Friday, June 21, 2019

Review of "Reclaiming 42"

This book is very different than anything else I have read about Jackie Robinson - and it was very enlightening.  Instead of illustrating the often-told stories about his legacy for baseball integration, this book takes a look at more controversial actions taken by the man. Here is my review of "Reclaiming 42"


Title/Author:

“Reclaiming 42: Public Memory and the Reframing of Jackie Robinson’s Radical Legacy” by David Naze



Tags:

Baseball, politics, race, history



Publish date:

June 1, 2019



Length:

234 pages



Rating: 

4 ½  of 5 stars (excellent)



Review:

While the story of how and when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball (MLB) is well-known to many people, including non-baseball fans, that story that is considered the “official” one by MLB, this scholarly book by David Naze explores the lesser known aspects of Robinson in his life away from the diamond and opines that there is much more to the man than what MLB, the Hall of Fame, and others portray him to be.



Naze states his intentions early on and repeats the theme frequently throughout the book that Robinson’s complete contribution to racial relations and politics is omitted for various reasons.  The examples of the omissions that are rarely published or discussed are Robinson’s letters to Congressman Adam Clayton Powell and to Malcolm X. In both letters, Robinson is critical of the manner in which these civil rights activists are addressing this issue and because of this, Naze contends, Robinson’s true contribution to the issue of race relations is lacking. The same is said for the lack of widespread work that examines Robinson’s remarks to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) when that committee was investigating entertainer Paul Robeson. 



Why this is the case is explained in Chapter 4 of the book when Naze discusses the celebration of Jackie Robinson Day at Shea Stadium in 2004 by then-Commissioner Bud Selig.  Naze makes a compelling case about MLB portraying Robinson in a sanitized manner that is acceptable to the mostly white executives of MLB. Naze illustrates the dual message being sent in describing Robinson’s “heroic” actions to desegregate the game and have MLB congratulate itself for this while still having no executives or owners who are black.  Reading about this “sanitizing” of the complete Robinson story was fascinating and also fairly easy for a scholarly work.



This chapter, however, wasn’t the best of the book.  In chapter 3, to illustrate another point Naze makes that the integration of MLB wasn’t all good as it lead to the demise of the Negro Leagues, he takes readers on a guided tour of two baseball museums.  In great detail, the reader will be lead through the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York and also the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.  (Note: it is emphasize to NOT call the latter a “Hall of Fame.”)  These are done to illustrate the difference in the two museums’ interpretation of Robinson’s legacy.  Naze points out the Cooperstown museum concentrates on Robinson’s individual contribution, as it does for others who are enshrined there. This is the individualism that it illustrates and contrasts with the Negro League’s museum which has a much smaller display of Robinson and includes him in the collective history of black baseball.  That collective theme is in line with the rest of that museum and these two different styles reflects how Robinson is remembered in the annals of history in MLB and in the history of black baseball. 



By profiling Robinson in a very different manner, Naze does a very good job of not only presenting these little-known actions by Robinson but also presenting his argument of how MLB is not presenting the true story of integration.  As mentioned earlier, this is a fairly easy and quick read which is not common for a book of this style. Because of this, the book is highly recommended for readers who want to learn more about Jackie Robinson.



I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.



Book Format Read:

Hardcover



Buying Links:


No comments:

Post a Comment