNOUNCING THE GOOD NEWS AND PASSING OUT CIGARS.

ARE YOU NERVOUS?

A LITTLE, MAYBE.

BUT I WON'T BE WHEN WE GET OUT ON THE FIELD.

ANOTHER HOUR AND WE'LL BEGIN.

WOULD YOU RATHER I DIDN'T GO?

NO.

YOU MIGHT AS WELL COME TO THE GAME.

IF I'M GONNA FALL ON MY FACE, IT MIGHT AS WELL BE IN FRONT OF YOU, TOO.

YOU WON'T FALL DOWN, DARLING.

NARRATOR: "THE JACKIE ROBINSON STORY," FILMED THAT WINTER, STARRED JACKIE ROBINSON AS HIMSELF, WITH A YOUNG ACTRESS NAMED RUBY DEE PLAYING RACHEL.

THE FILM GOT MIXED REVIEWS, THOUGH CRITICS DID PRAISE ROBINSON'S UNDERSTATED PERFORMANCE.

MR. RICKEY, DO YOU WANT A BALLPLAYER WHO'S AFRAID TO FIGHT BACK?

I WANT A BALLPLAYER WITH GUTS ENOUGH NOT TO FIGHT BACK.

THINK YOU'VE GOT GUTS ENOUGH TO PLAY THE GAME NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS?

NARRATOR: BUT IT WAS A ONE-DIMENSIONAL PORTRAIT, HELPING TO SOLIDIFY MYTHS ABOUT ROBINSON THAT WOULD PROVE STUBBORNLY HARD TO DISLODGE.

SO I HAUL OFF AND PUNCH YOU RIGHT IN THE CHEEK.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

MR. RICKEY, I'VE GOT TWO CHEEKS.

GOOD.

[SPECTATORS CHATTERING] NARRATOR: THAT SEASON, JACKIE'S ASSERTIVENESS BEGAN TO RANKLE MANY IN THE BASEBALL WORLD.

ROBINSON WAS CERTAIN THAT UMPIRES WERE TREATING HIM DIFFERENTLY-- MAKING BAD CALLS, TAUNTING HIM, THROWING HIM OUT OF GAMES WITH LITTLE PROVOCATION BECAUSE HE WAS BLACK.

LATER, THE "SPORTING NEWS" WOULD CALL HIM A "CHRONIC GRIPER," AND HE WOULD BE FALSELY ACCUSED OF KICKING IN THE DOOR OF THE UMPIRES' DRESSING ROOM.

EARLY: HE HAD A KIND OF FURY IN HIM.

I THINK FOR THE PUBLIC, IT WAS MORE IMPORTANT FOR THEM TO SEE A BLACK MAN ARGUING AND BEING FEISTY.

IT WAS MORE IMPORTANT FOR THE PUBLIC TO SEE THAT THAN TO SEE THE ROBINSON THEY SAW AT FIRST.

NARRATOR: MEANWHILE, BRANCH RICKEY WAS FORCED OUT OF THE DODGERS AT THE END OF THE 1950 SEASON AFTER A POWER STRUGGLE WITH CO-OWNER WALTER O'MALLEY, LEAVING JACKIE WITHOUT HIS FRIEND AND DEFENDER.

THE 1951 BROOKLYN DODGERS WERE LOADED WITH ALL-STARS.

AND AS SPRING TRAINING BEGAN, THEY WERE CONFIDENT THAT THEY HAD THE BEST LINEUP IN BASEBALL.

BY MID-MAY, ROBINSON WAS BATTING OVER .400 AND THE DODGERS WERE IN FIRST PLACE.

BUT HE WAS STILL A TARGET.

BEFORE A GAME IN CINCINNATI, LETTERS HAD BEEN SENT TO THE REDS AND THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER CLAIMING THAT JACKIE ROBINSON WOULD BE SHOT IF HE TOOK THE FIELD.

NEWCOMBE: I WON'T USE THE WORDS THAT THEY USED, BUT THEY SAID, "IF YOU SHOW UP TODAY AT CROSLEY FIELD, YOU ARE GOING TO DIE."

JACKIE SAID, "WELL, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT?"

I SAID, "WELL, WHAT DO YOU THINK?"

HE SAID, "ARE YOU GOING TO THE BALLPARK TODAY?"

I SAID, "ARE YOU GOING?"

HE SAID, "YES, I'M GOING."

I SAID, "WELL, I'M GOING, TOO."

VIN SCULLY: THAT WAS DEADLY SERIOUS.

THEY HAD F.B.I.

MEN THROUGHOUT THE BALLPARK, ON THE ROOFTOPS.

AND THEY HAD A MEETING BEFORE THE GAME.

IT WAS PRETTY TENSE.

AND IT GOT PRETTY QUIET.

AND WHAT--WHAT DO WE SAY?

GENE HERMANSKI, KIND OF A KIDDER, SAID, "HEY, SKIPPER, I GOT AN IDEA.

"IF WE ALL WORE NUMBER 42, THEY WOULDN'T KNOW WHO TO SHOOT AT."

AND JACKIE HAD A GOOD LAUGH.

AND HE SAID, "LET'S PLAY BASEBALL."

[BAT HITS BALL] NARRATOR: ROBINSON HIT A 3-RUN HOME RUN IN THE FIRST GAME, AND BROOKLYN SWEPT THE DOUBLEHEADER.

NO SHOTS WERE FIRED.

[NEWSREEL MUSIC] ANNOUNCER: WHO NEEDS FIREWORKS ON JULY 4th?

ESPECIALLY WHEN THE SECOND PLACE NEW YORK GIANTS INVADE EBBETS FIELD FOR A DOUBLEHEADER AGAINST THE LEAGUE-LEADING BROOKLYN DODGERS.

GIANT MANAGER DUROCHER IS... NARRATOR: BY MID-AUGUST, THE DODGERS LED THE NATIONAL LEAGUE BY 13 GAMES AND HAD BEATEN THEIR ARCHRIVALS, THE SECOND PLACE NEW YORK GIANTS, 12 OUT OF 15 TIMES.

[CHEERING] BUT THEN BROOKLYN STUMBLED AND THE GIANTS, LED BY MONTE IRVIN AND A GIFTED ROOKIE NAMED WILLIE MAYS, WON 16 GAMES IN A ROW.

FRANK GRAHAM JR.: THE GIANTS CAME WITH A TREMENDOUS RUSH.

AS THEY WERE CALLED IN THE NEWSPAPERS, THE CREEPING TERROR.

REPORTER: THE DODGERS NOW BATTLING FOR THEIR PENNANT LIVES.

ANNOUNCER: IT'S A HOMER FOR ROBINSON, WHO ONLY A MOMENT BEFORE HAD KEPT BROOKLYN ALIVE WITH AN IMPOSSIBLE DIVING THIRD-OUT CATCH WITH BASES LOADED.

NARRATOR: THE DODGERS FINISHED THE SEASON TIED FOR FIRST PLACE AND WOULD NOW FACE THE GIANTS IN A 3-GAME PLAYOFF FOR THE NATIONAL LEAGUE TITLE.

THE WINNER WOULD EARN A TRIP TO THE WORLD SERIES AGAINST THE YANKEES.

RALPH BRANCA: SO NOW WE HAVE A PLAYOFF.

AND WE WON THE TOSS.

AND CHARLIE DRESSEN, HE DECIDED WE'D PLAY THE FIRST ONE AT HOME AND THE NEXT TWO AWAY, WHICH IS ASININE.

YOU NEED LAST AT-BATS.

NARRATOR: THE DODGERS LOST GAME ONE AT HOME, AND THEN CRUSHED THE GIANTS 10-0 THE NEXT DAY IN MANHATTAN.

ANNOUNCER: NEW YORK IS BASEBALL WILD OVER A CLIMACTIC WIND-UP FOR THE SUDDEN DEATH GAME IN THE PLAYOFF BETWEEN THE FALTERING DODGERS AND THE STRETCH-RUNNING GIANTS.

NARRATOR: ON OCTOBER 3, 1951, THE DODGERS AND GIANTS FACED EACH OTHER FOR A FINAL DECIDING GAME AT THE POLO GROUNDS.

GORDON McLENDON: AFTER 156 GAMES EACH, TWO MORE THAN THE REGULAR SCHEDULE CALLS FOR, THE BUMS FROM BROOKLYN, THE GIANTS FROM NEW YORK HAVE COME DOWN TO THE WIRE TO WHERE IT IS ALL OR NOTHING.

NARRATOR: WITH THE DODGERS LEADING 4-2 IN THE BOTTOM OF THE NINTH, RALPH BRANCA CAME IN TO FACE THIRD BASEMAN BOBBY THOMSON.

THERE WERE TWO MEN ON BASE.

RUSS HODGES: AND WE'LL SEE HOW RALPH BRANCA WILL FARE AGAINST BOBBY THOMSON AND THEN WILLIE MAYS TO FOLLOW.

BRANCA: THEY BROUGHT ME IN.

AND THE FIRST PITCH TO THOMSON... AND HE TOOK IT.

YOU COULDN'T PUT IT ANY MORE IN THE CENTER OF THE PLATE THAN THAT.

I MEAN IT WAS CROTCH-HIGH, RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PLATE.

THE SECOND PITCH I'M WASTIN', UP AND IN.

BUT HE KNOWS IT'S A FASTBALL.

HODGES: ...WITH NOT TOO BIG OF A LEAD AT SECOND, BUT HE'LL BE RUNNING LIKE THE WIND IF THOMSON HITS ONE.

BRANCA THROWS.

THERE'S A LONG DRIVE.

IT'S GONNA BE, I BELIEVE...

THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!

THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!

THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!

THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!

BOBBY THOMSON HITS INTO THE LOWER DECK OF THE LEFT-FIELD... SCULLY: WHEN BOBBY HIT THE HOME RUN, EVERYBODY STARTED LEAVING THE FIELD.

JACKIE STOOD AT SECOND BASE AND MADE SURE THAT BOBBY THOMSON STEPPED ON EACH BAG.

TYPICAL.

YOU KNOW, WITH EVERYTHING ELSE, UH, HE WAS STILL DOING HIS JOB.

RACHEL ROBINSON: JACK SUDDENLY LOST A LOT OF WEIGHT.

AND HE BEGAN TO HAVE PAIN IN HIS LEGS.

NARRATOR: IN 1952, AT AGE 33, JACKIE ROBINSON WAS DIAGNOSED WITH DIABETES.

RACHEL ROBINSON: THE DOCTOR ALSO FOUND THAT HIS HEART WAS DETERIORATING.

IT WAS A SHOCK TO BOTH OF US BECAUSE IT MEANT OUR LIVES WERE GOING TO CHANGE FOREVER AFTER THAT.

AND THEY DID.

HE DIDN'T WANT TO DISCUSS IT WITH ANYONE AND NEVER TALKED ABOUT WHAT CHANGES HE HAD TO MAKE IN ORDER TO KEEP PLAYING.

NARRATOR: IN MAY, RACHEL GAVE BIRTH TO ANOTHER SON, DAVID.

"I HAVE HAD TO REALIZE THAT BASEBALL," ROBINSON SAID, "WILL ONE DAY BE OVER."

THAT SEASON, THE DODGERS WON 96 GAMES AND HELPED REDEEM THEIR HEARTBREAKING COLLAPSE OF THE PREVIOUS FALL.

DESPITE HIS HEALTH ISSUES, ROBINSON AGAIN LED THE WAY, BATTING .308 AND HITTING A CAREER-BEST 19 HOME RUNS.

BUT IN THE WORLD SERIES, HE HIT JUST .174.

ANNOUNCER: A 4-2 SEVENTH GAME VICTORY FOR THE YANKEES, THEIR FOURTH STRAIGHT WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP.

RACHEL ROBINSON: IT WAS, YOU KNOW, "WE'RE NOT GIVIN' UP.

"WE'LL JUST HAVE TO WAIT.

IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN."

I MEAN, IT'S LIKE, "IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN!"

BUT WITH THE YANKEES-- THOSE YANKEES WERE IMPOSSIBLE.

ANNOUNCER: BUT ALONG FLATBUSH AVENUE, BROOKLYN, THE AWFUL SILENCE OF DEFEAT.

AGAIN, IT'S, WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR.

IN THE YANKEE DRESSING ROOM, EXCITEMENT... NARRATOR: DURING THE OFF-SEASON, ROBINSON WAS ASKED IF HE THOUGHT THE YANKEES WERE PREJUDICED.

"YES," HE RESPONDED.

"THERE ISN'T A SINGLE NEGRO ON THE TEAM NOW AND VERY FEW IN THE ENTIRE FARM SYSTEM."

THE YANKEES WERE FURIOUS, INSISTING THAT THEY WOULD BE HAPPY TO FIELD A BLACK PLAYER, IF ONLY ONE WERE GOOD ENOUGH.

MANY WHITES GREW TO RESENT ROBINSON'S INCREASING OUTSPOKENNESS, AND SOME BLACKS WORRIED THAT IT WOULD SET BACK THE PROGRESS HE'D MADE FOR THEM.

"JACKIE ROBINSON OUGHT TO BEHAVE HIMSELF," ONE WOMAN WROTE THE "CHICAGO DEFENDER," "BEFORE HE RUINS EVERYTHING FOR NEGROES IN BASEBALL."

REPORTERS WHO HAD ONCE SUNG HIS PRAISES NOW CALLED HIM A RABBLE-ROUSER, URGED HIM TO BE A PLAYER, NOT A CRUSADER.

THE "NEW ORLEANS TIMES PICAYUNE" ACCUSED ROBINSON OF BEING INSOLENT AND ANTAGONISTIC AND DECLARED THAT HE HAD DONE MORE TO WIDEN THE BREACH BETWEEN THE RACES THAN 10 OF THE MOST RABID SEGREGATIONISTS.

BRYANT: HE WAS BEING HELD TO A DIFFERENT STANDARD.

HERE'S A PERSON WHO'S IN FULL DIMENSION.

THIS IS WHO HE WAS.

WITHOUT THAT ANGER, YOU DON'T GET JACKIE ROBINSON.

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW JACKIE ROBINSON OR DON'T YOU?

RACHEL ROBINSON: BECAUSE HE WAS A BLACK MAN WHEN HE WAS BEING ASSERTIVE, HE WAS BEING PUT IN A KIND OF STEREOTYPE OF BLACK MEN, LIKE ANGRY BLACK MAN.

HE WAS NOT AN ANGRY BLACK MAN.

HE WAS AN ATHLETE WHO WANTED TO WIN.

BELAFONTE: IT'S OK TO BE ANGRY.

DR. KING SAID SO OFTEN, "ANGER IS A RIGHTEOUS EMOTION."

IT'S ALMOST NECESSARY TO YOUR BEING.

BRYANT: WHO WOULDN'T BE ANGRY?

