Bill Text: CA AR24 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relative to Hall of Fame baseball player Jackie Robinson.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 51-21)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-09-09 - From committee: Be adopted. Ordered to third reading. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (September 9). Assembly Rule 63 suspended. (Page 2992.) Read. Amended. Adopted. (Page 2993.). [AR24 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AR24-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: HR 24 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 9, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bradford
( Coauthors: Assembly Members
Achadjian, Alejo, Allen,
Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos,
Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway,
Cooley, Dahle, Daly,
Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong,
Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines,
Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gorell, Gray,
Grove, Hagman, Roger Hernández,
Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine,
Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina,
Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin,
Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen,
Pan, Perea, John A. Pérez, V.
Manuel Pérez, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,
Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, and
Yamada )
AUGUST 14, 2013
Relative to Hall of Fame baseball player Jackie Robinson.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST
WHEREAS, Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was born in Cairo,
Georgia, on January 31, 1919, to a family of sharecroppers. His
mother, Mallie Robinson, single-handedly raised Jackie and her four
other children. In the early 1920s, the family moved to Pasadena,
where they were the only black family on their block, and the
prejudice they encountered only strengthened their bond; and
WHEREAS, In Pasadena, Jackie Robinson attended John Muir High
School and Pasadena Junior College, where he was an excellent athlete
and played four sports--football, basketball, track, and
baseball--and was named the region's Most Valuable Player in baseball
in 1938; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson continued his education at the University
of California, Los Angeles, where he became the university's first
student to win varsity letters in four sports, and where, in 1941,
despite his athletic success, he was forced to leave UCLA just shy of
his graduation due to financial hardship; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he
played football for the semiprofessional Honolulu Bears, but his
season with the Bears was cut short when the United States entered
World War II; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson served as a second lieutenant in the
United States Army from 1942 to 1944. He was arrested and court
martialed during boot camp after he refused to move to the back of a
segregated bus during training; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson was later acquitted of the charges and
received an honorable discharge. His courage and moral objection to
the segregation he encountered were precursors to the impact he would
have on major league baseball; and
WHEREAS, After his discharge from the Army in 1944, Jackie
Robinson began playing in the Negro Leagues, but he was soon chosen
by Branch Rickey, the President and General Manager of the Brooklyn
Dodgers, to help integrate major league baseball; and
WHEREAS, He joined the all-white Montreal Royals, a farm team for
the Brooklyn Dodgers, in 1945, and subsequently moved to Florida in
1946 to begin spring training with the Royals, and played his first
game on March 17 of that year; and
WHEREAS, Despite racial abuse, particularly at away games, Jackie
Robinson had an outstanding start with the Royals during the 1946
season, leading the International League with a .349 batting average.
This excellent year led to his promotion to the Brooklyn Dodgers,
and his debut game on April 15, 1947, marked the first time in the
20th century that an African American athlete played in the major
leagues; and
WHEREAS, Even though some of his Dodger teammates objected to
Jackie Robinson's joining the team, Dodgers manager Leo Durocher
informed them that he would sooner trade them than Jackie Robinson.
Durocher's loyalty to Jackie Robinson set the tone for the rest of
Robinson's Dodger career; and
WHEREAS, The harassment of Jackie Robinson continued, however,
most notably by the Philadelphia Phillies and their manager Ben
Chapman. During one infamous game, Chapman and his team shouted
epithets at Robinson from their dugout, while many players on
opposing teams threatened not to play against the Dodgers; and
WHEREAS, Many others defended Jackie Robinson's right to play in
the major leagues, including National League President Ford Frick,
Baseball Commissioner A.B. "Happy" Chandler, and future Hall of Fame
members Hank Greenberg and Harold "Pee Wee" Reese; and
WHEREAS, In one incident, while fans harassed Jackie Robinson from
the stands, his teammate Pee Wee Reese walked over and put his arm
around Robinson, a gesture that has become legendary in baseball
history; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson succeeded in putting prejudice and racial
strife aside, and showed everyone what a talented player he was; so
much so, that in his first year, he hit 12 home runs and helped the
Dodgers win the National League pennant; and
WHEREAS, In that year, Jackie Robinson led the National League in
stolen bases and was selected as Rookie of the Year. He continued to
wow fans and critics alike with impressive feats, such as an
outstanding .342 batting average during the 1949 season, the lead in
stolen bases that year, and the National League's Most Valuable
Player Award; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson became a vocal champion for African
American athletes, civil rights, and other social and political
causes, so that, after baseball, he became active in business and
continued his work as an activist for social change; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson worked as an executive for the Chock Full
o'Nuts coffee company and restaurant chain, and helped establish the
Freedom National Bank. He also served on the board of the NAACP
until 1967 and was the first African American to be inducted into the
Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. In 1972, the Dodgers retired his
uniform number of 42; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson retired on January 5, 1957, from
professional baseball with an impressive career batting average of .
311, and in his later years, he continued to lobby for greater
integration in sports; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson died from heart problems and diabetes
complications on October 24, 1972, in Stamford, Connecticut. He was
survived by his wife, Rachel Isum Robinson, a nursing student whom he
had met at UCLA, and two of his three children, Sharon and David;
his oldest child, Jackie Jr., had died in an automobile accident in
1971; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson's jersey number 42 was retired leaguewide
in 1997, and he remains the only player to have his number retired
leaguewide; and
WHEREAS, In 2004, Major League Baseball declared April 15 as
Jackie Robinson Day, and since 2007 Major League Baseball has
celebrated Jackie Robinson Day by allowing every player to wear
jersey number 42. Therefore, it is altogether fitting to rename
former State Route 42 after Jackie Robinson; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson's life and legacy will be remembered as
one of the most important in American history. In 1997, the world
celebrated the 50th anniversary of his breaking major league baseball'
s color barrier, and in doing so, we honored the man who stood
defiantly against those who would work against racial equality and
acknowledged the profound influence of one man's life on American
culture; and
WHEREAS, On the anniversary of Jackie Robinson's historic debut,
all major league baseball teams across the nation celebrated this
milestone; also that year, the United States Postal Service honored
Robinson by making him the subject of a commemorative postage stamp;
and on that Tuesday, April 15, 1997, President Bill Clinton paid
tribute to Jackie Robinson at Shea Stadium in New York in a special
ceremony; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the
Assembly urges the Cities of Los Angeles, Inglewood, Downey, South
Gate, and Norwalk, and the County of Los Angeles to work together to
rename Manchester Avenue and Firestone Boulevard (formerly State
Route 42) after the Hall of Fame baseball player Jackie Robinson; and
be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
