First Class Citizenship; The Civil Rights Letters of Jackie Robinson

Robinson, Jackie and Long, Michael G. (Editor)

ISBN 10: 0805087109 / ISBN 13: 9780805087109

Published by Times Books, New York, N.Y., 2007

About this Item

xviii, [2], 359, [5] pages. Black and green marks on top edge. Minor sticker residue on DJ. Illustrations. Includes Editor's Introduction; A Note on the Text; Abbreviations; Notes; Location of Letters; Permissions Credits; Acknowledgments; and Index. Chapters include Faith in Democracy: 1946-1956; From Faith to Frustration: 1957; Against Patience: 1958; Profiles in Question: 1959; Selling Nixon: 1960; Wrong About Kennedy?: 1961; From the Hall of Fame to Hallowed Ashes: 1962; Back Our Brothers--Except Adam and Malcolm: 1963; The Campaign Against Bigotry: 1964; A Rockefeller Republican: 1965-1966; Sharp Attacks, Surprising Defenses: 1967; The Politics of Black Pride: 1968; Moving Forward in Our Struggle: 1969-1972. The editor 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. Long's first book on Jackie Robinson was selected as a best book of the year by Publishers Weekly.[citation needed] Long served as an expert historian for Ken Burns's documentary on Jackie Robinson. Robinson's character, his use of nonviolence, and his unquestionable talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation that had then marked many other aspects of American life. He influenced the culture of and contributed significantly to the civil rights movement.[7][8] Robinson also was the first black television analyst in MLB and the first black vice president of a major American corporation, Chock full o'Nuts. In the 1960s, he helped establish the Freedom National Bank, an African-American-owned financial institution based in Harlem, New York. After his death in 1972, Robinson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his achievements on and off the field. Michael G. Long is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies at Elizabethtown College. Long is the author or editor of books on civil rights, religion, and politics, including Troublemaker for Justice: The Story Of Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the March on Washington; We the Resistance: Documenting Our History of Nonviolent Protest; Jackie Robinson: A Spiritual Biography; Peaceful Neighbor: Discovering the Countercultural Mister Rogers; Gay Is Good: The Life and Letters of Gay Rights Pioneer Franklin Kameny; Beyond Home Plate: Jackie Robinson on Life after Baseball; Martin Luther King, Jr., Homosexuality, and the Early Gay Rights Movement; I Must Resist: Bayard Rustin's Life in Letters; Marshalling Justice: The Early Civil Rights Letters of Thurgood Marshall; First Class Citizenship: The Civil Rights Letters of Jackie Robinson; The Legacy of Billy Graham; Billy Graham and the Beloved Community; and Against Us, But for Us: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the State. Long has written for the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, USA Today, the Huffington Post, the Chicago Sun-Times, New York Daily News, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and his work has been featured or reviewed in or on NPR, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, USA Today, Salon, CNN, Book Forum, and other newspapers and journals. He received a Ph.D. from Emory University in 2000.

Seller Inventory # 80563

Bibliographic Details

• Title: First Class Citizenship; The Civil Rights Letters of Jackie Robinson
• Publisher: Times Books, New York, N.Y.
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805087109
• ISBN 13: 9780805087109
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition [stated].
• Condition: Very good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Civil Rights
  • John F. Kennedy

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

Michael G. Long is an assistant professor of religious studies at Elizabethtown College and is the author of several books on religion and politics in mid-century America, including Against Us, but for Us: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the State and Billy Graham and the Beloved Community: America's Evangelist and the Dream of Martin Luther King, Jr. He lives in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.