First Class Citizenship: The Civil Rights Letters of Jackie Robinson [Hardcover]

Michael G. Long (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2, 2007

Never-before-published letters offer a rich portrait of the baseball star as a fearless advocate for racial justice at the highest levels of American politics
 

Jackie Robinson's courage on the baseball diamond is one of the great stories of the struggle for civil rights in America, and his Hall of Fame career speaks for itself. But we no longer hear Robinson speak for himself; his death at age fifty-three in 1972 robbed America of his voice far too soon.

In First Class Citizenship, Jackie Robinson comes alive on the page for the first time in decades. The scholar Michael G. Long has unearthed a remarkable trove of Robinson's correspondence with--and personal replies from--such towering figures as Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Hubert Humphrey, Nelson Rockefeller, and Barry Goldwater. These extraordinary conversations reveal the scope and depth of Robinson's effort during the 1950s and 1960s to rid America of racism.

Writing eloquently and with evident passion, Robinson charted his own course, offering his support to Democrats and to Republicans, questioning the tactics of the civil rights movement, and challenging the nation's leaders when he felt they were guilty of hypocrisy--or worse. Through his words as well as his actions, Jackie Robinson truly personified the "first class citizenship" that he considered the birthright of all Americans, whatever their race.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Coinciding with the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's entry into major league baseball, which broke the sport's color barrier, this absorbing collection of letters reveals new facets of the icon's sometimes private nature. The correspondence ranges from 1946 to 1972, with such pen pals as Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Barry Goldwater. Among the more fascinating exchanges are Robinson's dialogues with Richard Nixon over civil rights; his conciliatory responses to damning missives from Malcolm X and Adam Clayton Powell accusing him of an Uncle Tom stance; his blistering note to Mississippi segregationist James Eastland on prejudice; and his quest to make the Republican Party color-blind with notes to Nelson Rockefeller and Goldwater. Assembled by Elizabethtown College religious studies professor Long, the letters trace Robinson's political life, seeking to rationalize the schism between his equal rights fantasies and the reality of a tarnished American dream. Fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers star will find this collection more satisfying than much other published work about him. (Oct.)
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Review

“Here is Jackie Robinson as we’ve never seen him before – wielding a pen instead of a baseball bat, and doing so with devastating effect. Michael G. Long’s book is not only an important contribution to history, it’s a thrilling story that reveals the making of a true American hero. Page by page, we watch as a great athlete becomes a great man. First Class Citizenship is first class all the way.”—Jonathan Eig, author of Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season and Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig

 

“When I was growing up in Atlanta, I saw Jackie Robinson and the Dodgers play an exhibition game against the local white team. It was one of the most thrilling experiences of my childhood. I remember feeling as if Robinson had won something for all of the black people in the stands that day, and I had much the same feeling as I read the letters in this remarkable book. First Class Citizenship shows us Jackie Robinson at the center of the political battles of the civil rights movement, and we are fortunate to have his words to help guide us today.”—Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., senior managing director, Lazard, former president of the National Urban League, and author of Vernon Can Read!

 

“First Class Citizenship is a rich and impressive reminder of how a courageous, pioneering athlete can also become an insistent and independent-minded political activist on behalf of human rights for all.”—David J. Garrow, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Bearing The Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

 

“These letters from and to Jackie Robinson demonstrate clearly the stirring political and intellectual reach of the man, his rare courage and vision. They document his unrelenting desire to match his prowess on the baseball field with significant achievements in politics, business, and civil rights. It is clear that, compared to Robinson, few of our star athletes have possessed as profound a sense of responsibility to their fellow citizens--rich and poor, black and white--and to their nation as a whole.”—Arnold Rampersad, author of Jackie Robinson: A Biography

 

“First Class Citizenship presents a full picture of the man whose grace and confidence on the field were matched (if not surpassed) by a voice that spoke out, long and loud, for the equal opportunity, civil rights, and humanity of all Americans.  Jackie Robinson’s letters are a rich and invaluable contribution to his singular legacy and to the dynamic history of the civil rights movement.”—Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Times Books; First Edition edition (October 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805087109
• ISBN-13: 978-0805087109
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,679,605 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #73 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( R ) > Robinson, Jackie

More About the Author

Michael G. Long has a doctoral degree from Emory University and is the author or editor of several books on civil rights, politics, and religion. He has a special interest in the genre of letters and is the editor, most recently, of I Must Resist: Bayard Rustin's Life in Letters (City Lights Books); and Marshalling Justice: The Early Civil Rights Letters of Thurgood Marshall (Amistad/HarperCollins). Long's book on Jackie Robinson was selected as a best book of the year by Publishers Weekly and received critical acclaim in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Book Forum, Ebony/Jet, and other major media outlets. He is a popular speaker, with engagements from the National Archives in Washington, D.C., to the City Club of San Diego, and has appeared on C-Span and National Public Radio.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The remarkable correspondence of a remarkable man, May 12, 2008

By 

Geoff Pietsch (Gainesville, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: First Class Citizenship: The Civil Rights Letters of Jackie Robinson (Hardcover)

I was 9 years old, and living in Brooklyn, when Jackie Robinson broke in in 1947. I saw a few Dodger games - from the center field bleachers (only $.60) - and was a huge fan of Jackie's. Over the years I thought I'd kept up pretty well with his both his baseball career and his later business and political involvments. Nevertheless, this wonderful collection/selection of his correspondence, accurately sub-titled "The Civil Rights Letters of Jackie Robinson," just blew me away.
Let me be clear: This is not a book primarily for baseball fans, it is a book for all Americans - all people - who want to know more about both this remarkable man and many of the most prominent American leaders of the 1950s and '60s. Robinson corresponded often, and sometimes at considerable length, with Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, Nelson Rockefeller, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon Johson, Barry Goldwater, and many others.
Michael Long, who edited this collection - and provides useful, brief introductions as needed - includes not only Robinson's letters but also many of the responses he received. As with Robinson's letters, these replies shed wonderful insight on the letter-writers. Almost always they are writing for their recipient, not for the public or posterity. I taught American History at a college prep school for 38 years; I thought I knew well the history of the Civil Rights era and the men who made it. It's rare at my age that I find a book that brings genuinely knew information and perspective which causes me to re-think my assessments of men and events. "First Class Citizenship" has done so. I very much hope it gains a wide audience. Readers will become more familiar not only with Jackie Robinson in all his passion and complexity and integrity but also with the men in power, good and not-so-good, who shaped the history of that tumultuous time.