Reclaiming 42 : public memory and the reframing of Jackie Robinson's radical legacy / David Naze.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Naze, David, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Robinson, Jackie, 1919-1972.

Robinson, Jackie.

Major League Baseball (Organization)--History.

Major League Baseball (Organization).

History.

African American baseball players--Biography.

African American baseball players.

Racism in sports.

Collective memory.

United States.

Baseball players--United States--Biography.

Baseball players.

Collective memory--United States.

Racism in sports--United States.

Political activists--United States--Biography.

Political activists.

Genre:

Biographies.

History.

Physical Description:

xviii, 212 pages ; 24 cm

Other Title:

Reclaiming forty-two

Place of Publication:

Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, [2019]

Summary:

"Reclaiming 42 centers on one of America's most respected cultural icons, Jackie Robinson, and the forgotten aspects of his cultural legacy. Since his retirement in 1956, and more strongly in the last twenty years, America has primarily remembered Robinson's legacy in an oversimplified way, as the pioneering first black baseball player to integrate the Major Leagues. The mainstream commemorative discourse regarding Robinson's career has been created and directed largely by Major League Baseball (MLB), which sanitized and oversimplified his legacy into narratives of racial reconciliation that celebrate his integrity, character, and courage while excluding other aspects of his life, such as his controversial political activity, his public clashes with other prominent members of the black community, and his criticism of MLB. MLB's commemoration of Robinson reflects a professional sport that is inclusive, racially and culturally tolerant, and largely post-racial. Yet Robinson's identity--and therefore his memory--has been relegated to the boundaries of a baseball diamond and to the context of a sport, and it is within this oversimplified legacy that history has failed him.The dominantversion of Robinson's legacy ignores his political voice during and after his baseball career and pays little attention to the repercussions that his integration had on many factions within the black community. Reclaiming 42 illuminates how public memory of Robinson has undergone changes over the last sixty-plus years and moves his story beyond Robinson the baseball player, opening a new, broader interpretation of an otherwise seemingly convenient narrative to show how Robinson's legacy ultimately should both challenge and inspire public memory"-- Provided by publisher.

"A varied and complex look at Jackie Robinson's cultural legacy that should both challenge and inspire public memory"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction

The post-career political Jackie Robinson

The Robinson-Robeson clash

The museum narratives

"Jackie Robinson Day": the contemporary legacy

Conclusion: taking inventory of a legacy.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780803290822

0803290829

OCLC:

1063720096