AND WHAT WE WOULD PREFER TO DO IN AMERICA IS TO ALWAYS FOCUS ON THE PERSON WHO'S ANGRY AND NOT FOCUS ON THE SITUATION THAT CREATED IT.

NEWCOMBE: I REALLY DON'T KNOW HOW HE SURVIVED AND PERFORMED THE WAY HE PERFORMED ON THE BASEBALL FIELD, GOING THROUGH ALL OF THESE THINGS.

IT WAS WRONG.

THEY WANTED YOU TO BE LIKE THEY WANTED YOU TO BE.

AND WE WERE NOT GONNA BE LIKE THEY WANTED YOU TO BE.

WE WERE GONNA BE LIKE WE WANTED TO BE, BECAUSE SOMEBODY OWED US SOMETHING.

SOMEBODY OWED US SOMETHING.

AND THEY OWED IT--THEY OWED IT MOSTLY TO JACKIE ROBINSON.

NARRATOR: BUT ROBINSON'S TEAMMATE ROY CAMPANELLA WAS WORRIED THAT JACKIE'S ASSERTIVENESS WOULD DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD.

EARLY: AS CAMPANELLA BEGINS TO RISE AS A STAR ON THE DODGERS, THERE BECOMES MORE OF THIS PITTING THE PERSONALITY OF CAMPANELLA AGAINST THE PERSONALITY OF ROBINSON AND THE SPORTSWRITERS LIKING CAMPANELLA MORE, UH, BECAUSE HE'S, UM-- HE'S MORE HOW THEY THINK A BLACK PLAYER SHOULD ACT.

NARRATOR: "A FEW YEARS AGO, THERE WERE MANY MORE THINGS I COULDN'T DO," HE SAID.

"I'M WILLING TO WAIT.

ALL THIS CAME BY WAITING."

ERSKINE: ROY CAMPANELLA CAME OUT OF POVERTY IN PHILADELPHIA.

HE CAME UP THE TOUGH WAY.

WHEN HE MADE THE BIG LEAGUES, TO HIM, THIS WAS HEAVEN ON EARTH.

AND SO HE WOULD TELL THE YOUNG PLAYERS WHO MIGHT WANT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THEIR LOCKER OR SOMETHING, "HEY, COOL IT.

COOL IT.

WE'RE IN THE BIG LEAGUES.

DON'T ROCK THE BOAT.

WE'RE HERE!"

RACHEL ROBINSON: HE AND JACK WERE VERY CLOSE.

BUT CAMPY WAS NOT A PROTESTER.

AND HE FELT THAT JACK PROTESTED TOO MUCH.

SAID, "YOU'RE LUCKY TO BE HERE."

AND JACK HATED THAT ATTITUDE.

AND THEY BEGAN TO SPLIT.

IT WAS VERY SAD FOR BOTH FAMILIES BECAUSE WE HAD BEEN VERY CLOSE.

NARRATOR: WHATEVER THEIR DIFFERENCES OFF THE FIELD, THE TWO MEN CONTINUED TO BE THE HEART OF A DODGERS LINEUP THAT SEEMED TO FEATURE A NEW BLACK STAR EACH SEASON.

BUT WHEN JUNIOR GILLIAM, A SKILLED INFIELDER, WAS PROMOTED TO THE DODGERS FOR THE 1953 SEASON, SOME WHITE PLAYERS TOOK EXCEPTION.

GRAHAM JR.: CHARLIE DRESSEN WAS EXPERIMENTING WITH PUTTING GILLIAM IN, WHICH LEFT BILLY COX, THE GREAT DEFENSIVE THIRD BASEMAN, AS THE ODD MAN OUT.

AND THERE WAS SOME GRUMBLING AMONG VETERAN PLAYERS THAT "THE BLACKS ARE COMING IN AND AND TAKING OUR JOBS."

NARRATOR: "HOW WOULD YOU LIKE A NIGGER TO TAKE YOUR JOB?"

COX ASKED A REPORTER.

LATER, AFTER THE DODGERS FIELDED A LINEUP THAT INCLUDED MORE BLACKS THAN WHITES, THE PRESS MADE AN ISSUE OF IT.

"THE THOUGHT HAS BEEN ADVANCED," WROTE THE "SPORTING NEWS," THAT TOO MANY BLACKS ON ONE TEAM "WOULD NOT BE GOOD FOR BUSINESS."

ANNOUNCER: GOOD EVENING, EVERYBODY.

TODAY'S DECISION BY THE U.S. SUPREME COURT IS CALLED THE MOST IMPORTANT ACTION OF ITS KIND SINCE THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.

OUR HIGH TRIBUNAL TODAY OUTLAWING RACIAL SEGREGATION IN SCHOOLS, BUT IT DOES NOT MEAN TOTAL CHANGE AT ONCE.

THE REACTION IN THE SOUTH IS IMMEDIATE AND IT'S ANGRY, WITH NEW PROPOSALS TO TRANSFORM THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS INTO A PRIVATE SCHOOL SYSTEM THERE.

NARRATOR: AS THE PUSH FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE ACCELERATED ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY, JACKIE TRIED TO DO HIS PART, DEMANDING THAT HE AND HIS BLACK TEAMMATES NOW HAVE FULL ACCESS TO THE LOBBIES, BARS, AND SWIMMING POOLS OF THE HOTELS WHERE THEY STAYED.

BUT OLD CUSTOMS REMAINED ENTRENCHED EVERYWHERE.

RACHEL ROBINSON: I THINK THAT THE NORTHERN RACISM AS I EXPERIENCE IT TO THIS VERY DAY IS MORE DETRIMENTAL, MORE DESTRUCTIVE THAN WHAT HAPPENS IN THE SOUTH.

THE ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES IN THE SOUTH WERE EASIER TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND OR TO FIGHT AGAINST THAN THE SUBTLE RACISM IN THE NORTH WHERE PEOPLE SAID, "OH, NO, WE'RE NOT RACIST.

IT JUST HAPPENS THAT ALL THE BUS DRIVERS ARE WHITE."

NARRATOR: SINCE THE ARRIVAL OF THEIR THIRD CHILD, RACHEL ROBINSON HAD BEEN SEARCHING FOR A NEW, LARGER HOME.

A HOUSE IN PURCHASE, NEW YORK, NORTH OF THE CITY, SEEMED JUST RIGHT, BUT WHEN THE ROBINSONS OFFERED THE ASKING PRICE, IT WAS QUICKLY TAKEN OFF THE MARKET.

DOWN THE ROAD IN PORT CHESTER, WHITES GLARED AT RACHEL AS SHE TOURED ANOTHER PROPERTY.

IN GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT, ONE COUPLE REFUSED EVEN TO SHOW HER THEIR HOUSE.

RACHEL ROBINSON: WHEN WE WENT TO TRY TO BUY PROPERTY IN STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, THE BROKER SAID THERE WAS NOTHING TO BE HAD.

AND SHE--OR SHE WOULD TAKE US TO UNSUITABLE TYPES OF PROPERTIES.

BUT THEN WE LE--LEARNED THAT SHE LIVED IN STAMFORD AND SHE DIDN'T WANT US THERE.

NARRATOR: WHEN A REPORTER FOR THE "BRIDGEPORT HERALD" HEARD ABOUT RACHEL'S TROUBLES, HE MADE THE ROBINSONS THE FOCUS OF A PIECE ON HOUSING BIAS IN THE AREA.

CARLY SIMON: MY MOTHER FOUND OUT FROM THE PAPERS THAT THE ROBINSONS HAD BEEN DENIED THE ABILITY TO BUY PROPERTY IN STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT.

AND SO MY MOTHER WENT AROUND TO TEMPLES AND CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS AND STARTED SPEAKING UP A STORM.

NARRATOR: ANDREA SIMON, THE WIFE OF THE CO-FOUNDER OF THE PUBLISHING HOUSE SIMON & SCHUSTER, INVITED RACHEL TO STAMFORD AND ARRANGED FOR A BROKER TO TAKE THEM ON A TOUR OF AVAILABLE PROPERTIES.

THEIR LAST STOP WAS A 5-ACRE PLOT ON CASCADE ROAD WITH SEVERAL PONDS AND A PARTIALLY LAID FOUNDATION.

IT WAS EXACTLY WHAT RACHEL HAD BEEN DREAMING OF.

DURING THE SUMMER OF 1954 WITH THEIR HOUSE UNDER CONSTRUCTION, THE ROBINSONS MOVED IN WITH CARLY SIMON AND HER FAMILY.

SIMON: I CAME OUT OF THE FRONT DOOR TO SEE WHERE MY MOTHER HAD BEEN ALL DAY.

AND SHE SAID, "THESE ARE THE ROBINSONS, CARLY.

I WANT YOU TO MEET JACKIE AND RACHEL ROBINSON."

OF COURSE I KNEW WHO JACKIE ROBINSON WAS.

I WAS GOING TO BE THE FIRST GIRL CENTER FIELDER THAT THERE EVER WAS.

SO JACKIE TOOK A LITTLE BAT, A CHILD SIZE BAT, AND HE TAUGHT ME TO SWING A BAT.

HE WAS--HE WAS, YOU KNOW, HE WAS A KING.

RACHEL ROBINSON: WHEN WE BUILT OUR HOUSE, WE KNEW THAT THERE WOULD BE PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD BE THERE.

BUT WE WANTED A NATURAL SETTING FOR OUR FAMILY-- ACREAGE AROUND US WHERE WE COULD BE FREE TO RUN AND PLAY AND ROLL IN THE GRASS-- ALL THE THINGS YOU THINK ABOUT WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT HOME AND THE PEACE AND COMFORT OF HOME.

JACKIE: "GOVERNOR BRADFORD HAD INVITED THEM TO A FEAST THIS THANKSGIVING..." RACHEL ROBINSON: AND WE CREATED IT.

I THINK WE FEEL PROUD OF THAT, HAVING PRODUCED THIS FOR OURSELVES.

JACKIE: "THE INDIANS WORE LEGGINGS AND A KIND OF SHIRT MADE OF DEERSKIN..." [MUSIC PLAYING ON SOUNDTRACK] ERSKINE: ONE DAY, WE HAD A BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR PEE WEE AT EBBETS FIELD.

IN THE FIFTH INNING, THE GAME WAS HALTED AND HE'S GONNA GET A CAR, AND WE GAVE HIM AWARDS.

AND WE SANG "HAPPY BIRTHDAY."

AND WHILE THE LIGHTS WERE DOWN, THE GROUND CREW WENT ON TOP OF EBBETS FIELD AND RAN UP A SMALL CONFEDERATE FLAG IN HIS HONOR BECAUSE HE WAS FROM LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

WE GO IN THE CLUBHOUSE AFTER THE GAME.

AND JACKIE IS IRATE.

I MEAN, HE WAS LIVID.

"WHO WOULD EVER LET JIM CROW BACK IN THE BALLPARK?"

EARLY: I THINK IT'S VERY DIFFICULT FOR MANY PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THE INDIGNITIES THAT A BLACK PERSON HAD TO ENDURE.

AND JACKIE ROBINSON WAS A MAN WHO HAD AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF RACE PRIDE AND, UH, SAW NO REASON WHY HE SHOULD HAVE TO ENDURE INDIGNITIES OF THAT SORT.

NARRATOR: DURING THE 1955 SEASON, JACKIE ROBINSON HIT ONLY .256 AND SAT OUT ALMOST 50 GAMES, PLAGUED BY ANKLE AND KNEE INJURIES.

BUT THE DODGERS, NOW LED BY ALL-STARS DUKE SNIDER, ROY CAMPANELLA, AND 20-GAME-WINNER DON NEWCOMBE, WON 98 GAMES AND CLINCHED THE NATIONAL LEAGUE PENNANT WITH 16 GAMES TO GO.

[FANFARE] THEY WOULD AGAIN FACE THE DREADED YANKEES IN THE WORLD SERIES.

ANNOUNCER: A PACKED YANKEE STADIUM FOR THE WORLD SERIES OPENER-- RIVAL MANAGERS CASEY STENGEL FOR THE NEW YORK YANKEES, WALT ALSTON FOR THE DODGERS.

THE BIG QUESTION: CAN THE BROOKS DO IT THIS TIME?

NARRATOR: IN THE EIGHTH INNING OF THE FIRST GAME WITH THE DODGERS TRAILING BY 3 RUNS, JACKIE ROBINSON REACHED SECOND BASE ON AN ERROR AND THEN ADVANCED TO THIRD ON A SACRIFICE FLY.

[CHEERING] ANNOUNCER: EIGHTH INNING.

YANKS' WHITEY FORD TRYING TO STAVE OFF A DODGER RALLY.

THE PITCH.

AND JACKIE ROBINSON, ON THIRD, STREAKS IN TO STEAL HOME!

[CHEERING] "SAFE," SAYS UMPIRE SUMMERS, AND THE RHUBARB IS ON.

ERSKINE: AT THIS POINT IN HIS CAREER, HE WAS NOT AS FAST.

HE WASN'T AS QUICK.

HE WAS HEAVIER.

HE WENT AGAINST ALL THE ODDS.

THAT STEALING OF HOME WAS JACKIE'S WAY OF MAKING A STATEMENT.

NARRATOR: IT WAS THE 19th TIME THAT JACKIE ROBINSON HAD DONE ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT THINGS IN ALL OF SPORTS--STEAL HOME.

AND EVEN THOUGH THE YANKEES WON THAT GAME, JACKIE'S DARING MOVE GALVANIZED THE DODGERS.

ONCE AGAIN, THE SERIES WENT TO 7 GAMES.

AL HELFER: STARTS INTO HIS WINDUP.

HERE'S THE 1-1 PITCH.

IT'S A CURVE BALL HIT ON INTO RIGHT CENTER FIELD.

GOING... NARRATOR: BUT THIS TIME, THE DODGERS TOOK A 2-0 LEAD INTO THE NINTH.

HELFER: TWO BALLS, TWO STRIKES.

THIS IS THE LAST HALF OF THE NINTH INNING.

JOHNNY PODRES INTO HIS WINDUP AND THE 2-2 PITCH-- A LOT OF CURVE.

A GROUND BALL TO LEFT SIDE.

PEE WEE REESE HAS IT.

THE THROW TO FIRST... AND HE'S OUT.

AND THE DODGERS WIN!

THEY'RE GRABBING JOHNNY PODRES, THEY'RE PUMMELING HIM, PUSHING HIM AROUND.

ANNOUNCER: MAN, OH, BOY.

OH, PODRES.

THIS--THIS WAS SOMETHING.

THIS WAS AS FINE A WORLD SERIES BALL GAME THAT EVER HAS BEEN PLAYED ALMOST, AND CERTAINLY NOBODY... NARRATOR: AFTER 72 SEASONS OF BIG-LEAGUE BASEBALL IN BROOKLYN AND EIGHT FAILED TRIPS TO THE WORLD SERIES, THE DODGERS AND JACKIE ROBINSON WERE FINALLY CHAMPIONS.

