I Never Had It Made was a book written by Jackie Robinson, the first black man to play in the major leagues. Throughout this piece Mr. Robinson describes the struggles he encountered through his battle to break the color barrier in the MLB. Robinson also talks about his struggles with racism throughout his entire life, going all the back to the age of 8 which he says was his first time he encountered racism. This book highlights the racism in the country at the time and outlines the hate black people faced during this time. These acts of hate are shown throughout Jackie’s struggle to make it to the highest level of baseball.
Throughout the book there is a clear power struggle between Jackie and people who were against the idea of a black man playing in the major leagues. This power struggle leads to Jackie facing injustice. An example of this injustice is seen during a discussion between Jackie’s manger and the general manager: “Hopper, astonished, asked Mr. Rickey, “Do you really think a ****** is a human being” This shows the deep-rooted racism that was instilled in people. From our course we can use the idea of “the other” when looking at this book. A majority of people viewed Robinson
as the other and deemed him not worthy of playing professional baseball, simply due to the color of his skin. From the section of the book I shared this hatred even went as far as a belief that black people weren’t humans or on the same level as white people, or in other words, like he was the other. Jackie faced discrimination in many different forms, he received death threats, he was called derogatory names, and was physically hurt through his journey to the major leagues, which were all tactics used by white people to remain in control of black people during this time. Regardless of all this hate he faced he made it to the major leagues, and even after his time in baseball as an advocate for change in this country.
I believe the author, Jackie Robinson, wants us to read this and be able to take away the pure hatred that not only he faced but black people in general during this time. I believe that he wants us to look at how he was treated and not only learn from it but compare it to present day, and if there are similarities, take action. If you only take one thing away from this book it should be that, regardless of that injustice and hate that happens in this world, never give up in the fight for what is right, just like Jackie Robinson.