Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Liz Waid.
Voice 2
And I'm Joshua Leo. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Two men stand together on a baseball field. They both play this sport. They are facing a crowd of people - people who have come to watch the game. But this crowd is angry. They are shouting terrible words. As the men stand together, the crowd becomes quiet. Just by standing together, the two men change the crowd. And by standing together, the men also help change history.
Today's Spotlight is on these two men, and their surprising story.
Voice 2
The United States has a sad and difficult history of problems between people of different races. When the country began, slavery was legal in most of the United States. White people were permitted to own black people as slaves. Slavery was most common in the southern half of the United States. This stopped when the American Civil War ended in 1865. Still, all people did not have equal rights.
Voice 1
For many years, people of different colors were separated by both law and custom in the United States. In some parts of the country, black people could not eat or live in the same place as white people. It was not until the 1960s that laws were passed giving full rights to people of all races, in every part of the country. Separating races like this was also true in most sports - including baseball.
Voice 2
Before 1947, there were separate organizations for black and white baseball players. White players played in the major leagues. They had the most followers and the most money. Black players played in the Negro leagues. But that began to change in 1947. That was when Jackie Robinson became the first person with black skin to play major league baseball.
Voice 1
Jackie Robinson had been a sports star at the University of California in Los Angeles. He earned awards there for many sports including football, baseball and basketball, and for running. After he finished school he served in the army. Then he played in the all-black Negro baseball league. This is what he was doing when he became the first person with black skin to play baseball in the white leagues. He joined a white team called the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Voice 2
The general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers was a man named Branch Rickey. He knew black players were as good as white players and could help his team win games. He also believed it was wrong to separate people because of their skin color. He decided to bring a black player on to his Brooklyn team. After carefully researching the Negro league players, he chose Jackie Robinson.
Voice 1
Rickey understood putting a black player in the major leagues would be very difficult. He knew many people would hate Jackie Robinson because he was black. He knew they would say and do hate-filled things to him. He also knew Jackie could be rejected if he fought back.
Voice 2
Branch Rickey was a Christian - a follower of Jesus Christ. So he asked Jackie Robinson to follow these teachings. Jesus taught that when a person was attacked, that person should not answer with more violence. When Rickey explained this to him, Robinson asked,
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"Do you want a ball player who is afraid to fight back?"
Voice 2
Rickey answered,
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"I want a ball player with the courage not to fight back."
Voice 1
Robinson understood this would be very difficult. But he also knew that this was an opportunity. He could make history. He could change people's opinions about black people. So he agreed to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. And he agreed not to fight back when people attacked him.
Voice 2
At first, several members of the Brooklyn Dodgers refused to play baseball with Robinson. They did not want to be on the same team with a black person. Many of them had never spent any time with a black person before.
Voice 1
But some players welcomed Robinson. One of these was Harold "Pee Wee" Reese. Pee Wee was the best player on the team. His support of Jackie Robinson was very important. He told the other players that Robinson could help their team win the league championship. He encouraged other team members to accept Robinson as an equal member of the team.
Voice 2
Many people remember Pee Wee's support in one particular game. In this game, the Dodgers were preparing to play in the city of Cincinnati. This city is close to the southern part of the United States. In this area, white people were more opposed to black players. The people who came to the game that day were very loud. They shouted bad things at Robinson. He tried not to listen but he could not stop hearing what they said. Later, Robinson said that each bad word hit him like a bullet from a machine gun. The players from the Cincinnati team were also saying mean things to Robinson's teammates. They asked how the Dodgers could play with a black person.
Voice 1
As the noise grew, Pee Wee Reese walked over to Jackie Robinson. He looked at the crowd. Then Pee Wee gently placed his hand on Jackie's shoulder. Jackie and Pee Wee remained side by side for a few minutes. Without saying any words, Pee Wee was telling the people that Jackie was his friend and teammate. He did not want them to say the things they were saying.
Voice 2
Almost immediately, the crowd became quiet. The simple act of standing next to his teammate changed a bad situation. Robinson later said,
Voice 4
"I will never forget what Pee Wee did for me that day."
Voice 1
Others have not forgotten that day, either. More than sixty years later, people still remember Pee Wee Reese standing next to Jackie Robinson and putting his hand on him. Like Branch Rickey, Pee Wee Reese believed all people were equal.
Voice 2
Pee Wee also understood the promise that Robinson had made not to fight back. He knew Robinson would not say anything to the people saying bad things to him. So he took a stand next to Robinson, to tell everyone that Robinson was not alone. Years later, another black player on the Dodgers said, "When Pee Wee touched Jackie, he touched black people everywhere."
Voice 1
Sometimes simple acts help change history. Today, people of every race, from all over the world, play American major league baseball. And this sport helped lead the way in the United States for all people to have equal rights.
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