ERSKINE: WE WENT UP THE RUNWAY AT YANKEE STADIUM INTO THE VISITORS' CLUBHOUSE.

THERE WAS NOT THE BURST OF EXCITEMENT AND THE CHAMPAGNE RIGHT AWAY.

THERE WAS VERY QUIET THE FIRST FEW MOMENTS WE GOT IN THERE, AND I FELT IT.

I FELT ALMOST A SPIRITUAL FEELING ABOUT THIS-- THIS EXPERIENCE.

AND I KIND OF TEARED UP.

PEE WEE HAD TEARS IN HIS EYES.

JACKIE.

AND FOR A MOMENT OR TWO, THERE WAS JUST REVERENCE ABOUT THIS EXPERIENCE... BEFORE NEWCOMBE, PEE WEE, AND DUKE POPPED THE CHAMPAGNE.

AND THEN ON, IT WAS JUST, BLEW THE TOP OFF ALL NIGHT IN BROOKLYN.

NEVER BEEN THE SAME.

HOW DO YOU FEEL?

OH, I FEEL GREAT.

UH, THERE'S NO WAY--NO OTHER WAY TO FEEL BUT GREAT AFTER YOU WIN THE WORLD SERIES.

JACKIE: CAN'T HARDLY TALK.

BOY, THIS IS SOMETHING, I TELL YOU.

REPORTER: YOU WAIT A LONG TIME FOR THIS ONE, JACKIE?

JACKIE: YES, WE HAVE, AND WE GOT IT NOW!

AND WE'RE GONNA GET A LOT MORE BEFORE IT'S OVER... RACHEL ROBINSON: HE WAS BEYOND EXCITED.

IT WAS THE PINNACLE OF WHAT HE HAD HOPED FOR AND HAD WAITED SO LONG FOR.

NARRATOR: THAT WINTER OF 1955 IN AN ACT OF DEFIANCE SIMILAR TO THE ONE JACKIE ROBINSON HAD MADE ON AN ARMY BASE 11 YEARS EARLIER, ROSA PARKS, A 42-YEAR-OLD SEAMSTRESS AND SECRETARY OF THE MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA, CHAPTER OF THE NAACP, REFUSED TO MOVE TO THE BACK OF A CITY BUS WHEN THE DRIVER ORDERED HER TO GIVE UP HER SEAT FOR A WHITE MAN.

A PROTRACTED BUS BOYCOTT FOLLOWED.

"THE MORE I READ ABOUT THE MONTGOMERY SITUATION," JACKIE WROTE, "THE MORE RESPECT I HAVE FOR THE JOB THEY ARE DOING."

AMONG THE LEADERS OF THE BOYCOTT WAS A YOUNG MINISTER FROM ATLANTA NAMED MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. AS A STUDENT AT MOREHOUSE COLLEGE, HE HAD BEEN INSPIRED BY ROBINSON'S BREAKING OF THE COLOR LINE AND PRAISED THE AFRICAN AMERICAN PIONEER FOR "SHAKING THE GATES."

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: WHEN YOU SIT DOWN ON THE BUS AND YOU SIT DOWN IN THE FRONT OR YOU SIT DOWN BY A WHITE PERSON, YOU ARE SITTING THERE BECAUSE YOU HAVE A DUTY TO SIT THERE, NOT MERELY BECAUSE YOU HAVE A RIGHT.

YOU HAVE A DUTY TO SIT THERE BECAUSE AS LONG AS YOU SIT IN THE BACK, YOU HAVE A FALSE SENSE OF INFERIORITY.

AND SO LONG AS YOU LET THE WHITE MAN SIT IN THE FRONT AND PUSH YOU BACK THERE, HE HAS A FALSE SENSE OF SUPERIORITY.

[CROWD MEMBERS CHEER, SPEAK EXCITEDLY] [INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS] RACHEL ROBINSON: IN 1956, JACK WASN'T IN PEAK CONDITION.

AND HE KNEW IT.

HE JUST DIDN'T FEEL AS UP FOR THE GAME AS-- AS HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN.

HE ALSO SENSED THAT THE OWNERS WERE BEGINNING TO TAKE THAT SAME POSITION ABOUT HIM.

NARRATOR: NURSING STIFF JOINTS AND SORE LEGS, ROBINSON MUDDLED THROUGH THE 1956 SEASON.

HE PLAYED THIRD, SECOND, FIRST, AND THE OUTFIELD-- WHEREVER THE MANAGER PUT HIM.

BRYANT: MY FAVORITE PERIOD IN SPORTS IS THE PERIOD WHEN THE PLAYER HAS DIMINISHED BUT THE FIRE STILL ALLOWS THEM TO BE GREAT IN SMALL MOMENTS.

THEY CAN'T DO IT OVER A FULL SEASON, BUT WHEN IT COUNTS, THEY CAN STILL GET YOU.

BY 1956, HE WAS DONE AS AN EVERYDAY PLAYER.

BUT WHEN IT MATTERED, THAT'S WHEN YOU SAW THE OLD ROBINSON, AND THAT'S WHEN THE OLD FLASHES CAME BACK.

THAT'S THE BEAUTY OF HIM.

HE WAS ABLE TO CONJURE UP ALL THE OLD MAGIC.

HE COULDN'T DO IT EVERY SINGLE DAY, BUT HE COULD BURY YOU, AND HE DID.

ANNOUNCER: EVERY GAME HAS ITS HEROES... NARRATOR: ON THE FINAL DAY OF THE SEASON, ROBINSON HIT A HOME RUN TO HELP BROOKLYN CLINCH THE PENNANT.

BUT IN THE WORLD SERIES, THE YANKEES BEAT THE DODGERS IN 7 GAMES AGAIN.

ANNOUNCER: A TEAR GROWS IN BROOKLYN AS JACKIE ROBINSON IS THE LAST OUT AS THE NEW YORK YANKEES REGAIN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.

NARRATOR: THAT FALL, RUMORS SURFACED THAT ROBINSON WAS BEING CONSIDERED TO MANAGE THE MONTREAL ROYALS.

RACHEL ROBINSON: NEITHER RICKEY NOR O'MALLEY THOUGHT HE SHOULD BE A MANAGER OR ENCOURAGED HIM TO BE A MANAGER.

IT WASN'T SOMETHING HE WAS GONNA FIGHT FOR.

I THINK HE WAS GONNA WAIT TILL IT WAS BESTOWED ON HIM BY THEM, AND THEY DIDN'T.

AND HE WALKED AWAY FROM IT.

NARRATOR: ROBINSON CLAIMED THAT HE WOULD PLAY AGAIN IN 1957, BUT DURING THE OFF-SEASON, HE HAD SECRETLY AGREED TO BECOME VICE-PRESIDENT OF CHOCK FULL O'NUTS, A CHAIN OF COFFEE SHOPS IN NEW YORK CITY.

BEFORE NEWS OF ROBINSON'S RETIREMENT BECAME PUBLIC, THE DODGERS STUNNED THE BASEBALL WORLD BY TRADING HIM TO THE NEW YORK GIANTS.

ERSKINE: HOW...HOW COULD YOU EVER TRADE JACKIE ROBINSON, AND TO THE GIANTS?!

'CAUSE WHEN YOU SAY TED WILLIAMS, YOU KNOW IT'S THE RED SOX.

MUSIAL IS THE CARDINALS.

DIMAGGIO IS THE YANKEES.

THE DODGERS IS JACKIE.

NARRATOR: WHEN ROBINSON'S PLAN TO LEAVE THE GAME AND JOIN CHOCK FULL O'NUTS LEAKED, THE DODGERS FRONT OFFICE SUGGESTED THAT JACKIE WAS JUST TRYING TO GET A HIGHER SALARY FROM THE GIANTS.

SOME ACCUSED HIM OF INGRATITUDE.

FRANK LANE, THE GENERAL MANAGER OF THE CARDINALS SAID, "I'D SAY THAT MR. ROBINSON OWES EVERYTHING HE HAS TO BASEBALL."

BUT OTHERS DEFENDED HIM.

"IF THERE IS AN UNFULFILLED OBLIGATION IN THE CASE OF BASEBALL VS. JACKIE ROBINSON," WROTE HAROLD WEISSMAN IN THE "NEW YORK MIRROR," "THE DEBT BELONGS TO BASEBALL, WHICH CAN NEVER PAY OFF IN FULL."

BRYANT: THEY COULD NOT WAIT TO GET RID OF HIM.

THEY COULDN'T WAIT TO NOT HAVE TO HEAR HIM ANYMORE COMPLAIN THAT THE YANKEES WEREN'T INTEGRATING AND COMPLAIN THAT THE RED SOX WEREN'T INTEGRATING AND COMPLAIN THAT THERE WAS NO THIRD-BASE COACHES THAT WERE BLACK.

ROBINSON UNDERSTOOD THAT WHAT YOU WERE GIVING HIM BY PUTTING HIM IN UNIFORM WASN'T ENOUGH.

IT WAS NEVER GONNA BE ENOUGH UNTIL HE GOT EVERYTHING, WHICH IS FULL PARTNERSHIP IN THE AMERICAN DREAM.

[CHEERING] ED CHARLES: WE WERE JACKIE DISCIPLES.

JACK WAS INTEGRATING THE MAJOR LEAGUES.

NOW WE GOT TO INTEGRATE THE MINOR LEAGUES.

AND THAT WAS PRETTY TOUGH.

THERE WAS TIMES I FELT LIKE I WANTED TO QUIT, BUT THEN I WOULD THINK ABOUT JACKIE AND WHAT HE HAD TO GO THROUGH.

IF JACKIE DIDN'T QUIT, I'M NOT GONNA QUIT.

MINNIE MINOSO: WE ARE LIKE A CLOWN.

YOU MIGHT BE CRYING INSIDE, BUT THE PEOPLE, THEY DON'T KNOW.

YOU HAVE TO GIVE THE BEST WHEN YOU PERFORM AND SMILE ALL THE TIME, EVEN IF YOU INSIDE CRYING.

IF JACKIE MAKE IT, I MAKE IT.

AND I SAID, "I HAVE A CHANCE."

MICHELLE OBAMA: SO MANY OF US, I KNOW, GROWING UP, WERE TAUGHT BY OUR PARENTS AND OUR GRANDPARENTS THAT YOU HAVE TO BE BETTER THAN GOOD.

YOU HAVE TO BE TWICE AS GOOD.

A LOT OF THAT COMES FROM LOOKING AT PEOPLE LIKE JACKIE ROBINSON.

THOSE OPPORTUNITIES DON'T COME UNLESS YOU'RE READY FOR THEM.

AND YOU HAVE TO BE READY THAN-- MORE READY THAN MOST.

NARRATOR: JACKIE ROBINSON'S LEGACY IN BASEBALL WAS SUBSTANTIAL AND LONG-LASTING.

BLACK PLAYERS WERE NOW ON NEARLY EVERY ROSTER.

AND IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE, THEY WON THE MVP AWARD 9 OUT OF 11 YEARS.

ROBINSON'S FORBEARANCE AND DETERMINATION HAD OPENED THE DOOR FOR LATIN AS WELL AS AFRICAN AMERICAN PLAYERS, INCLUDING MANY OF THE GREATEST STARS WHO EVER PLAYED THE GAME.

[SOUNDS OF BATS HITTING BALLS] [SOUND OF BALL HITTING GLOVE] [CROWD CHEERING] [SOUNDS OF RADIO TRANSMISSIONS] ANNOUNCER: OUR GUEST IS ONE OF BASEBALL'S ALL-TIME GREATS, JACKIE ROBINSON, THE FIRST NEGRO TO BREAK THE RACIAL BARRIER IN THE MAJOR LEAGUES.

LAWRENCE SPIVAK: MR. ROBINSON, HOW DO YOU--HOW DO YOU ANSWER THOSE PEOPLE WHO INSIST THAT THE NAACP IS MOVING VERY, VERY FAST TO GET THE RIGHTS OF THE NEGRO?

JACKIE: WELL, WHEN THEY SAY THAT THE NAACP IS MOVING TOO FAST, UH, "TAKE YOUR TIME, BE PATIENT," THE NEGRO HAS PROVEN BEYOND A DOUBT THAT WE HAVE BEEN MORE THAN PATIENT.

AND THE CIVIL WAR HAS BEEN OVER ABOUT 93 YEARS.

AND IF THAT ISN'T PATIENCE, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS.

MARTY EDELMAN: HE WAS ON TO THE NEXT PART OF HIS LIFE.

HE HAD A NEW WORLD THAT HE WAS GONNA TAKE ON AND EMBRACE.

AND IT HAD SOME--HAD BUSINESS AND POLITICS AND A CHANGE IN THE WAY HE AND RACHEL LIVED.

AND I THINK HE SAID, YOU KNOW, "I--I'M LOOKING FORWARD... "YOU NEVER STEAL THE BASE THAT YOU LEFT.

YOU STEAL THE NEXT BASE."

NARRATOR: AS JACKIE ROBINSON'S BASEBALL CAREER CAME TO AN END, THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE HAD AWARDED HIM ITS HIGHEST HONOR, THE SPINGARN MEDAL.

PREVIOUS RECIPIENTS INCLUDED W.E.B.

DU BOIS, A. PHILIP RANDOLPH, MARY McLEOD BETHUNE, AND THURGOOD MARSHALL.

ROBINSON RAISED MONEY FOR THE NAACP IN SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, AND COMMUNITY AUDITORIUMS FROM BALTIMORE TO OAKLAND, CHALLENGING BLACKS TO FIGHT FOR FIRST-CLASS CITIZENSHIP, AND ENCOURAGING THEM TO VOTE.

[APPLAUSE] IN MARCH 1957, ROBINSON BEGAN WORKING AT CHOCK FULL O'NUTS.

COMMUTING EACH DAY FROM STAMFORD TO MANHATTAN, HE THREW HIMSELF INTO LEARNING THE COMPANY'S OPERATIONS, MASTERING WAGE SCALES AND EMPLOYEE BENEFITS, AND GETTING TO KNOW THE MOSTLY BLACK WORKFORCE, WHOSE CONCERNS HE WAS EAGER TO ADDRESS.

[LAUGHTER] AT HOME ON CASCADE ROAD, JACKIE SETTLED INTO A REGULAR FAMILY ROUTINE FOR THE FIRST TIME.

SHARON ROBINSON: MY SPECIAL TIME WITH MY DAD WAS GOING INTO NEW YORK CITY.

SO I PUT ON WHITE GLOVES, AND I WAS ALL DRESSED UP.

BUT IT WAS JUST DAD AND I IN THAT CAR DRIVING ALONG THE MERRITT PARKWAY, WHICH WAS LIKE A ROLLER COASTER RIDE.

AND MY FATHER LOVED THE SPEED AND THE HILLS.

AND SO IT WAS ALL TRUE EXCITEMENT, BUT REALLY IT WAS BECAUSE IT WAS JUST THE TWO OF US.

NARRATOR: BUT IN NEARLY ALL-WHITE STAMFORD, DAVID, SHARON, AND JACKIE JR.

WERE OFTEN THE ONLY BLACK CHILDREN IN THEIR CLASSROOMS AND ON THE TEAMS AND CLUBS THEY WERE ALLOWED TO JOIN.

ON JACKIE JUNIOR'S FIRST DAY OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, HE AND RACHEL HAD BEEN MET BY ROWS OF WHITE STUDENTS WHO POINTED AND STARED.

"OH, LOOK AT THE LITTLE COLORED BOY," SHE HEARD ONE WHISPER.

HIS YOUNGER BROTHER DAVID HAD A SIMILAR EXPERIENCE.

DAVID ROBINSON: TO THINK ABOUT MYSELF INTEGRATING FIRST GRADE, ONE BLACK IN A SCHOOL OF 900, THERE WAS DISCRIMINATION; THEY LET ME IN THE SCHOOL BUT I COULD NOT GO TO THE--THE COUNTRY CLUBS, I COULD NOT GO TO THE HOCKEY RINK.

THEY WOULD NOT LET ME IN THE DANCING SCHOOL.

RACHEL ROBINSON: THE FACT THAT HE INTEGRATED THAT CLASS WAS NOT OUR EFFORT TO, UH, TO FORCE EQUALITY OR--OR CHANGE THE WORLD.

IT WAS THE NEAREST SCHOOL TO OUR HOME, AND IT HAD A VERY GOOD REPUTATION FOR EDUCATING CHILDREN.

SO DAVID JUST HAD TO SUFFER THROUGH IT.

SHARON ROBINSON: WE DIDN'T EVEN TALK ABOUT WHAT IT WAS LIKE FOR US TO DESEGREGATE OUR SCHOOLS IN CONNECTICUT.

WE WERE JUST GOING TO SCHOOL AND THEY WERE SAYING, "DO YOU TAKE A BATH?"

BUT WE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT HOW THAT WAS AFFECTING US.

WE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT THAT AT HOME BECAUSE WHAT WAS HAPPENING EXTERNAL WAS SO BIG.

WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE LITTLE ROCK NINE.

SO THERE WAS A SORT OF SHELTERING AND SORT OF A DENIAL ALMOST OF--OF OUR OWN PAIN.

NARRATOR: IN 1959, JACKIE ROBINSON AND A YOUNG WRITER NAMED BILL BRANCH BEGAN COLLABORATING ON A WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE LIBERAL "NEW YORK POST" UNDER ROBINSON'S BYLINE.

THE "POST'S" EDITOR ANNOUNCED THAT THE COLUMN WOULD BE THE FIRST ATTEMPT AT REAL NATIONAL SYNDICATION FOR A BLACK WRITER.

WILLIAM BRANCH: WHITES JUST ASSUMED THAT BLACKS HAD THE SAME PERSPECTIVES THAT THEY HAD.

SO THE COLUMN MADE A GREAT CONTRIBUTION IN INFORMING WHITES, PARTICULARLY, OF ATTITUDES AND EVENTS, UH, AND PERSPECTIVES FROM THE BLACK COMMUNITY.

NARRATOR: IT WAS PUBLISHED IN THE SPORTS SECTION, BUT ROBINSON IMMEDIATELY BEGAN FOCUSING ON ISSUES OUTSIDE ATHLETICS.

THE COLUMN DREW ATTENTION TO A MISSISSIPPI LYNCHING, CRITICIZED THE BIGOTRY OF WHITE LONG ISLAND RESIDENTS WHO RESISTED SCHOOL INTEGRATION, AND ACCUSED THE RED SOX, NOW THE ONLY BIG LEAGUE TEAM WITHOUT A SINGLE BLACK PLAYER, OF PREJUDICE.

AND HE PROMISED TO TAKE A CAREFUL LOOK AT THE CANDIDATES IN THE UPCOMING 1960 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.

MAN AS JACKIE: I GUESS YOU'D CALL ME AN INDEPENDENT.

AS A NEGRO, I'VE BEEN WOOED BY THE DEMOCRATS WITH THE MEMORY OF FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT AND THE NEW DEAL... AND CULTIVATED BY THE REPUBLICANS WITH THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE CIVIL WAR.

BUT I ALWAYS DECIDE MY VOTE BY TAKING AS CAREFUL A LOOK AS I CAN AT THE ACTUAL CANDIDATES AND ISSUES THEMSELVES, NO MATTER WHAT THE PARTY LABEL OR THE ANCESTRAL GHOST.

MICHAEL LONG: ROBINSON'S DREAM WAS A TWO-PARTY SYSTEM IN WHICH AFRICAN AMERICANS SUSPEND THEIR VOTE UNTIL THEY CAN DETERMINE WHICH PARTY OR WHICH CANDIDATE IS GOING TO BEST ADVANCE THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS AGENDA.

ROBINSON THOUGHT IT WAS A TRAGEDY THAT AFRICAN-AMERICANS WERE SO WILLING TO GO TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AS A BLOCK.

HE THOUGHT THAT THEY LOST LEVERAGE WHEN THEY DID THAT.

I KNOW THAT IT ISN'T JUST A SOUTHERN PROBLEM.

I KNOW THAT IT'S A NORTHERN PROBLEM AND A WESTERN PROBLEM AND AN EASTERN PROBLEM AND THAT ALL OF US HAVE GOT TO DEAL WITH THIS PROBLEM BEFORE WE TALK ABOUT... NARRATOR: VICE PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON WAS THE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE.

ROBINSON AND NIXON HAD BEEN FREQUENT CORRESPONDENTS SINCE THEIR FIRST MEETING IN 1952.

"I HAVE DEVELOPED A DEEP SENSE OF APPRECIATION "FOR YOUR CONSTANT EFFORTS TO PROVIDE A GREATER MEASURE OF JUSTICE FOR NEGRO AMERICANS," WROTE JACKIE.

"YOUR EXPRESSION OF APPROVAL," NIXON WROTE BACK, "WILL BE A CONSTANT SOURCE OF STRENGTH AND ENCOURAGEMENT TO ME."

LONG: NIXON DID NOT HAVE A GOOD RECORD ON CIVIL RIGHTS.

BUT ROBINSON BELIEVED THAT NIXON HAD ACTUALLY DEVELOPED, HAD EVOLVED ON THE ISSUE OF CIVIL RIGHTS.

MAN AS ROBINSON: NIXON SEEMS VERY MUCH AWARE OF THE NEED FOR USING THE INFLUENCE AND PRESTIGE OF THE PRESIDENCY TO ADVANCE EQUAL RIGHTS.

I FEEL HE HAS AS GOOD A CHANCE AS ANY OF THE CURRENT CANDIDATES TO WOO AND WIN A GREAT MANY NEGRO VOTES.

NARRATOR: ROBINSON WAS OPENLY SKEPTICAL OF THE DEMOCRATIC FRONTRUNNER, MASSACHUSETTS SENATOR JOHN F. KENNEDY, WHOSE STANCE ON CIVIL RIGHTS HAD BECOME INCREASINGLY CAUTIOUS AS HIS POLITICAL AMBITIONS GREW.

"THIS COUNTRY CANNOT AFFORD TO HAVE ANOTHER PRESIDENT," ROBINSON WROTE, "WHO LACKS THE COURAGE TO FACE SQUARELY THE BURNING ISSUE OF OUR TIMES: THE COLOR LINE."

BELAFONTE: JOHN F. KENNEDY DIDN'T QUITE GET THE ROLE THAT THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT WOULD PLAY AT THAT TIME.

HE DIDN'T TAKE THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AS SOMETHING SERIOUS.

HE DIDN'T SEE IT AS A GAME CHANGER.

TOM BROKAW: KENNEDY WORRIED ABOUT THE POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES FOR HIM BECAUSE HE WANTED TO CARRY THE SOUTH, AND HE WORRIED IF HE GOT TOO FAR OUT IN FRONT OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, HE WOULD LOSE A LOT OF SOUTHERN SUPPORT.

LONG: KENNEDY HAD AGREED TO MEET WITH THE SEGREGATIONIST GOVERNOR OF ALABAMA, JOHN PATTERSON.

AFTER THAT PRIVATE MEETING, GOVERNOR PATTERSON COMES OUT AND ANNOUNCES THAT JOHN F. KENNEDY, HE BELIEVES IS A FRIEND OF THE SOUTH.

NARRATOR: ROBINSON WAS SO OFFENDED THAT HE REFUSED TO POSE FOR A PICTURE WITH KENNEDY AT A DINNER IN NEW YORK.

AND WHEN KENNEDY CHOSE TEXAS SENATOR LYNDON JOHNSON AS HIS RUNNING MATE, JACKIE DISMISSED THE SELECTION AS "A BID," HE SAID, "FOR THE APPEASEMENT OF SOUTHERN BIGOTS."

BRANCH: THE KENNEDYS WERE SO UPSET BY JACKIE'S COMMENTS, UH, IN THE "POST," THEY ARRANGED A FACE-TO-FACE MEETING.

LONG: ROBINSON SAYS, "DURING THIS MEETING, SENATOR KENNEDY NEVER LOOKED ME IN THE EYE."

KAHN: KENNEDY SAID, "MR. ROBINSON, BEING FROM MASSACHUSETTS, I HAVEN'T KNOWN TOO MANY NEGROES."

AND JACK SAID, "I THOUGHT, IF YOU'RE IN CONGRESS, YOU DAMN WELL BETTER MAKE IT YOUR BUSINESS TO KNOW NEGROES."

NARRATOR: IN SEPTEMBER, ROBINSON TOOK A LEAVE OF ABSENCE FROM CHOCK FULL O'NUTS TO CAMPAIGN FULL-TIME FOR RICHARD NIXON.

THE "POST" IMMEDIATELY SUSPENDED HIS COLUMN.

BELAFONTE: HE JUST DECIDED, "I'M FOR NIXON."

AND THAT SENT A SHOCK OF HORROR THROUGH THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

RACHEL ROBINSON: I WAS OPPOSED TO HIS SUPPORTING NIXON OR ANY REPUBLICAN.

I CAME FROM A FAMILY OF TWO GENERATIONS OF STAUNCH DEMOCRATS, AND WE COULDN'T SEE HOW HE COULD EVER GIVE ANYTHING TO THE REPUBLICANS.

HOWEVER, HE WAS HIS OWN MAN, AND HE DECIDED THAT THAT'S WHAT HE WANTED TO DO.

NARRATOR: ROBINSON TRAVELED THE COUNTRY, PRAISING NIXON AND CRITICIZING KENNEDY.

BUT IT FRUSTRATED HIM THAT NIXON WOULD NOT CAMPAIGN IN HARLEM.

THEN JUST TWO WEEKS BEFORE ELECTION DAY, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. WAS ARRESTED IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA, FOR TAKING PART IN A LUNCH COUNTER SIT-IN.

HE WAS DENIED BAIL AND SENTENCED TO SERVE 4 MONTHS ON A CHAIN GANG.

[GAVEL POUNDS] KING'S WIFE CORETTA WAS SURE HE'D BE KILLED.

BELAFONTE: DR. KING ON A CHAIN GANG IN THE SOUTH WAS TO MAKE HIM VULNERABLE TO ALL SORTS OF VIOLENCE.

AT ALL COSTS, HE HAD TO BE REMOVED FROM THE CHAIN GANG.

NARRATOR: ROBINSON CORNERED HIS CANDIDATE, DESPERATE TO CONVINCE NIXON TO PLACE A PHONE CALL TO DR. KING IN PRISON AS A SYMBOL OF HIS SUPPORT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS.

NIXON REFUSED.

IT WOULD BE GRANDSTANDING, HE SAID.

ROBINSON WAS HEARTBROKEN.

"NIXON DOESN'T DESERVE TO WIN," HE SAID TO AN AIDE AS HE LEFT THE MEETING.

MEANWHILE, MEMBERS OF JOHN F. KENNEDY'S INNER CIRCLE PERSUADED HIM TO PLACE A CALL TO CORETTA KING AND EXPRESS HIS CONCERN.

THE FOLLOWING DAY, THE CANDIDATE'S BROTHER, ROBERT KENNEDY, CALLED THE JUDGE AND TALKED HIM INTO RELEASING DR. KING, PENDING APPEAL.

NATURALLY, I'M VERY HAPPY TO KNOW OF SENATOR KENNEDY'S CONCERN AND, UH, ALL THAT HE DID TO MAKE THIS POSSIBLE.

NARRATOR: WORD OF THE KENNEDY FAMILY'S ACTIONS SPREAD QUICKLY IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY.

DR. KING HIMSELF DID NOT BACK ANY CANDIDATE, BUT HIS FATHER, THE REVEREND MARTIN LUTHER KING SR., WHO HAD PREVIOUSLY ENDORSED NIXON, CHANGED ALLEGIANCES.

"BECAUSE THIS MAN WAS WILLING TO WIPE THE TEARS FROM MY DAUGHTER-IN-LAW'S EYES," HE SAID, "I'VE GOT A SUITCASE FULL OF VOTES, "AND I'M GOING TO TAKE THEM TO MR. KENNEDY AND DUMP THEM IN HIS LAP."

[CHEERING] ON NOVEMBER 8, 1960, JOHN F. KENNEDY WON BY JUST OVER 100,000 VOTES.

THE ELECTION, UH, MAY HAVE BEEN A CLOSE ONE, BUT I THINK THAT THERE IS GENERAL AGREEMENT BY ALL OF OUR CITIZENS THAT A SUPREME NATIONAL EFFORT WILL BE NEEDED IN THE YEARS AHEAD TO MOVE THIS COUNTRY SAFELY THROUGH THE 1960S.

[APPLAUSE] NARRATOR: ROBINSON RETURNED TO HIS POSITION AT CHOCK FULL O'NUTS, BUT THE "NEW YORK POST" DECLINED TO RESUME HIS COLUMN.

HE WAS SURE THAT HIS SUPPORT FOR NIXON WAS TO BLAME.

THAT SAME YEAR, EBBETS FIELD, THE HOME OF THE BROOKLYN DODGERS SINCE 1913, WAS DEMOLISHED.

OWNER WALTER O'MALLEY HAD HOPED TO REPLACE THE SMALL, BELOVED BALLPARK WITH A STATE-OF-THE-ART STADIUM IN BROOKLYN WITH AMPLE PARKING FOR THE WHITE FANS WHO WERE INCREASINGLY MOVING TO THE SUBURBS, BUT THE CITY HAD REFUSED TO HELP HIM ACQUIRE THE LAND.

BEFORE THE 1958 SEASON, O'MALLEY HAD MOVED THE BROOKLYN DODGERS TO LOS ANGELES.

RACHEL ROBINSON: JACK AND I DID HAVE A VERY SPECIAL BOND.

AND IT LASTED THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES.

IT GOT TESTED FROM TIME TO TIME BY EXTERNAL THINGS AND THINGS BETWEEN US.

HE WAS SO ACCUSTOMED TO HAVING ME WITH HIM EVERYWHERE.

I EVEN RODE IN HIS GOLF CARTS WHILE HE PLAYED GOLF.

SO WHEN I SAID I WANTED TO GO TO WORK AND I WANTED TO DEVELOP A PROFESSIONAL SIDE OF MYSELF, HE WAS OPPOSED TO IT AND SAID SO, AND SAID IT IN LOVING TERMS LIKE, YOU KNOW, "I'LL MISS YOU AND I CAN'T DO THIS" AND DA DA DA DA.

BUT, UH, IN FACT, HE WAS OPPOSED TO IT.

AND WE HAD TO WORK THROUGH THAT OVER TIME.

NARRATOR: IN THE SPRING OF 1961, RACHEL EARNED A MASTER'S DEGREE IN NURSING AND GOT A JOB AT A HOSPITAL IN THE BRONX.

"RAE HAS BEEN SO BUSY LATELY, WE HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO DO MANY OF THE THINGS WE LIKE DOING," JACKIE COMPLAINED TO A FRIEND.

"BUT SHE IS SO WRAPPED UP IN HER WORK, SHE DOESN'T MIND AT ALL."

WITH BOTH RACHEL AND JACKIE NOW WORKING OUTSIDE THE HOME, THE ROBINSONS ENLISTED RACHEL'S MOTHER ZELLEE TO HELP WITH THE KIDS.

DAVID HAD FORGED CLOSE FRIENDSHIPS WITH HIS WHITE CLASSMATES, AND HE DISPLAYED A STRONG, INDEPENDENT STREAK, LIKE HIS FATHER.

SHARON, A DILIGENT STUDENT, JOINED THE GIRL SCOUTS AND TOOK BALLET CLASSES.

BUT JACKIE JR., THE ELDEST, WAS DIFFERENT-- INCREASINGLY WITHDRAWN, RESENTFUL OF THE CONSTANT PRESSURE TO BE LIKE HIS FATHER.

SHARON ROBINSON: HE WAS NAMED JACKIE ROBINSON JR.

THERE WAS NO PLACE FOR HIM TO HIDE.

YOU KNOW, HE COULDN'T BE HIMSELF.

RACHEL ROBINSON: HE WASN'T PERFORMING ACADEMICALLY.

HE BEGAN TO ASSOCIATE WITH CHILDREN IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD THAT WERE NOT DOING GOOD THINGS.

AND WE DIDN'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TO DO FOR HIM OR WITH HIM.

SHARON ROBINSON: I ADORED MY OLDER BROTHER, BUT HE WAS ALWAYS CREATING CHAOS IN THE HOUSE.

AND THAT SORT OF CARRIED ON AND BECAME MORE CHAOTIC THE OLDER HE GOT.

NARRATOR: SENT AWAY TO BOARDING SCHOOL, HE WAS SUSPENDED FOR POOR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND GETTING INTO FIGHTS.

RACHEL ROBINSON: JACK WOULD DISTANCE HIMSELF FROM JACKIE JR. AT TIMES BECAUSE HE FELT THAT JACKIE WASN'T AS LOVING TOWARD HIM OR HE DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO HANDLE JACKIE'S BEHAVIOR.

SO HE WOULD MOVE HIMSELF OUT OF THE PICTURE.

AND THAT WAS UNFORTUNATE FOR BOTH OF THEM.

MAN AS JACKIE SENIOR: DEAR JACKIE, I KNOW YOU SOMETIMES WONDER ABOUT ME, AND I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND THAT I LOVE YOU, SHARON, AND DAVID VERY MUCH.

AT TIMES I MAY SEEM TO GET AWFULLY ANGRY AT YOU, BUT I HOPE YOU ARE NEVER AFRAID OF ME.

I'M ALREADY PROUD OF YOU.

WILL YOU MAKE ME MORE PROUD?

PLEASE TRY, JACKIE.

NARRATOR: ON JULY 23, 1962, IN THE TINY VILLAGE OF COOPERSTOWN, NEW YORK, 5,000 PEOPLE CAME OUT TO SEE JACK ROOSEVELT ROBINSON, THE GRANDSON OF SLAVES, INDUCTED INTO THE HALL OF FAME.

OVER THE YEARS, ROBINSON HAD HAD HIS DIFFERENCES WITH MANY OF THE WRITERS WHOSE VOTES DETERMINED ADMISSION INTO THE HALL.

BUT NOW, IN AN UNEXPECTED SHOW OF APPRECIATION, THEY HAD CHOSEN HIM IN HIS FIRST YEAR OF ELIGIBILITY.

[APPLAUSE] JACKIE: I ONLY HOPE THAT I'LL BE ABLE TO LIVE UP TO THIS TREMENDOUSLY FINE HONOR.

IT'S SOMETHING THAT I THINK THOSE OF US WHO ARE FORTUNATE, AGAIN, MUST USE IN ORDER TO HELP OTHERS.

I APPRECIATE IT SO MUCH.

THANK YOU.

[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE] BRYANT: WHAT HE DID WAS DONE UNDER THE WEIGHT OF BEING THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN PLAYER, YET HIS HALL OF FAME PLAQUE DID NOT MENTION AT ALL THAT HE WAS THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN TO PLAY IN THE MAJOR LEAGUES.

JACKIE ROBINSON'S ABILITY TO PLAY BASEBALL AT A HALL OF FAME LEVEL IS COMPLETELY LEGITIMATE AND 100% TRUE.

HOWEVER, HIS VALUE WAS THAT HE CHANGED THE ENTIRE COUNTRY.

HE WASN'T JUST A REALLY GOOD SECOND BASEMAN.

HE WAS A GUY WHO TOOK ON EVERYTHING THAT WE WERE AFRAID TO FACE AND FACED IT AND SUCCEEDED.

WE SHOULD ALL BE VERY, VERY GRATEFUL.

RACHEL ROBINSON: BASEBALL WAS A BRIDGE TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT FOR HIM.

IF HE HADN'T BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED BY A LOT OF PEOPLE AND GOTTEN A LOT OF PUBLICITY, HE WOULDN'T HAVE HAD A CHANCE TO MOVE TOWARD DR. KING AND OTHERS SO THAT HE COULD ASSIST THEM IN WHAT THEY WERE DOING.

LONG: KING RECOGNIZED THAT ROBINSON WAS A NATIONAL SYMBOL NOT ONLY FOR HIS COURAGE BUT ALSO FOR HIS SUCCESS.

AND SO HE TAPPED INTO ROBINSON'S CELEBRITY STATUS AND INVITED ROBINSON, UH, TO COME JOIN HIM AT VARIOUS POINTS IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.

NARRATOR: IN SEPTEMBER OF 1962, AT MARTIN LUTHER KING'S REQUEST, ROBINSON TRAVELED TO ALBANY, GEORGIA.

THE CITY JAIL WAS FILLED WITH ACTIVISTS WHO HAD FOR NEARLY A YEAR BEEN USING NON-VIOLENT TACTICS TO CHALLENGE SEGREGATION, STAGING SIT-INS AND TRYING TO REGISTER BLACK VOTERS.

WILLIAM ANDERSON: WE ARE MARCHING FOR FREEDOM, AND GOD IS ON OUR SIDE!

[CHEERING] FREEDOM!

FREEDOM!

FREEDOM!

AND WE WILL NOT STOP.

[CHANTS OF "FREEDOM!"

CONTINUE] ANDERSON, VOICE-OVER: WE GOT SEVERAL HUNDRED PEOPLE IN JAIL.

[SIRENS] THE PEOPLE THEMSELVES, THEY GOT WEARY.

SOME OF THEM HAD STAYED IN JAIL FOR WEEKS.

[CHEERING] WHEN HE CAME TO TOWN, IT SAID IF HE CARED THAT MUCH ABOUT US, WE CAN CARE NO LESS ABOUT OURSELVES.

AND THAT JUST MEANT WE CAN DO MUCH MORE.

THEY ALL HAD HEARD OF JACKIE ROBINSON BUT NEVER HAD SEEN JACKIE ROBINSON.

TO MANY OF THEM, HE WAS BIGGER THAN LIFE.

NARRATOR: AFTER SPEAKING TO A FULL HOUSE AT A CHURCH IN ALBANY, ROBINSON WAS DRIVEN TO NEARBY SASSER, GEORGIA, WHERE ARSONISTS HAD DESTROYED THE MOUNT OLIVE BAPTIST CHURCH.

MAN AS JACKIE: IN THE BACKWOODS COMMUNITY OF SASSER, GEORGIA, I STOOD BEFORE THE SMOLDERING RUINS OF WHAT HAD ONCE BEEN THE MOUNT OLIVE BAPTIST CHURCH.

I WATCHED A STRONG MAN, THE REVEREND F.S.

SWAGGOT, WEEP AS THOUGH HIS HEART WOULD BREAK AS HE LOOKED OUT OVER THE WRECKAGE OF THE INSTITUTION INTO WHICH HE AND HIS PEOPLE HAD POURED THEIR DEVOTION AND THEIR DREAMS.

THE NEGRO PEOPLE MUST REBUILD THEM TO LET THE KLANS, CITIZEN COUNCILS, AND THE WORLD KNOW THAT WE WILL NOT BE FRIGHTENED AND WE WILL NOT ALLOW OUR LEADERS TO BE INTIMIDATED.

LET'S BUILD PROUD, NEW, GLORIOUS, TALL CHURCHES THAT WILL RISE OUT OF THE ASHES OF HATRED.

NARRATOR: THE NEXT BATTLEGROUND FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT WAS IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.

FOR WEEKS IN THE SPRING OF 1963, DEMONSTRATORS HAD BEEN DEMANDING THE DESEGREGATION OF THE CITY'S STORES AND LUNCH COUNTERS.

JACKIE: I'M QUITE CONCERNED THAT THE PRESIDENT, IN MY OPINION, FEELS MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THE ELECTION NEXT YEAR THAN HE IS ABOUT THE DIGNITY OF 20 MILLION HUMAN BEINGS IN THIS COUNTRY.

AND I HOPE THAT THE SERIOUSNESS OF THIS CRISIS WILL AWAKEN HIM, BECAUSE IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO DR. KING DOWN THERE, UH, I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S LIABLE TO HAPPEN.

[SIRENS] NARRATOR: WHEN BULL CONNOR, BIRMINGHAM'S COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY, ORDERED THE POLICE TO USE ATTACK DOGS AND FIRE HOSES AGAINST PEACEFUL PROTESTERS, INCLUDING HUNDREDS OF CHILDREN, IMAGES OF THE VIOLENCE HORRIFIED PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD.

[PEOPLE SINGING INDISTINCTLY] MAN: ♪ FREEDOM, FREEDOM, FREEDOM... ♪ NARRATOR: IN MAY, ROBINSON TRAVELED TO BIRMINGHAM TO SEE THINGS FOR HIMSELF.

[CHEERING] JACKIE: MY 3 CHILDREN WANTED TO COME DOWN HERE WITH ME, BECAUSE THEY HAD SEEN YOUR CHILDREN GOING TO JAIL FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN.

[APPLAUSE] AND, YOU KNOW, IT TAKES A LITTLE MAN LIKE BULL CONNOR TO DO THE KINDS OF THINGS THAT HE HAS DONE TO PEOPLE DOWN HERE.

AND THE AMAZING THING TO ME ABOUT ALL OF THIS IS THAT WHITE AMERICANS ARE ALLOWING A BULL CONNOR TO BE THEIR SPOKESMAN.

[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE] NARRATOR: SOUTHERN NEWSPAPERS AND SOME NORTHERN ONES, AS WELL, NOW ACCUSED ROBINSON OF BEING AN OUTSIDE AGITATOR.

HE WAS UNDETERRED.

"WHENEVER AND WHEREVER IN THE SOUTH THE LEADERS BELIEVE I CAN HELP JUST THE TINIEST BIT," HE SAID, "I INTEND TO GO."

[APPLAUSE] THAT JUNE, 500 SUPPORTERS SETTLED IN ON THE SLOPING LAWN BEHIND THE HOUSE ON CASCADE ROAD TO HEAR AN ALL-STAR LINEUP OF SINGERS AND MUSICIANS.

JACKIE: FIRST OF ALL, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LET ME ON BEHALF OF MY WIFE AND FAMILY WELCOME YOU HERE THIS AFTERNOON.

EVERY PENNY THAT COMES IN WILL GO TO THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM DOWN IN THE SOUTH.

NARRATOR: ROBINSON HAD COME BACK FROM ALABAMA DETERMINED TO RAISE AS MUCH BAIL MONEY FOR PROTESTERS IN BIRMINGHAM AS HE COULD.

DIZZY GILLESPIE, DAVE BRUBECK, JOYA SHERILL, BILLY TAYLOR-- "ENOUGH TALENT," WROTE "LIFE" MAGAZINE, "TO STOCK A NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL."

THEY ALL PLAYED FOR FREE.

[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE] BROADCASTER: FREEDOM NOW MOVEMENT, HEAR ME.

WE ARE REQUESTING ALL CITIZENS TO MOVE INTO WASHINGTON, TO GO BY PLANE, BY CAR, BUS.

WE ARE PUSHING FOR JOBS, HOUSING, DESEGREGATED SCHOOLS.

PLEASE JOIN.

GO TO WASHINGTON.

NARRATOR: ON AUGUST 28, 1963, THE ROBINSON FAMILY JOINED MORE THAN A QUARTER OF A MILLION AMERICANS IN WASHINGTON, D.C., IN A PEACEFUL SHOW OF HOPE AND RACIAL UNITY.

RAY CHARLES: ♪ WELL, I KNOW ♪ BACKUP SINGERS: ♪ YES, INDEED ♪ ♪ IF IT HITS YOU ♪ ♪ YES, INDEED ♪ ♪ YOU'LL SAY ♪ ♪ YES, INDEED... ♪ ♪ WHOA, YES, YOU WILL, NOW ♪ ♪ I WANT TO TELL YOU ♪ ♪ YES, INDEED ♪ ♪ IT'S GONNA GET YOU... ♪ ♪ YES, INDEED... ♪ ♪ YES, INDEED... ♪ DAVID ROBINSON: I WAS 11 YEARS OLD.

FOR AN 11-YEAR-OLD KID, UH, IN THE HEART OF IT WITH HIS FATHER'S ARM, YOU KNOW, OVER HIS SHOULDER AS THE PROTECTOR AND LEADER INTO THIS WORLD.

SINGERS: ♪ YES, INDEED... ♪ IT WAS A FANTASTIC DAY FOR MYSELF PERSONALLY AND I THINK FOR US AS A NATION, US AS A RACE.

SHARON ROBINSON: I REMEMBER THE FEEL OF, YOU KNOW, BEING IN A WAVE AND BEING PART OF A-- SOMETHING BIGGER THAN YOURSELF.

AND THAT'S A VERY GREAT FEELING.

MARCHER: NOW!

NOW!

NOW!

NOW... CHARLES: ♪ CLAP YOUR HANDS ♪ ♪ KNOW YOU'LL SAY, OH... ♪ SINGERS: ♪ CLAP, CLAP... ♪ ♪ WHO-OA ♪ ♪ YES, INDEED ♪ ♪ YES, INDEED ♪ MARTIN LUTHER KING: WE REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT THE BANK OF JUSTICE IS BANKRUPT.

WE REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE INSUFFICIENT FUNDS IN THE GREAT VAULTS OF OPPORTUNITY OF THIS NATION.

[APPLAUSE] NO, WE ARE NOT SATISFIED, AND WE WILL NOT BE SATISFIED UNTIL JUSTICE ROLLS DOWN LIKE WATERS AND RIGHTEOUSNESS LIKE A MIGHTY STREAM.

MARCHERS: ♪ WE'LL WALK HAND IN HAND, WE... ♪ NARRATOR: "I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO PROUD TO BE A NEGRO," ROBINSON WROTE.

"I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN."

MARCHERS: ♪ OH, TODA-A-AY ♪ ♪ OH, DEEP IN MY HEART... ♪ YOHURU WILLIAMS: THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON IS A WATERSHED MOMENT IN THE MOVEMENT ITSELF.

BUT THIS WAS ALSO A TURNING POINT IN TERMS OF THE VIOLENCE THAT WE ASSOCIATE WITH THE MOVEMENT.

AND THE ESCALATION OF OPPOSITION... BECAUSE THE FEAR IS THAT A CIVIL RIGHTS BILL IS COMING.

IT'S ONLY A MONTH LATER THAT YOU HAVE THE BOMBING OF THE 16th STREET BAPTIST CHURCH IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, AND THE KILLING OF FOUR LITTLE GIRLS.

MALCOLM X: HOW CAN YOU JUSTIFY BEING NON-VIOLENT IN MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA WHEN YOUR CHURCHES ARE BEING BOMBED AND YOUR LITTLE GIRLS ARE BEING MURDERED?

AND AT THE SAME TIME... NARRATOR: AFTER THE CHURCH BOMBING IN BIRMINGHAM, JACKIE ROBINSON HELPED ORGANIZE A RALLY IN FRONT OF THE HOTEL THERESA ON 125th STREET IN HARLEM.

THE FIRST SPEAKER WAS A CHARISMATIC MINISTER FROM THE NATION OF ISLAM WHO HAD DEVELOPED A DEVOTED FOLLOWING BY CONDEMNING NON-VIOLENT MEASURES AND PREACHING INDEPENDENCE FROM WHITES.

HIS NAME WAS MALCOLM X.

AS A 21-YEAR-OLD SERVING TIME IN A MASSACHUSETTS PRISON FOR BURGLARY, MALCOLM LITTLE HAD FOLLOWED EACH AT-BAT OF JACKIE'S ROOKIE SEASON.

ROBINSON, HE REMEMBERED, "HAD HIS MOST FANATIC FAN IN ME."

WHEN JACKIE RETURNED TO THE STAGE TO END THE HARLEM RALLY, THE CROWD HAD BEGUN CHANTING, "WE WANT MALCOLM!"

SOON, THEY HAD GROWN MORE BOISTEROUS, DROWNING OUT ROBINSON.

MALCOLM X HAD BEEN WATCHING FROM IN FRONT OF A NEARBY CHOCK FULL O'NUTS COFFEE SHOP.

HE CLIMBED UP ON THE PLATFORM AGAIN AND ENCOURAGED EVERYONE TO GO HOME.

THE CROWD DISPERSED.

JOHN F. KENNEDY HAD ONCE OFFERED ONLY TEPID SUPPORT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS, BUT THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT HAD MOTIVATED HIM TO ACT, AND IN THE LAST MONTHS OF HIS LIFE, HE HAD PUSHED FOR A SWEEPING CIVIL RIGHTS BILL.

LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON: NO MEMORIAL, ORATION, OR EULOGY COULD MORE ELOQUENTLY HONOR PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S MEMORY THAN THE EARLIEST POSSIBLE PASSAGE OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS BILL FOR WHICH HE FOUGHT SO LONG.

[APPLAUSE] JOHNSON'S ENDORSEMENT OF THAT BILL, WARNED A PROMINENT GEORGIA DEMOCRAT, WOULD COST THEIR PARTY THE SOUTH FOREVER.

MAN AS JACKIE: REPUBLICANS, SHREWDLY VIEWING THE DISCOMFORT OVER THE ADMINISTRATION'S CIVIL RIGHTS STANCE, ARE WEIGHING THE DELICATE QUESTION OF HOW TO CAPITALIZE ON THIS RESENTMENT.

THEY WANT THE G.O.P.

TO BECOME THE WHITE MAN'S PARTY.

[CHEERING] OUR AIM IS TO PRESERVE A FREE SOCIETY.

[CHEERING] [MUSIC PLAYING ON SOUNDTRACK] NARRATOR: AS THE 1964 PRESIDENTIAL CONVENTIONS APPROACHED, ARIZONA SENATOR BARRY GOLDWATER, THE CANDIDATE OF THE MOST CONSERVATIVE WING OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, QUICKLY BECAME THE GOP FRONTRUNNER.

SINGERS: ♪ GO, GOLDWATER ♪ ♪ LET'S GO, GOLDWATER ♪ ♪ LET'S GO FOR HONEST LEADERSHIP... ♪ BROKAW: BARRY GOLDWATER, "IN YOUR HEART, YOU KNOW HE'S RIGHT."

THAT WAS THE MOTTO.

HE WAS A VERY CONSERVATIVE GUY.

HE WAS THE FIRST OF THE MODERN CONSERVATIVE HEROES THAT PLAYED TO OUTSIDE OF HIS CONSTITUENCY.

HE GREW UP IN THE SOUTHWEST.

HE HAD THAT KIND OF A FRONTIER MENTALITY ABOUT, YOU, UH, "YOU GET WHAT YOU EARN AND YOU...TAKE WHAT YOU GET."

NARRATOR: "WE'RE NOT GOING TO GET THE NEGRO VOTE IN 1964 OR 1968," GOLDWATER HAD TOLD SOUTHERN PARTY LEADERS.

"LET'S GO HUNTING WHERE THE DUCKS ARE."

"THE LILY-WHITE LEADERS OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ARE EXHIBITING A GENIUS FOR MISREADING CURRENT EVENTS," ROBINSON WARNED CONSERVATIVES.

THERE'S NO WAY TO "WIN A NATIONAL ELECTION," HE SAID, "WITHOUT THE NEGRO VOTE."

[INDISTINCT CHATTER] HE ENCOURAGED REPUBLICANS TO LINE UP BEHIND NEW YORK GOVERNOR NELSON A. ROCKEFELLER.

AND IN FEBRUARY OF 1964, HE JOINED ROCKEFELLER'S CAMPAIGN.

ROBINSON SPOKE ON THE GOVERNOR'S BEHALF TO BLACK AUDIENCES ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

"THIS IS A STRUGGLE," HE TOLD ONE AUDIENCE IN MINNESOTA, "TO REGAIN THE SOUL OF AMERICA."

MEANWHILE, ON JULY 2nd, PRESIDENT JOHNSON SIGNED THE LANDMARK CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964.

AT LEAST IN LAW, IT PROHIBITED DISCRIMINATION BASED ON RACE.

A MAJORITY OF REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS HAD VOTED FOR IT.

BARRY GOLDWATER HAD NOT.

GEORGE WILL: HE VOTED AGAINST THAT, AND AT THAT POINT THERE IS A DRAMATIC, PROBABLY IRREPARABLE RUPTURE IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.

NARRATOR: ROCKEFELLER'S CAMPAIGN NEVER CAUGHT FIRE.

BY THE TIME THE REPUBLICANS CONVENED IN SAN FRANCISCO, THE NOMINATION WAS GOLDWATER'S.

[MARCHERS CHANTING] ROBINSON WAS ONE OF MORE THAN 30,000 PEOPLE WHO MARCHED THROUGH THE CITY TO PROTEST THE NEW EXTREMISM OF THE PARTY OF LINCOLN.

[MARCHERS SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY] I WANT EVERYBODY TO UNDERSTAND ONE THING, I AM AN AMERICAN NEGRO FIRST BEFORE I AM A MEMBER OF ANY PARTY.

[CHEERING] THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF NEGROES WHO FEEL THIS VERY SAME WAY.

AND WE WILL NOT STAND SILENTLY FOR ANY MAJOR PARTY NOMINATING A MAN WHO IN MY OPINION IS A BIGOT AND A MAN WHO WILL ATTEMPT TO PREVENT US FROM MOVING FORWARD.

[CHEERING] NARRATOR: OF THE 1,308 DELEGATES WHO WOULD DECIDE THE NOMINATION, ONLY 15 WERE BLACK.

THEY WERE THREATENED, VERBALLY ABUSED, A FEW DETAINED BY SECURITY.

GEORGE LEE OF TENNESSEE, A DELEGATE TO EVERY REPUBLICAN CONVENTION SINCE 1940, HAD HIS CREDENTIALS REVOKED.

WILLIAM YOUNG OF PENNSYLVANIA, A FORMER CATCHER FOR THE HOMESTEAD GRAYS OF THE NEGRO LEAGUES, HAD CIGARETTE BUTTS PUT OUT ON HIS SUIT JACKET BY GOLDWATER SUPPORTERS.

THEY ENCOURAGE DISUNITY... NARRATOR: DURING A SPEECH BY ROCKEFELLER, AN ANGRY DELEGATE FROM ALABAMA ROSE TO CONFRONT ROBINSON, WHO WAS CHEERING ON THE GOVERNOR.

THE DELEGATE'S WIFE RESTRAINED HER HUSBAND.

"TURN HIM LOOSE, LADY," JACKIE SHOUTED.

"TURN HIM LOOSE."

SHE DIDN'T.

JACKIE: I SINCERELY HOPE THAT IF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY DOES NOMINATE BARRY GOLDWATER THAT WE START FROM THIS MARCH, IN THE PULPITS, ENCOURAGING, INSPIRING AS MANY OF OUR PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT REGISTERED TO GO DOWN AND VOTE SO THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO TURN OVER TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY THE GREATEST VOTE IN THE HISTORY OF THIS NATION.

[MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: BARRY GOLDWATER WAS NOMINATED ON THE FIRST BALLOT.

ON NOVEMBER 3, 1964, LYNDON JOHNSON WAS ELECTED IN A LANDSLIDE.

HE HAD WON WITH 94% OF THE BLACK VOTE INCLUDING JACKIE ROBINSON'S.

MALCOLM X: THE BLACK PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY HAVE BEEN THE VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE AT THE HANDS OF THE WHITE MAN FOR 400 YEARS.

AND FOLLOWING THE IGNORANT-- UH, NEGRO PREACHERS, WE HAVE THOUGHT THAT IT WAS GODLIKE TO TURN THE OTHER CHEEK TO THE BRUTE THAT WAS BRUTALIZING US... RACHEL ROBINSON: JACK OPPOSED ANY FORM OF VIOLENCE.

EVEN THE RHETORIC THAT GOES WITH VIOLENCE HE OPPOSED.

SO IT WAS HARD FOR HIM TO SUPPORT MALCOLM X WHEN HE WAS SAYING, "BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY" BECAUSE THAT MEANT TO YOUNG PEOPLE, DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO.

AND JACK WAS AFRAID OF THAT.

HE THOUGHT THE MILITANCY WOULD LEAD TO DISASTER.

NARRATOR: WRITING NOW FOR HARLEM'S "AMSTERDAM NEWS," ROBINSON DENOUNCED MALCOLM X AS "A MAN WITHOUT A PLAN," AND ACCUSED HIM OF BEING "MILITANT ON HARLEM STREET CORNERS WHERE MILITANCY IS NOT DANGEROUS."

LONG: MALCOLM X WRITES A FIERY LETTER TO JACKIE ROBINSON IN WHICH HE SAYS, "YOU ARE SUBSERVIENT TO YOUR WHITE BENEFACTORS.

"YOU WERE SUBSERVIENT TO BRANCH RICKEY.

"AND NOW YOU'RE SUBSERVIENT TO NELSON ROCKEFELLER.

YOU HAVE LOST TOUCH WITH THE BLACK MASSES."

[VEHICLE HORNS HONKING] SHARON ROBINSON: MY FATHER SAID THE BALLOT AND THE BUCK ARE THE WAYS TO IMPROVE LIFE FOR BLACK PEOPLE.

WE HAD FOUGHT TO GET THE RIGHT TO VOTE.

BUT THAT WAS ONLY THE FIRST STEP.

HE FELT THE NEXT MOVEMENT HAD TO BE IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

AND THAT WAS GONNA BE CRITICAL TO OUR ADVANCEMENT AS A PEOPLE.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER] LONG: MALCOLM X SAID, "LOOK, I DON'T WANT TO SIT "JUST AT THE COUNTER.

"I WANT TO OWN THE SAUCER, I WANT TO OWN THE CUP, I WANT TO OWN THE RESTAURANT."

AND ROBINSON LIKED TO QUOTE THAT IN HIS SPEECHES.

NARRATOR: IN 1964, ROBINSON HELPED FOUND FREEDOM NATIONAL BANK, A PRIMARILY BLACK OWNED AND OPERATED INSTITUTION THAT WOULD SERVE THE PEOPLE OF HARLEM WHO FOR YEARS HAD STRUGGLED TO GET HOME MORTGAGES AND BUSINESS LOANS.

BILL RYAN: THE STEREOTYPE OF THE NEGRO AS A BAD CREDIT RISK PERSISTED.

FREEDOM NATIONAL HAS ALREADY DISPROVED THIS MYTH.

NARRATOR: SOON, THE BANK OPENED A SECOND BRANCH IN THE BEDFORD-STUYVESANT SECTION OF BROOKLYN.

REPORTER: WORLD KNOWN SPORTS FIGURE AND NOW SOMEWHAT OF A POLITICAL LUMINARY, YOU'RE ALSO QUITE A BUSINESSMAN.

WELL, I HAD NATURAL BASEBALL TALENTS.

I DON'T HAVE NATURAL BUSINESS TALENTS.

YOU DON'T?

YOU DON'T?

I DON'T HAVE NATURAL, NO.

I HAVE TO LEARN THIS.

I THINK THAT THIS IS THE NEXT FRONTIER-- BUSINESS AND POLITICS.

WE'RE ONLY HOPING THAT, UH, WE CAN GET THE SAME KIND OF SUPPORT HERE AS WE DID AT EBBETS FIELD.

NARRATOR: THREE YEARS AFTER IT OPENED, FREEDOM NATIONAL BANK WOULD BE THE MOST SUCCESSFUL BLACK-RUN BANK IN THE COUNTRY.

RACHEL ROBINSON: ONE DAY, I WAS WALKING DOWN THE STREET IN STAMFORD, AND HERE COMES JACKIE JR.

I SAID, "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"

HE SAID, "I'M GOING TO JOIN THE ARMY."

HE SAID, "I NEED DISCIPLINE.

I NEED INSTRUCTIONS.

I NEED TO KNOW WHERE I'M HEADED."

AND ON THAT VERY DAY, HE WALKED IN AND JOINED THE ARMY.

AND ONE YEAR LATER, THEY HAD HIM IN VIETNAM.

[HELICOPTER] NARRATOR: JACKIE JR. WAS PART OF AN EARLY WAVE OF AMERICAN GROUND TROOPS.

[SOUND OF FLAMETHROWER] IN A LETTER TO HIS FATHER, HE WROTE, "THIS IS THE MOST MISERABLE PLACE IN THE WORLD.

I CAN'T SEE WHY WE'RE FIGHTING FOR IT."

[SOUNDS OF GUNFIRE] ON NOVEMBER 19, 1965, THE DAY AFTER HE TURNED 19, JACKIE JR. WAS WOUNDED IN AN AMBUSH.

THE TWO MEN STANDING BESIDE HIM WERE KILLED.

HE HAD TRIED TO SAVE ONE OF THE MEN, DRAGGING HIM FROM THE BATTLEFIELD UNDER FIRE, BUT IT WAS TOO LATE.

JACKIE JR. BEGAN HAVING NIGHTMARES AND USING MARIJUANA AND OPIUM.

[AIRPLANE] BACK IN THE UNITED STATES, HE BECAME ADDICTED TO HEROIN.

SHARON ROBINSON: I CAN REMEMBER MYSELF STAYING UP TILL HE WOULD COME HOME AT NIGHT.

AND I'D BE IN MY ROOM, IN MY BED, BUT JUST LISTENING OUT TILL I HEARD THE CAR COME IN, KNOWING HE'D GOTTEN HOME SAFE.

AND THEN I'D WANNA COVER MY EARS BECAUSE I WOULDN'T WANT HIM-- TO HEAR HIM GET IN AN ARGUMENT WITH MY FATHER.

I JUST--JUST WANTED HIM TO BE SAFE.

WOMEN: ♪ NO MORE BROTHERS IN JAIL ♪ MEN: ♪ OFF THE PIGS!

♪ ♪ THE PIGS ARE GONNA GET KILLED ♪ ♪ OFF THE PIGS ♪ ♪ THE PIGS ARE GONNA GET KILLED ♪ ♪ OFF THE PIGS ♪ NARRATOR: AS LEGISLATION FAILED TO PRODUCE MEANINGFUL PROGRESS, MORE AND MORE AFRICAN AMERICANS WERE BECOMING RADICALIZED, REJECTING INTEGRATION IN FAVOR OF SEPARATION.

STOKELY CARMICHAEL: WE WANT BLACK POWER!

WE WANT BLACK POWER...

CROWD: BLACK POWER!

BLACK POWER IS NOT JUST A MERE SLOGAN.

IT IS REAL THAT BLACK PEOPLE CAN COME TOGETHER AND START DETERMINING FOR THEIR LIVES, HOW THEY'RE GONNA LIVE AND CONTROLLING THEIR ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL LIVES.

SHARON ROBINSON: I WAS ALL EXCITED ABOUT THE BLACK PANTHERS, SO I BROUGHT HOME A POSTER OF HUEY NEWTON, PUT IT ON MY WALL.

NOW HERE'S MY DEGAS RIGHT ON THE OTHER WALL.

AND I'VE GOT HUEY ON THIS WALL.

AND I'M LAYING BACK IN MY BED.

I'M LOOKIN' AT MY GORGEOUS HUEY NEWTON.

AND MY FATHER COMES HOME FROM WORK.

AND HE LOOKS, SAYS-- STOPS IN MY ROOM, SAYS HELLO.

AND HE GOES, LOOKS AT THE POSTER.

HE SAID, "NOT IN MY HOUSE.

GET THAT POSTER OFF THE WALL!"

I'M LIKE, "WHY?"

AND HE EXPLAINS TO ME THAT THE PANTHERS ARE REVOLUTIONARIES AND THAT'S NOT A GOOD MOVEMENT FOR BLACK PEOPLE.

HE SAID, "THEY CANNOT FIGHT PHYSICALLY WITH GUNS AND WIN."

YOU KNOW, "IT HAS TO BE A DIFFERENT KIND OF A MOVEMENT."

[POLICE SHOUTING COMMANDS] DON'T PUT--WAIT A MINUTE.

DON'T PUT THAT GUN IN MY-- DON'T PUT YOUR HAND ON THE GUN.

[WHISTLES] NARRATOR: IN 1967, RIOTS BROKE OUT IN NEW YORK NEIGHBORHOODS FROM HARLEM TO BUFFALO'S EAST SIDE, AS AFRICAN AMERICANS PROTESTED AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY AND DECADES OF BROKEN PROMISES.

ROBINSON, NOW WORKING FULL-TIME FOR GOVERNOR ROCKEFELLER, TRAVELED THE STATE, LISTENING TO THE GRIEVANCES OF FRUSTRATED BLACKS AND URGING PATIENCE-- THE VERY THING THAT HAD ENRAGED HIM FOR DECADES.

MAN: THE MAYOR MADE A STATEMENT TO THE NEWS MEDIA THAT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS POLICE BRUTALITY.

JACKIE: WELL, I, I--WELL-- AND THIS IS GOING ON, AND OUR WOMEN ARE BEING BEATEN.

THEY CAME MARCHING DOWN THE STREET JUST THE WAY THE NAZI SOLDIERS DID IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND OPENED FIRE ON PEOPLE FOR NO REASON AT ALL.

WOMAN: IF THE BUFFALO YOUTH BOARD AND THE CITY RECREATION DEPARTMENT HAD DONE THEIR JOB AND PROPERLY... WELL, MAY I SAY ONE-- MAY I JUST SAY ONE LAST WORD, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN?

EVEN THOUGH THAT IT IS LATE, EVEN THOUGH IT IS LATE, WE GUARANTEE YOU THAT WE'RE GONNA MOVE FORWARD FROM RIGHT HERE.

AND I THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING HERE AND ALLOWING US TO SPEAK TO YOU TONIGHT.

NARRATOR: AT ONE STOP, ACTIVISTS MOCKED ROBINSON'S HIGH-PITCHED VOICE AND LOBBED BASEBALLS BACK AND FORTH OVER THE CONGREGATION WHILE HE SPOKE.

A HARLEM MAGAZINE ACCUSED ROBINSON OF BEING GOVERNOR ROCKEFELLER'S "GOOD NIGGER."

OTHERS CALLED HIM AN UNCLE TOM.

WILLIAMS: JACKIE ROBINSON IN THE 1940S IS THIS SYMBOL OF BLACK MASCULINITY.

BY THE 1960S, THAT NARRATIVE HAS CHANGED.

[CHEERING] AND WHAT YOU SEE WITH PEOPLE LIKE MUHAMMAD ALI AND JIM BROWN IS A MUCH MORE MILITANT, IN-YOUR-FACE VIEW OF BLACK MASCULINITY.

AND WHAT THEY SEE IS THAT THE OLD MANNER OF BLACK RESPECTABILITY IS LIMITING BECAUSE WHAT IT DENIES IS THE FULL EXPRESSION OF HUMANITY, OF BLACK HUMANITY.

BY THE LATE 1960S, THAT SAME DIGNITY AND RESTRAINT IS FROWNED UPON AND SEEN AS UNMANLY BECAUSE IT IS NOT AGGRESSIVE AND IS NOT AS MILITANT.

[PROTESTORS CHANTING INDISTINCTLY] EARLY: BLACK PEOPLE BECAME DISAPPOINTED WITH INTEGRATION.

THEY FELT THAT INTEGRATION HAD NOT LIVED UP TO THE PROMISES.

AND THE HERO BECAME THE ATH--BIG ATHLETIC HERO WAS MUHAMMAD ALI.

AND HE REFUSES TO ACCEPT INDUCTION INTO THE ARMY.

THE REAL ENEMIES OF MY PEOPLE ARE RIGHT HERE, NOT IN VIETNAM.

OH, I THINK THAT HE'S HURTING...

I THINK THE MORALE OF A LOT OF YOUNG NEGRO SOLDIERS OVER IN VIETNAM, AND THE TRAGEDY TO ME IS THAT CASSIUS HAS MADE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OFF OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC.

AND NOW HE'S NOT WILLING TO SHOW HIS APPRECIATION TO A COUNTRY THAT IS GIVING HIM, IN MY VIEW, A FANTASTIC OPPORTUNITY.

YOU WERE BORN FREE.

YOU HAVE TO EXERCISE THAT RIGHT, BROTHER... NARRATOR: ROBINSON CHARGED NEWSPAPERS, BLACK AND WHITE, WITH MAKING TOO MUCH OF YOUNG MILITANTS LIKE H. RAP BROWN.

BUT HE ALSO CRITICIZED THE NAACP FOR BEING TOO MODERATE AND FOR REFUSING TO PROMOTE YOUNGER, MORE AGGRESSIVE LEADERS FROM WITHIN ITS RANKS.

BRYANT: YOU COULD SEE HIM FLAILING, TRYING TO FIND THE RIGHT WAY TO GET THROUGH ALL OF THIS TUMULT.

BUT HE STAYED IN THE FIGHT.

EVEN WHEN YOU CAN MAKE ARGUMENTS THAT--THAT ELEMENTS OF THE--THE BLACK CULTURE REJECTED HIM FOR BEING OUT OF TOUCH, HE HAD HIS VISION ABOUT HOW TO GET THERE, AND HE NEVER STOPPED.

WE CANNOT, UH, EXCLUDE ANY MEANS, EXCEPT VIOLENCE.

I DON'T GO FOR THAT, BUT ANY OTHER MEANS... BARACK OBAMA: JACKIE ROBINSON FELT AN OBLIGATION TO SPEAK OUT.

ANY OF US WHO FIND OURSELVES IN POSITIONS OF POWER WHERE OUR VOICE MATTERS, UH, WHERE WE ARE HEARD, HAVE TO DO A CONSTANT GUT CHECK.

ARE WE DOING ENOUGH TO MAKE SURE THAT VOICE IS ACTIVE ON BEHALF OF THE VALUES, THAT, UH, THAT ARE DEEPEST IN US, THAT MATTER MOST TO US?

NARRATOR: ON MARCH 4, 1968, A REPORTER CALLED JACKIE, WONDERING IF HE CARED TO COMMENT ON HIS SON'S ARREST.

[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS] REPORTER: POLICE SAY THE SON OF THE FORMER DODGER BASEBALL STAR WAS CARRYING HEROIN, MARIJUANA, AND A SMALL PISTOL WHEN ARRESTED.

INTERVIEWED JUST BEFORE HE POSTED $5,000 BAIL, HIS FATHER SAID YOUNG JACKIE DROPPED OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL TO JOIN THE ARMY BECAUSE THE BOY FELT HE NEEDED THE DISCIPLINE.

JACKIE: WELL, I THINK THIS IS MAYBE-- IT'S A BIG PROBLEM WITH ME.

I WAS CONSTANTLY GOING AND COMING HOME LATE IN THE EVENINGS, AND BASICALLY TIRED AND--AND FEELING THAT MY HOME AND MY FAMILY WAS BASICALLY SECURE, THAT WE WOULDN'T HAVE THE KIND OF PROBLEMS THAT MAYBE SOMEBODY ELSE HAD.

AND I THINK WE PROBABLY NEGLECTED THE NEEDS OF OUR OWN CHILDREN.

INTERVIEWER: AND YET YOU REACHED A LOT OF OTHER KIDS.

WELL, I DON'T KNOW.

I FIND IT PRETTY DIFFICULT TO FIND HOW I CAN REACH OTHER KIDS IF I CAN'T REACH MY OWN.

NARRATOR: JACKIE JR. WAS EVENTUALLY COMMITTED TO DAYTOP, A RESIDENTIAL REHABILITATION CENTER STAFFED BY EX-ADDICTS IN SEYMOUR, CONNECTICUT.

[SIRENS] ON APRIL 4, 1968, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., WAS ASSASSINATED IN MEMPHIS.

IN MAY, JACKIE'S MOTHER, MALLIE ROBINSON, STILL LIVING AT 121 PEPPER STREET IN PASADENA, COLLAPSED IN HER DRIVEWAY.

JACKIE FLEW OUT IMMEDIATELY BUT ARRIVED TOO LATE.

"I CAN'T IMAGINE WHAT ELSE COULD HAPPEN TO US THIS YEAR," HE WROTE A FRIEND.

"I PRAY WE HAVE SEEN THE LAST OF TROUBLE FOR A WHILE."

THEN IN JUNE AFTER FEELING PAIN IN HIS CHEST, JACKIE WENT TO SEE HIS DOCTOR.

TESTS SHOWED THAT HE HAD SUFFERED A HEART ATTACK.

BUT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY, HE WAS BACK WRITING COLUMNS, DENOUNCING RICHARD NIXON, WHO WAS AGAIN RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT, AND RAILING AGAINST INEQUALITY.

JACKIE: WELL, I THINK MOST WHITE AMERICANS HAVE THEIR HEAD IN THE SAND IN TERMS OF RACE RELATIONS.

WHITE AMERICA IS SAYING, "LAW AND ORDER.

YOU GOT TO ABIDE BY IT," BUT IN THEIR HEARTS, LAW AND ORDER MEANS SIMPLY HOLDING THE BLACK MAN DOWN.

NARRATOR: EIGHT YEARS EARLIER, HE HAD BEEN A PROMINENT SUPPORTER OF RICHARD NIXON.

JACKIE: I'M NOT ASKING MR. NIXON FOR ANYTHING PERSONALLY, BUT I'M CONCERNED... NARRATOR: NOW, WHEN ROBINSON LED A GROUP OF BLACK LEADERS TO THE WHITE HOUSE IN AN ATTEMPT TO FORCE A DISCUSSION OF BLACK CAPITALISM WITH A NEWLY INAUGURATED PRESIDENT NIXON, THEY FAILED TO MAKE IT PAST SECURITY.

RACHEL ROBINSON: WHAT HE BECAME VERY DISTURBED ABOUT WAS THAT AMERICA DIDN'T MOVE FORWARD.

SO HE DIDN'T PUT IT ON THE MILITANTS, HE DIDN'T PUT IT ON THE RHETORIC.

HE PUT IT ON AMERICA'S UNWILLINGNESS TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEMS.

AND AT ONE TIME, HE TALKED ABOUT IT BEING HARD FOR HIM TO SALUTE THE FLAG.

I MEAN, I WAS REALLY UPSET BY HIS EVEN THINKING THAT.

HE WAS DISAPPEARING, AND CHANGE WAS NOT ON THE FOREFRONT.

EDELMAN: JACK AND I WENT TO YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO, ONCE.

WE GOT OFF THE PLANE.

AND THERE WERE, I THINK, 250 OR 300 PEOPLE IN THE SMALL WAITING ROOM THERE.

AND I ACTUALLY DIDN'T KNOW WHY.

AND AS WE WALKED IN, THIS WOMAN BROUGHT HER YOUNG GRANDSON TO INTRODUCE HIM.

AND I SAID, "SO WHY DID YOU COME HERE?"

SHE SAID, "WE HEARD HE WAS GONNA BE HERE, AND I DIDN'T WANNA DIE UNTIL MY GRANDSON MET JACKIE ROBINSON."

NARRATOR: IN THE FALL OF 1969, RACHEL TOOK A LEAVE OF ABSENCE FROM HER JOB TO BE MORE AVAILABLE FOR JACKIE, WHOSE DIABETES WAS GETTING WORSE.

DAVID HAD BEEN ACCEPTED AT STANFORD.

SHARON WAS STUDYING NURSING AT HOWARD UNIVERSITY IN WASHINGTON, D.C. AND JACKIE JR.

SEEMED TO BE GETTING BETTER AND BETTER.

HE HAD BEEN VISITING CASCADE ROAD REGULARLY.

IN MAY OF 1970, JACKIE AND RACHEL HELD A PICNIC ON THEIR LAWN FOR NEARLY 50 OF JACKIE JUNIOR'S FRIENDS AND COUNSELORS FROM THE DAYTOP COMMUNITY.

SHARON ROBINSON: MY BROTHER IS SOBER.

AND, YOU KNOW, HE AND MY FATHER ARE-- ARE BEGINNING TO COMMUNICATE AGAIN.

AT THE END OF THE PICNIC, THERE WAS THIS MOMENT WHEN MY BROTHER WAS ABOUT TO GET ON THE BUS TO GO BACK TO DAYTOP, AND MY FATHER'S SO USED TO BEING REJECTED BY MY BROTHER.

AND MY BROTHER PULLS HIM INTO AN EMBRACE, AND IT'S SUCH A EMOTIONAL MOMENT.

JUST FINALLY WE'RE SEEING RAYS OF HOPE.

NARRATOR: "THAT SINGLE MOMENT PAID FOR EVERY BIT OF ANGUISH I HAD EVER UNDERGONE," WROTE JACKIE.

"I HAD MY SON BACK."

THAT FALL, JACKIE JR.

MARKED THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF HIS TREATMENT AT DAYTOP.

SOON, HE WAS WORKING FOR THE ORGANIZATION AND MAKING HIS OWN PUBLIC APPEARANCES, SPEAKING ABOUT THE RAVAGES OF ADDICTION.

[POLICE RADIO TRANSMISSION] NARRATOR: EARLY ON THE MORNING OF JUNE 17, 1971, THE DOORBELL RANG AT CASCADE ROAD.

SHARON ROBINSON: IT WAS THE POLICE.

AND THEY JUST SAID, "WHERE ARE YOUR PARENTS?"

AND I SAID, "WELL, MY MOM'S AWAY.

MY DAD..." AND I WENT TO GET MY DAD, AND MY DAD DIDN'T EVEN COME DOWN TO THE-- DIDN'T EVEN COME DOWN THE STEPS.

HE STOOD RIGHT AT THE-- UP AT THE TOP OF THE STEPS, AND HE'S LOOKING DOWN AT THE POLICE.

AND HE KNOWS RIGHT AWAY.

AND THE POLICE SHOOK THEIR HEADS AND MY FATHER SAID, YOU KNOW, "HE'S DEAD."

NARRATOR: WHILE DRIVING ON THE MERRITT PARKWAY IN CONNECTICUT, JACKIE JR. HAD LOST CONTROL OF HIS CAR AND SMASHED THROUGH THE GUARDRAIL.

REPORTER: THE CAR SKIDDED ABOUT 30 YARDS BEFORE SLAMMING INTO AN ABUTMENT.

POLICE SAY THERE WAS NO INDICATION DRUGS WERE INVOLVED.

NARRATOR: JACKIE SENT DAVID TO THE MORGUE TO IDENTIFY THE BODY.

THEN HE AND SHARON RUSHED TO HOLYOKE, MASSACHUSETTS, WHERE RACHEL WAS ATTENDING A CONFERENCE.

SHARON ROBINSON: UH, MY FATHER AND I, UH, WENT UP TO HER ROOM.

WE DIDN'T CALL HER AHEAD OF TIME.

WE JUST WENT THERE.

AND IT'S EARLY MORNING.

SO WE KNOCK ON THE DOOR.

AND SHE SAYS, "WHO IS IT?"

AND HE SAID-- YOU KNOW, MY DAD SAYS, "IT'S UH, IT'S--IT'S SHARON AND I."

AND SHE OPENS THE DOOR.

AND MY FATHER TAKES ONE LOOK AT HER, AND HE SAID, "WE LOST HIM."

RACHEL ROBINSON: AND I JUST WENT BERSERK.

I JUST COULDN'T BELIEVE THAT THIS HAD HAPPENED TO THIS YOUNG MAN WHO WAS IMPROVING AND MOVING BACK INTO LIFE AND THEN HE WAS SUDDENLY TAKEN.

SO IT WAS MORE THAN A TRAGEDY.

IT WAS A PART OF MY LIFE THAT I NEVER GOT OVER.

JACK WAS DEVASTATED, DEVASTATED.

HE BEGAN TO SAY, "WHAT COULD I HAVE DONE?"

NARRATOR: JACKIE'S HEALTH CONTINUED TO DETERIORATE.

HE HAD LOST SIGHT IN HIS RIGHT EYE, AND HIS LEFT HAD BEGUN TO FAIL AS WELL.

ONE DETROIT WOMAN SENT A TELEGRAM TO JACKIE.

"DO YOU THINK A TRANSPLANT WILL HELP?

I WILL BE GLAD TO GIVE YOU ONE OF MINE."

THE CIRCULATION IN HIS LEGS WAS SO POOR THAT HIS DOCTOR WARNED THEY WOULD SOON NEED TO BE AMPUTATED.

IN APRIL OF 1972 AT THE FUNERAL FOR FORMER DODGER GIL HODGES, ROBINSON'S TEAMMATES WERE STARTLED BY HIS FRAIL APPEARANCE.

SITTING DOWN BESIDE PEE WEE REESE, JACKIE AT FIRST DID NOT EVEN RECOGNIZE HIS OLD DOUBLE PLAY PARTNER.

EVER SINCE HIS RETIREMENT IN 1956, HE HAD STAYED AWAY FROM MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL.

IT ANGERED HIM THAT NO CLUB HAD YET HIRED A BLACK MANAGER OR EXECUTIVE, AND HE STILL RESENTED THE WAY THINGS HAD ENDED WITH THE DODGERS.

BUT 25 YEARS AFTER ROBINSON BROKE THE COLOR LINE IN BASEBALL, HIS OLD TEAMMATE, JOE BLACK, PRESSURED COMMISSIONER BOWIE KUHN INTO INVITING ROBINSON TO THROW OUT A FIRST PITCH AT THE 1972 WORLD SERIES.

JACKIE AGREED TO COME, BUT WARNED THE COMMISSIONER THAT HE WOULD USE THE MOMENT TO SPEAK HIS MIND.

ON OCTOBER 15, 1972, MORE THAN 60 MILLION AMERICANS WATCHED AS JACKIE ROBINSON THREW OUT THE FIRST PITCH BEFORE GAME TWO.

[APPLAUSE] I'M EXTREMELY PROUD AND PLEASED TO BE HERE THIS AFTERNOON, BUT MUST ADMIT I'M GONNA BE TREMENDOUSLY MORE PLEASED AND MORE PROUD WHEN I LOOK AT THAT THIRD-BASE COACHING LINE ONE DAY AND SEE A BLACK FACE MANAGING IN BASEBALL.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

[APPLAUSE] NARRATOR: ON THE MORNING OF OCTOBER 24, 1972, JUST 9 DAYS AFTER JACKIE HAD APPEARED AT THE WORLD SERIES, RACHEL ROSE EARLY.

RACHEL ROBINSON: I DRESSED AND WENT TO THE KITCHEN TO MAKE BREAKFAST.

AND I COULD SEE HIM COMING.

I WAS STANDING IN THE KITCHEN.

I COULD SEE HIM COMING DOWN THE HALLWAY NAKED.

HE HADN'T DRESSED, AND HE WAS RUNNING.

AND SO I RAN OUT OF THE KITCHEN, AH, TO MEET HIM BECAUSE I KNEW SOMETHING WAS VERY WRONG.

AND, UM, HE PUT HIS ARMS AROUND ME, AND HE SAID, "I LOVE YOU."

AND HE JUST SANK TO THE FLOOR.

NARRATOR: JACK ROOSEVELT ROBINSON DIED AT 7:10 A.M.

HE WAS JUST 53 YEARS OLD.

THE OFFICIAL CAUSE OF DEATH WAS A HEART ATTACK.

MORE THAN 500 MOURNERS AN HOUR STREAMED PAST HIS COFFIN TO PAY THEIR RESPECTS.

ON OCTOBER 29, 2,500 PEOPLE CROWDED INTO RIVERSIDE CHURCH IN HARLEM.

JESSE JACKSON: JACKIE AS A FIGURE IN HISTORY WAS A ROCK IN THE WATER, CREATING CONCENTRIC CIRCLES AND RIPPLES OF NEW POSSIBILITY.

NARRATOR: "JACKIE'S BODY WAS A TEMPLE OF GOD," REVEREND JESSE JACKSON SAID IN HIS EULOGY.

"IN HIS LAST DASH, JACKIE STOLE HOME.

"PAIN, MISERY, AND TRAVAIL HAVE LOST.

"NO GRAVE CAN HOLD THIS BODY DOWN.

IT BELONGS TO THE AGES."

RACHEL ROBINSON: I THINK THE THING I MISS THE MOST IS HAVING A TRUSTED FRIEND THAT I CAN TALK TO ANYTIME ABOUT ANYTHING.

I CHERISHED THAT BECAUSE WE HAD TO GO THROUGH A LOT OF THINGS TOGETHER.

AND THE SECOND THING I MISS IS HAVING HIS ARMS AROUND ME.

HE WAS VERY, VERY, UM...

EXPRESSIVE AND, UH, LOVING.

AND I MISS THAT.

I MISS THAT A LOT.

BARACK OBAMA: THE EMPATHY OF WATCHING BALL GAMES AND SEEING JACKIE ROBINSON PERFORM WITH SPEED AND POWER BUT ALSO WITH DIGNITY AND GRACE, THAT CHANGED HOW AMERICA THOUGHT ABOUT RACE RELATIONS.

SPORTS IS POWERFUL.

ON THE ONE HAND, IT'S A GAME.

ON THE OTHER HAND, IT IS A UNIFYING PART OF OUR CULTURE.

ANDERSON: IT WAS NOT JUST WHAT JACKIE ROBINSON DID AS A BASEBALL PLAYER, IT'S WHAT HE DID AS A BLACK MAN IN A PREDOMINANTLY WHITE SOCIETY.

IT SAID TO ALL OF US WE WILL NEVER ACCEPT THINGS AS THEY WERE.

MAN: "I WAS THE BLACK GRANDSON OF A SLAVE, "THE SON OF A BLACK SHARECROPPER, "PART OF A HISTORIC OCCASION, A SYMBOLIC HERO TO MY PEOPLE..." "BUT I KNOW THAT I AM A BLACK MAN IN A WHITE WORLD.

"IN 1972, IN 1947, "AT MY BIRTH IN 1919, I KNOW THAT I NEVER HAD IT MADE."

JACKIE ROBINSON.

SHARON JONES: ♪ THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND ♪ ♪ THIS LAND IS MY LAND ♪ ♪ FROM CALIFORNIA ♪ ♪ WELL, TO THE NEW YORK ISLAND ♪ ♪ FROM THE REDWOOD FOREST ♪ ♪ TO THE GULF STREAM WATERS ♪ ♪ I TELL YOU ♪ ♪ THIS LAND ♪ ♪ WAS MADE FOR YOU AND ME ♪ ♪ AS I WENT WALKING ♪ ♪ DOWN THAT RIBBON OF, AH, HIGHWAY ♪ ♪ I SAW ABOVE ME ♪ ♪ OH, THAT ENDLESS SKYWAY ♪ ♪ NOW, I SAW BELOW ME ♪ ♪ THAT GOLDEN VALLEY ♪ ANNOUNCER: LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LIFE OF JACKIE ROBINSON AT PBS.ORG/JACKIEROBINSON AND JOIN THE CONVERSATION WITH HASH-TAG JACKIEROBINSONPBS.

"KEN BURNS: JACKIE ROBINSON" IS AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY AND DVD.

THE COMPANION BOOK IS ALSO AVAILABLE.

TO ORDER, VISIT SHOPBS.ORG OR CALL 1-800-PLAY-PBS.

THIS SERIES IS ALSO AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD FROM iTUNES.

JONES: ♪ "PROPERTY" ♪ ♪ WELL, ON THE BACK SIDE ♪ ♪ YOU KNOW IT SAID NOTHING ♪ ♪ SO IT MUST BE ♪ ♪ THAT SIGN ♪ ♪ WAS MADE FOR YOU AND ME ♪ ♪ THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND ♪ ♪ THIS LAND IS MY LAND ♪ ♪ FROM RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA ♪ ♪ AH, TO STATEN ISLAND ♪ ♪ WELL, DOWN TO AUGUSTA, GEORGIA ♪ ♪ AH, DON'T FORGET TO SAY PHILADELPHIA ♪ ♪ AH ♪ ♪ WE MOVING ON DOWN TO MISSISSIPPI ♪ ♪ AH ♪ ♪ HOUSTON, TEXAS ♪ ♪ AH, L.A. ♪ ♪ YEAH ♪ ♪ YOU KNOW, THIS LAND ♪ ♪ IS YOUR LAND ♪ ♪ AH AH ♪ ♪ THIS LAND IS MY LAND ♪ ON APRIL 15, 1947, JACK ROOSEVELT ROBINSON CROSSED THE WHITE LINE AT EBBETS FIELD, CHANGING A GAME, AND A COUNTRY, FOREVER.

WITH QUIET DIGNITY AND STEADFAST CONVICTION, JACKIE SHOWED THE WORLD WHAT COURAGE, DETERMINATION, AND PRIDE, REGARDLESS OF COLOR, COULD ACCOMPLISH.

BANK OF AMERICA IS PROUD TO CELEBRATE JACKIE'S LEGACY AND FOLLOW IN HIS COMMITMENT TO EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND RESPECT FOR ALL AMERICANS.

FUNDING FOR THIS PROGRAM